Ryan Bernard Harley (born 22 January 1985) 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 ...

who is currently assistant manager at

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

. His previous clubs include

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ...

, Exeter City and

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. Th ...

Career

Bristol City

Born in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

, Harley began his career with hometown club

. On 28 August 2004, Harley made his professional debut in a 3–0 loss against

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley of ...

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

. During the 2005–06 season, Harley was loaned to then

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

side Forest Green Rovers. He made only 3 appearances for Rovers before returning to Bristol City.

Weston-super-Mare

In October 2006, Harley signed for

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the ...

side

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmi ...

. Harley went on to score six times in 26 appearances for the club.

Exeter City

In November 2007, Harley signed for

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main ...

side Exeter City. He made his debut for the Grecians on 4 March 2008, coming on as a substitute for Andrew Taylor in a 2–2 draw against

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...

. Harley's goal in the second leg of Exeter's play-off semi-final sparked a memorable comeback against rivals

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

. The victory took the Grecians to the play-off final at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

where they were promoted back to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. On 16 January 2010, Harley scored both goals against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

in a 2–0 victory at St. James Park. Harley scored the vital goal in the final game of the 2009–10 season against

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. ...

. The victory ensured Exeter's position in

for the forthcoming season.

Swansea City

On 21 January 2011, Harley signed for the then

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

on a free transfer. He was loaned back to Exeter for the remainder of the 2010–11 season. In spite of the move, Harley would not make an appearance for the Swans. Swansea beat

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

in the Championship play-off final on 30 May 2011 to progress to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 22 August 2011, Harley joined Championship side

on a 3-year deal for an undisclosed fee. Harley made his debut at home in a 1–0 victory against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

. He made his league debut against

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standin ...

, scoring the second goal in a 2–0 win with a spectacular 30-yard free-kick. In December 2012, Harley joined League One side

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. Th ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2012–13 season. He made 11 appearances and scored 1 goal for the Dons.

Swindon Town

Harley completed a free transfer to

side

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

on 26 July 2013 after his contract at Brighton was terminated. He made 25 appearances and scored 4 goals during the 2013–14 season for the Robins.

Return to Exeter City

On 20 November 2014 Harley was loaned to his former club Exeter City until January. He had previously trained with the club during the season. On 12 January 2015 Exeter signed Harley to an 18-month deal after his contract was cancelled by Swindon.

Milton Keynes Dons

On 9 July 2018, Harley joined previous loan club and newly relegated League Two side

, and scored on his league debut for the club on 4 August 2018 in a 1–2 away win over

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

. He enjoyed promotion back to League One with the club at the conclusion of the 2018–19 season. Following the departure of manager

Paul Tisdale Paul Robert Tisdale (born 14 January 1973) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club Stevenage. As a player, Tisdale represented Southampton, Bristol City, FinnPa, Panionios and ...

early in the 2019–20, Harley took up more of a coaching role with the club and his appearances for the first team were limited. At the end of the season, Harley was one of nine players released.

Career statistics

Honours

Exeter City *

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

play-offs:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

runner-up: 2008–09 Milton Keynes Dons *

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football L ...

third-place promotion: 2018–19

References

External links

Ryan Harley player profile
a
Exeter City
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harley, Ryan 1985 births Living people English footballers Association football midfielders Bristol City F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Weston-super-Mare A.F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Bath City F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Frome Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players Association football coaches Notts County F.C. non-playing staff