Francis J. “Hun” Ryan (January 10, 1908 – October 14, 1977) was an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

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 ...

. He earned three

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

, scoring one goal, with the U.S. men's national team between 1928 and 1936. He was also a member of the U.S. teams at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

, and the

1934 FIFA World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the 2nd edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for List of men's national association football teams, senior men's national teams. It took place in Kin ...

. Ryan was inducted into the

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a public-private partnership among FC Dallas, the City of Frisco, Frisco Independent School District, and the U.S. Soccer Federation, and currently located in Toyota Stadium (Texas), Toyota Stadium in Frisco, T ...

in 1958.

Playing career

Ryan grew up in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where he played soccer with

Frankford High School Frankford High School is a public high school in the School District of Philadelphia. It is located at Oxford Avenue and Wakeling Street in the Frankford section of Northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Frankford was founded in 1910 as an anne ...

. He also played for the Lighthouse Boys Club team. He maintained his amateur status which led to his selection to the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

at the

. In 1929, he signed with New York Galicia. After one season, he moved back to Lighthouse Boys Club. Once again, he spent only one season with Lighthouse before moving to the Philadelphia German-Americans in 1931. He continued with the team until at least 1936. In 1933, Philadelphia joined the American Soccer League (ASL). The German-Americans won the 1934-1935 ASL championship and the 1936

National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

. Ryan served with the Custer Division in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1945. Upon is return to Philadelphia, he played with the Philadelphia Nationals, leading the team to the ASL Lewis Cup in 1948-49 and 1951–52. Ryan also played with the Pennsylvania All Stars in May 1931 against Glasgow Celtic during the Scottish team's first North American tour.

National team

Ryan earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

on May 28, 1928, in 11–2 loss to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

at the

. Scored ten days later in a 3–3 tie with

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

. He did not play for the U.S. again until the

when he was part of the 7–1 loss to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He finished his national team career at the

. In 1958, Ryan was inducted into the

References

External links

National Soccer Hall of Fame bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Francis 1908 births 1977 deaths United States men's international soccer players Olympic soccer players for the United States Footballers at the 1928 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1936 Summer Olympics 1934 FIFA World Cup players Lighthouse Boys Club players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Uhrik Truckers players National Soccer Hall of Fame members Soccer players from Philadelphia American men's soccer players Men's association football forwards Men's association football midfielders 20th-century American sportsmen