Background
Ryan was born in Manchester, in the United Kingdom, but was raised in Perth, Australia.
Ryan was born in Manchester, in the United Kingdom, but was raised in Perth, Australia.
After growing up in Australia he returned to the United Kingdom having earned a place in Burnley Football Club"s youth development set-up. Ryan could have stayed at Burnley but they could not extend his contract due to ECU Joondalup (his club in Perth) demanding a large development fee. Ryan instead returned to Perth where he started to train with Perth Glory before playing two games in 2005 on a short term contract.
Ryan then joined Wanneroo City in the Football West State League, before he was offered a full-time contract with Perth Glory in place of Daniel Vasilevski for the A-League 2006-2007 season.
He was released four games before the end of the A-League season after a single appearance and then decided to play in Indonesia with Persiba Balikpapan until 2008. He has played for the Australian U20 side, the "Young Socceroos", three times.
A highlight for Ryan was scoring against Japan the 2005 Fédération internationale de football association World Youth Championship.