Ryan Tunnicliffe (born 30 December 1992) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Born in

Heywood, Greater Manchester Heywood is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, in the historic county of Lancashire. It had a population of 28,205 at the 2011 Census. The town lies on the south bank of the River Roch, east of Bury, ...

, he began his career with

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

but failed to break into the first team and joined

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

and

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

on loan before making a permanent move to Fulham in January 2014. After loan spells with

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

(twice) and

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

, Tunnicliffe left Fulham for

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

in 2017. Two years later, he left for

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

. He has also played internationally for England at under-16 and under-17 levels.

Club career

Manchester United

Born in

, Tunnicliffe was first scouted by

at the age of nine, while playing for local side Roach Dynamos. He progressed through the Manchester United academy and signed as a scholar in July 2009. He turned professional in December the same year. Tunnicliffe was a "key performer" as the United under-18 side won the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

in 2011. His performances that season earned him the club's Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award.

Peterborough United (loan)

On 1 July 2011, Manchester United agreed for Tunnicliffe to spend a six-month loan spell at

, alongside teammate Scott Wootton. He made his debut in the opening game of the season on 6 August in a 2–1 home win over

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

, coming on as a substitute for

Lee Frecklington Lee Craig Frecklington (born 8 September 1985) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Frecklington's came through the youth academy at home town club Lincoln City, he spent time on loan with Lincoln United and Stamfor ...

in the 87th minute. He then made his first start in a League Cup game against

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

and set up the opening goal for teammate David Ball.

Return to Manchester United

After returning from the loan spell at Peterborough United, Tunnicliffe was a regular in the Reserves and helped the team win two trophies at the end of the campaign, scoring his first goal for Warren Joyce's team at Chelsea. Tunnicliffe made his senior Manchester United debut on 26 September 2012, when he came on as a substitute in the 2–1 League Cup win over

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

; he came on in the 77th minute for

Marnick Vermijl Marnick Danny Ingrid Vermijl (; born 13 January 1992) is a Belgian footballer who plays as a right-back for Belgian National Division 1 side Thes. Born in Peer, he began his career with nearby Bocholter VV, and joined the academy of Standar ...

to win his father a bet that he had made 10 years earlier, with a return of £10,000.

Barnsley (loan)

On 21 February 2013,

signed Tunnicliffe on a 28-day loan after Scott Golbourne was ruled out for the rest of the season following knee surgery.

Ipswich Town (loan)

On 26 July 2013, Tunnicliffe joined

on a six-month loan. He was a regular in the Ipswich side throughout the first half of the 2013–14 season, but although manager

Mick McCarthy Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional Manager (association football), football manager, pundit and former Association football, footballer. He was most recently the head coach of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool. McCarthy b ...

expressed an interest in extending Tunnicliffe's loan deal, Tunnicliffe returned to Manchester United in January 2014.

Fulham

After just two appearances for the Manchester United first team, Tunnicliffe joined

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

for an undisclosed fee on 31 January 2014, along with fellow Manchester United reserve midfielder

Larnell Cole Larnell James Cole (born 9 March 1993) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Warrington Town F.C., Warrington Town. Born in Manchester, Cole began his career with Manchester United F.C., Manche ...

. There he was reunited with former Manchester United coach

René Meulensteen Reinhard Jozef Petrus "René" Meulensteen (born 25 March 1964) is a Dutch former footballer and coach who was most recently assistant coach of the Australia national soccer team. He spent the early parts of his career working in the Netherlands ...

, then in charge of Fulham. He made his debut for Fulham in a 2–2 draw against his former club Manchester United nine days later. After Meulensteen's sacking as Fulham manager, Tunnicliffe and Cole were deemed by Meulensteen's successor

Felix Magath Wolfgang Felix Magath (; born 26 July 1953) is a German football manager and former player. The most notable spell of his playing career was with Hamburger SV, with whom he won three Bundesliga titles, the 1977 European Cup Winners' Cup Final a ...

to be surplus to requirements at the club, despite being played in every match eligible under Meulensteen. On 25 February 2014, just 25 days after signing for Fulham, Tunnicliffe joined

on loan until the end of the season as cover for the injured Ben Watson. On 10 April, it was reported that Wigan manager

Uwe Rösler Uwe Rösler (; born 15 November 1968) is a German football manager and former professional footballer. He most recently managed Danish Superliga club AGF from 2022 to 2025. As a player he was a centre forward, notably playing in the Premier Lea ...

had attempted to terminate Tunnicliffe's loan but Fulham refused to take the player back. On 1 September 2014, Tunnicliffe joined

on a season-long loan deal. On 1 January 2015, he was called by his parent club thus ending the loan deal. Tunnicliffe was given a two-match ban for the start of the 2015–16 season, a £5,000 fine and ordered to take an educational course after calling

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

Patrick Bamford Patrick James Bamford (born 5 September 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Leeds United. He made one appearance for the England national team in 2021. Bamford began his career at Nottingham Forest, maki ...

a "sausage boy" over

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

Millwall

On 29 July 2017, Tunnicliffe signed with

on a two-year deal following his release from Fulham. After appearing for 31 times in the 2018–19 season, he was released by Millwall in July 2019.

Luton Town

On 1 July 2019, Tunnicliffe became

's third signing since winning promotion to the Championship.

Portsmouth

Tunnicliffe agreed a two-year contract with League One club

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

on 26 June 2021, with the option of a further year, effective once his Luton contract had expired at the end of that month. He scored his first goal for Portsmouth in a 1–0 win against

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

on 17 August 2021.

Adelaide United

On 19 September 2023, Tunnicliffe signed for a club abroad for the first time, joining Adelaide United on a two-year deal.

International career

Tunnicliffe made his England under-16 debut in October 2007 at the age of 14, captaining the side to a 2–2 draw against Northern Ireland in the

Victory Shield The Victory Shield is an annual football (soccer), football tournament competed for by the under-16 teams of Scotland national under-16 football team, Scotland, Republic of Ireland national under-16 football team, Republic of Ireland, Northern Irel ...

. He played for the under-16s a further seven times. In August 2008 he made his first appearance for the England under-17 team against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. He was part of the squad for the 2009 European Championship. He has played a total of ten times for the under-17s, scoring four goals.

Personal life

Tunnicliffe attended Siddal Moor Sports College. On 14 October 2012, Tunnicliffe was charged for drink-driving by

Greater Manchester Police Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England. , Greater Manchester Police employed 6,866 police officers, 3,524 memb ...

, after his car collided with a van in Green Lane, Heywood.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Individual * Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year:

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tunnicliffe, Ryan 1992 births Living people Footballers from Bury, Greater Manchester Sportspeople from Heywood, Greater Manchester Footballers from Greater Manchester English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders Manchester United F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Adelaide United FC players English Football League players Premier League players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia English expatriate sportspeople in Australia 21st-century English sportsmen