Mathew Ryan

At 32 years old, Mathew Ryan has this physical status:

Mathew David Ryan (born 8 April 1992) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion and the Australia national team. Born in Sydney, Ryan played youth football for Marconi Stallions, Blacktown City and Central Coast Mariners.

He made his senior debut for Blacktown before moving to the Mariners' senior squad in 2010.

In 2013, Ryan moved to Club Brugge, where he played for two years before joining Valencia. He made his senior international debut in 2012, and has since established himself as Australia's first-choice goalkeeper, effectively succeeding his childhood idol Mark Schwarzer.

He played at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups as well as the 2015 and 2019 Asian Cups, winning the Best Goalkeeper award at the 2015 tournament which his country won on home soil.

Early life

Ryan was born in Plumpton, New South Wales and attended Westfields Sports High School. He took up football at the age of four and played youth football for Blacktown City and Central Coast Mariners before making his senior debut with Blacktown City. After moving to Central Coast Mariners in 2010, Ryan moved to Club Brugge in 2013.

In addition to holding an Australian passport, Ryan also has a UK passport.

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Club career

Ryan spent time with the Central Coast Mariners youth team in 2009-2010, and after several call-ups to the senior team, he was given a three-year senior contract. Despite starting the 2010-11 A-League as the Mariners' replacement keeper, an anterior cruciate ligament injury to first-choice Jess Vanstrattan saw Ryan promoted to the starting eleven, he did not appear in the 2011–11 A-League. Ryan made his A-League debut against Sydney FC on August 28, 2010, but the Mariners' Chris Horton lost a cross that allowed Rhyan Grant to score Sydney's goal. Although coach Graham Arnold was content with Ryan's debut, there was a lot of competition between Ryan and newly signed Paul Henderson for the regular starting position. Ryan stayed in the starting lineup for the next few months and received a number of accolades, including the A-League Young Player of the Month award for December 2010. In the 2011 A-League Grand Final, the Mariners' season came to an end with a penalty shootout defeat to Brisbane Roar in the A-League Grand Final, but Ryan was given the Joe Marston Medal for man of the match in that match. For 2010–11, he was also named A-League Young Footballer of the Year.

Ryan was named Male U20 Player of the Year at the 2011 Australian Football Awards in October 2011. He continued to put in a string of good results in the 2011–12 A-League, including a man of the match in a 1–0 win over Melbourne Heart on January 17th, 2012 after pulling off a number of saves. Ryan was named A-League Young Player of the Month for January 2012, which was a result of his dedication. Following a victory over Wellington Phoenix in the final round of the regular season, the Mariners took the 2011-12 Premiership. Despite Ryan's penalty in the shootout, they were disqualified in the Preliminary Final against Perth Glory on penalties. Ryan was named A-League Young Footballer of the Year for the second year in a row and A-League Goalkeeper of the Year in April 2012. He was also named in PFA's A-League Team of the Season and received the Mariners Medal for club player of the season. In June 2012, he was also named the Harry Kewell Medal for the outstanding Australian under-23-year-old player.

Ryan was instrumental in the Mariners' 2012-2013 A-League season. He was named FFA Male U20 Player of the Year in November 2012. Ryan made a penalty in a match against Western Sydney Wanderers that was saved by Ante Covic; the Wanderers won the match 1–0 to move above the Mariners on the A-League table. Following a string of missed calls from other players in the game, coach Graham Arnold announced after the game that Ryan had been practising penalty-taking in the lead-up to the match. The Mariners won in the 2013 A-League Grand Finals, their first victory in the A-League Grand Finals, with Ryan referring to the three previous Mariners teams' victory over those teams.

Ryan had completed his move to Belgian Pro League side Club Brugge for an undisclosed fee, despite his Central Coast Mariners' contract ending the following day. Ryan made his Brugge debut in the first game of the season at Sporting Charleroi on July 27, 2013 and kept a clean sheet in a 2–0 victory. In a match against K.A.A., he defeated him. Gent saved a penalty in the 67th minute that might have resulted in the game being level at 2–2. Brugge won the game 3-1 and reports after the match revealed that Ryan had been offered a new lucrative contract with the club entailing a substantial wage increase and contract extension. Ryan had agreed to terms with Club Brugge with the intention of extending his contract until 2018. Following a string of outstanding performances, Liverpool scouts were sent by the 2015 AFC Asian Cup to watch the goalkeeper.

Ryan signed a six-year contract with Valencia CF in La Liga on July 21, 2015. With regular starter Diego Alves out with an anterior cruciate ligament injury, he was expected to assume the starting goalkeeper role at least in the medium term. On July 25, he made his official debut in a friendly against PSV Eindhoven. Ryan played in Valencia's first game of the season on August 22, 2015, holding a clean sheet in a scoreless draw with Rayo Vallecano. His playing time lasted until September, when he sustained a meniscus tear in a draw with Deportivo La Corua, causing him to have surgery and miss more than a month of football. Following Ryan's return from injury, a string of good performances from his replacement, Jaume Domènech, led to concerns that he would not return to the starting lineup. In fact, Ryan was not recalled to the starting lineup for a game against Sevilla until late November. Ryan remained rotational with Jaume and the returning Alves for the remainder of the season, with Jaume and the returning Alves making 21 appearances for Valencia in all competitions.

