John Johnston Ryden (18 February 1931 – 16 August 2013) was a Scottish 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 played for Duntocher Hibernian,

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. They compete in as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League. According to the official club hist ...

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

, Tunbridge Wells Rangers and Bexley Utd

Playing career

Ryden began his career at

non-League Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

club Duntocher Hibernian before signing for Alloa Athletic on 13 May 1950. The strong tackling, uncompromising,

centre half In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

made 108 appearances in all competitions and scored 13 goals in three seasons. In February 1954 he joined Accrington Stanley in a £1,000 transfer deal where he scored once in 80 matches. Tottenham Hotspur paid £10,000 for his services in November 1955. Ryden spent five seasons at the

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

club and was made club captain in the 1957–58 season. He made a total of 68 appearances and found the net on two occasions in all competitions between 1955 and 1959. Scoring on his debut in a 3-3 draw against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England that is the home ground of Preston North End. Built in 1875 and in use since 1878, Deepdale is recognised as being one of the oldest continuously used football stadium ...

in April 1956. And Ryden was involved in two memorable matches for the 'Lilywhites'. In the first 4-4 draw against rivals

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

on 22 February 1958 at

Highbury Highbury is an area of North London, England, in the London Borough of Islington. Highbury Manor Highbury was once owned by Ranulf, brother of Ilger, and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor hou ...

. Ryden featured again in manager Bill Nicholson's first game in charge on 11 October 1958 at White Hart Lane in a 10-4 victory over Everton Ryden was listed as one of the top 12 Scots to wear the Spurs shirt. In June 1961 he joined Watford and went on to make a further 24 appearances and scoring one goal. He then moved into non-League football with Romford before joining Tunbridge Wells Rangers in 1965. Ryden later played for Bexley United as a player/manager where he ended his career.

Post–football career

After his football career had ended, Ryden was employed by a finance and

insurance broker An insurance broker is an intermediary who sells, solicits, or negotiates insurance on behalf of a client for compensation. An insurance broker is distinct from an insurance agent in that a broker typically acts on behalf of a client by negoti ...

in the companies offices at

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

and later in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

Death

Ryden died on 16 August 2013 at his home in the

London Borough of Bromley The London Borough of Bromley () is a London Borough, borough in London, England. It is the largest and southeasternmost borough in London, and borders the county of Kent, of which it formed part until 1965. The borough's population in the 2021 ...

Keston Keston is a village in Greater London, England, located within the London Borough of Bromley, Greater London. Prior to 1965 it was within the historic county of Kent. It is part suburban, part rural in nature and lies on the edge of Hayes Com ...

aged 82.John Ryden obituary
Retrieved 29 August

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryden, John 1931 births 2013 deaths Scottish men's footballers English Football League players Alloa Athletic F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Watford F.C. players Romford F.C. players Tunbridge Wells F.C. players Bexley United F.C. players Duntocher Hibernian F.C. players Scottish Football League players Men's association football central defenders Footballers from Bonhill 20th-century Scottish sportsmen