Lionel Ryan (13 May 1935 – 6 September 2022) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played with Footscray in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL). The plucky redhead missed out on the 1954 VFL Grand Final, being dropped for coach, Charlie Sutton but was named as an emergency for that game after being one of the better players in the semi-final when he suffered a knee injury and was listed as extremely unlucky not to have played in that Grand Final. Lionel Ryan moved to Yarrawonga Football Club in 1958 and was a member of Yarrawonga's 1959

Ovens and Murray Football League The Ovens and Murray Football Netball League (OMFNL or O&MFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing ten clubs based in north-eastern Victoria, Australia, Victoria, the southern Riverina region of New South Wales ...

Premiership team and later moved to Wodonga Football Club as Captain / Coach from 1961 to 1963. Ryan was the captain of the

Ovens & Murray Football League The Ovens and Murray Football Netball League (OMFNL or O&MFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing ten clubs based in north-eastern Victoria, Australia, Victoria, the southern Riverina region of New South Wales ...

inter league side in 1963, under coach, Bill Stephen. While playing with Yarrawonga, Lionel was a huge crowd drawer and bringing huge crowds to watch his strong straight through style of play, brushing aside players with ease. Lionel was a P.M.G. Linesman in those days and was well known around Tungamah and District. Lionel's grandson is Ryan O'Keefe former Sydney Swan's 2005 and 2012 Premiership player and

Norm Smith Medal The Norm Smith Medal is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best on ground in the grand final of the Australian Football League (AFL). Prior to 1990, the competition was known as the Victorian Footbal ...

Winner for best on ground performance in the 2012 Swans Premiership win. Another of Lionel's grandsons is Australian Actor Jake Ryan (Australian actor).

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Lionel 1935 births 2022 deaths Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Western Bulldogs players Wodonga Football Club coaches