Ryan Patrick Nolan (born 17 February 1999) is an Irish 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 plays as a defender for

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

side

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

Club career

Born in

County Clare County Clare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster in the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern part of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, bordered on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. Clare County Council ...

, Ireland, Nolan was raised in

Torre-Pacheco Torre-Pacheco () is a municipality in the autonomous community of Murcia in southeastern Spain. It covers an area of and its population in 2019 was 35,676. The only high ground in the municipality is Cabezo Gordo hill, the location of the protec ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

from a young age. Whilst playing for Torre Pacheco youth team, Nolan was noticed by former player

Pierluigi Casiraghi Pierluigi Casiraghi (; born 4 March 1969) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who played as a striker. Casiraghi began his playing career in Italy in 1985, with Monza. He later played for Juventus, and Lazio, before endi ...

and subsequently recommended to

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1 ...

. On 2 September 2019, