Keith Ryan (born 25 June 1970) is an English former 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 in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

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 ...

for

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

. In July 2009 he was appointed reserve team manager at

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

Career

Born in

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

, Ryan started his career at Berkhamsted Town. He was one of

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who played as a midfielder. After a brief early career in the Irish Leag ...

's first singings for

in August 1990. "Rhino", as he is

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

d, played in over 500 games for the club and scored more than 50 goals. He would go on to be a mainstay of the Wycombe midfield of the 1990s, playing in all three of their Wembley visits, during the decade. Ryan was awarded a testimonial on 1 August 2000 where Leicester City were the visitors. Leicester would go on to win the game 3–0, later in the season Ryan would be part of the squad that would go on to shock the Foxes 2–1 in the quarter final of the 2001

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. Before going on to score Wycombe's goal in the semi-final against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. Following the departure of manager

Tony Adams Tony Alexander Adams (born 10 October 1966) is an English former football manager and player. Adams played for Arsenal and England, captaining both teams. Known as Mr. Arsenal, he spent his entire playing career of 19 years as a centre-back t ...

in November 2004, Ryan was appointed

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

until the appointment of permanent successor John Gorman. Gorman rewarded Ryan's service to the club by making him an assistant manager, along with fellow Blues legend Steve Brown. Ryan retired from professional football in April 2006. He was retained as a coach when Paul Lambert took over as manager in June 2006, but left the club a year later when the coaching staff structure was reorganised for financial reasons. He was promptly appointed by John Gregory, his former manager at Wycombe, as a youth team coach at

, and promoted to reserve team manager in July 2009. As of December 2021, he was first-team coach at

Flackwell Heath Flackwell Heath is a village in the civil parish of Chepping Wycombe on the outskirts of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. With an elevation of about , in the Chiltern Hills. It has a population of around 6000. History The name 'Flac ...

Honours

Wycombe Wanderers *

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

: 1990–91, 1992–93

Notes

A. The Wycombe appearance figures are for the

only, not for the

Conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

References

External links

* * 1970 births Living people Footballers from Northampton English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Berkhamsted Town F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff Queens Park Rangers F.C. non-playing staff National League (English football) players English Football League players {{england-footy-midfielder-1970s-stub