Michael Klaude Ruhs (born 27 August 2002) is an Australian professional

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 ...

player who currently plays for

A-League Men A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football, soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as ...

club

Western United Western United Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club. The club is based in the western Melbourne suburb of Tarneit, the club aims to represent western Victoria, incorporating the western suburbs of Melbourne; the regional ci ...

Early life

Ruhs was born in Cecil Park but raised in Horsley Park. He played football since the age of five playing for Liverpool Olympic, until joining Mounties Wanderers in 2014 to start his journey through the NPL pyramid. Throughout his high school years, Ruhs attended Thomas Hassall Anglican College, playing for the state team in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and gaining acknowledgment from the school principal for his success. He won the CIS Sports Awards recognising his performance at the NSW All Schools Championships and in October 2020, he successfully completed his HSC exam.

Club career

Sydney United

Ruhs joined Fairfield club Sydney United in 2016, playing through the youth levels until breaking into the first team in 2019. On 21 July 2019, at the age of 16 years old, Ruhs made his senior debut in a 2–0 loss against Sydney FC Youth. His first involvement was in a

Round of 32 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

tie against

St George FC St George FC, commonly called Saints or Budapest, is a semi-professional Australian association football, soccer club based in the St George (Sydney), St George district in the south of Sydney. The club was founded by Hungarian immigrants in 1 ...

, being brought on as a stoppage-time substitute, leading into extra time with the scored tied at 3–3. Ruhs provided an assist and scored his first career goal in the 112th minute to win the match 5–3 to progress into the next round. However, his side would soon be knocked out by

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, Wanderers, or simply as WSW) is an Australian professional association football club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in t ...

. In total, Ruhs would make eight league appearances and one goal before departing the club in 2020.

Macarthur FC

On 26 October 2020, Ruhs signed with

Macarthur FC Macarthur Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in South Western Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in Australia's premier soccer competition, the A-League, under Professional sports league organi ...

, along with United teammate Liam Rose, being part of the club's inaugural season in the

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

. Ruhs made his unofficial debut, scoring two goals, in a friendly against Camden Tigers for the club's first match in its history. His official debut would come 2 months later on 3 January 2021, being brought on in the 76th minute for Macarthur's first league home game losing 2–0 against

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Mar ...

. During a match with Northbridge Bulls, he scored two goals against his former club Sydney United on 5 April, helping his side secure a 5–0 lead before half-time. He scored his first professional goal against Melbourne City on 24 April, taking advantage of a loose ball by Kerrin Stokes to level the score 1–1 in the 76th minute. On 12 June, Ruhs scored the winning goal in a 2–0 elimination-final win against Central Coast Mariners, running from one end of the pitch to the other to score past

Mark Birighitti Mark Romano Birighitti (born 17 April 1991) is an Australian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for A-League Men side Perth Glory. Born in Perth, Birighitti played youth football at the Australian Institute of Sport before makin ...

. On 13 July, Ruhs extended his contract for one year with the Bulls, having been named a 'fan favourite' by ''South West Voice''. On 19 February 2022, Ruhs scored in a 4–1 win against

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, u ...

, making it his first and only goal for the 2021–22 A-League campaign. He finished with 13 league appearances, starting in only one match.

Central Coast Mariners

On 9 June 2022,

announced the signing of Ruhs ahead of the 2022–23 A-League season. Ruhs quickly adjusted with his new club, scoring in all four games he played in during preseason reportedly, against his former club Macarthur, and

(including matches against Melbourne City and

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory ...

). On 31 July, Ruhs scored his first goal for the club against

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

, in the

Australia Cup The Australia Cup (currently known as the Hahn Australia Cup for sponsorship reasons) is the national association football, soccer single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Fo ...

, helping his side draw 3–3 to the end of extra time before eventually losing on penalties. On 5 November, he scored his first two league goals for the club, both assisted from Garang Kuol, against Western Sydney Wanderers, winning 3–0 comfortably at

Western Sydney Stadium Western Sydney Stadium, currently known as CommBank Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Parramatta, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It replaced the demolished Parramatta Stadium (1986) which in turn ...

. On 6 February 2023, Mariners terminated Ruhs' contract by mutual agreement.

Western United

On 7 February, a day after departing from the Mariners, Ruhs signed a multi-deal contract with

that was set to expire in 2025.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruhs, Michael 2002 births Living people Australian men's soccer players Men's association football midfielders Sydney United 58 FC players Macarthur FC players Central Coast Mariners FC players Western United FC players National Premier Leagues players Victoria Premier League players A-League Men players Soccer players from Sydney 21st-century Australian sportsmen