Ryan was in Valencia's starting lineup for the 2016–17 La Liga's opening matches, with Alves rumored to be looking for a move elsewhere. However, Alves stayed at Valencia, though Ryan later lost his starting position. A number of clubs were keen on Ryan by January 2017.

After being loaned to Racing Genk on January 30, 2017, Ryan returned to Belgium. He arrived in the starting squad straight away, playing his first match in a 1–0 loss to Oostende in the Belgian Cup on January 31, 2017. Ryan announced in April 2017 that he did not intending to remain in Belgium after the season and would instead return to Valencia. Ryan appeared in a number of games for Genk, with the team winning the 2016–17 Europa League quarterfinals and the final of the Belgian Europa League playoffs.

Ryan will sign for Brighton & Hove Albion, a newly promoted Premier League club, on a five-year deal for an undisclosed fee on June 16, 2017. The transfer was motivated by the possibility of playing in the Premier League. In a 2–0 loss, Ryan made his Brighton & Hove Albion debut against Manchester City on August 12, 2017. Brighton defeated West Brom 1-0 in their first ever Premier League victory, with Ryan in goal. Ryan played in every single minute of the league in 2017-2018–18 season, with one of which came in a 1–0 home victory over Manchester United on May 4th, which secured Premier League status for the Sussex club.

In a 1–0 home victory over West Ham in the 8th league game of the season, Ryan kept his first clean sheet of the 2018-19 season. In the upcoming two games, he had two clean sheets, one in a 1–0 away victory over Newcastle United and the other in a 1–0 home victory over Wolves. Ryan departed Brighton in late December and the best part of January for international service for Australia in the Asian Cup. In a 4–2 away loss to Fulham on January 29, his first game back came in a 4–2 loss. On March 17, he made his FA Cup debut in an exciting match against Millwall. Brighton won 5–4 on penalties, making it a 2–2 draw.

Ryan was told by Brighton boss Graham Potter in December 2020 that teammate Robert Sánchez will continue to play in the Premier League for the remainder of the 2020-2021 season, and that if the right offer comes along, Ryan will be allowed to leave in January.

He joined Arsenal on loan until the end of the season on January 22, 2021. He was given the number 33 jersey, which had previously been worn by Matt Macey and Petr Cech at the club. Ryan made his Arsenal debut on Sunday against suspended Bernd Leno in a 1–0 away loss at Aston Villa on Sunday. Ryan's next appearance was more than two months with Leno being banished to the bench. On April 18, Ryan was defeated after Gabriel forfeited a penalty with Josh Maja converting from the spot in a potential 1–1 home draw against a struggling Fulham. After going up for a corner, Arsenal's equalizer was played by Ryan. Ryan kept his first Gunners clean sheet in his first game in an Arsenal shirt on May 2nd, defeating Leno for the second time in four matches.

On July 20, 2021, Ryan joined Real Sociedad in La Liga on undisclosed terms. He made his debut on September 23nd on September 23 and helped Sociedad defeat Granada 3–2 away from winning by 3–2.

Ryan joined Superliga side FC Copenhagen on a two-year contract on August 9, 2022.

International career

Despite not having played for the side before, Ryan's solid form in the 2010–11 A-League led to reports that he would be called up for the Australian under-20 team for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in mid-2011. However, he did not return to the tournament after suffering a serious knee injury.

In November 2011, Ryan was first called up for the Australian under-23 team. In a scoreless draw with Iraq on November 22, 2011, he made his debut for the team. The Olyroos failed to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

In February 2012, Ryan received his first call-up to the Socceroos squad for a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia. He was selected in the team for the second preliminary round of the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup later this year. On December 5, 2012, he made his international debut with a 1–1 draw with North Korea.

Mark Schwarzer, the long-serving goalkeeper, announced his international retirement following the naming of new coach Ange Postecoglou in November 2013, leaving Ryan as one of the leading candidates to replace him as the new first-choice keeper. Postecoglou announced Ryan and Mitch Langerak as two of the leading candidates for the position.

Ryan was selected in May 2014 in the Australian squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In all three of Australia's games as a result of their loss to the Netherlands, Chile, and Spain, he participated in all three of the country's games as they were eliminated in the group stage. Ryan's results in the tournament were mixed, and he referred to the matches as a "massive learning curve" for him.

Ryan was selected for the Australian 2015 AFC Asian Cup team, which will be playing in Australia in early 2015. As Australia conceded just two goals in qualifying the Final against South Korea, he put in a string of strong performances throughout the tournament. After winning 2–1 in extra time, Australia claimed their first AFC Asian Cup title. Ryan was named the tournament's best goalkeeper.

In May 2018, he was named in Australia's 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Mathew Ryan captained Australia for the first time as the 62nd player to captain Australia in a 7-1 victory over Chinese Taipei on October 15th. Ryan also became Australia's second most captained Goalkeeper with 58 caps in this match, defeating Zeljko Kalac.

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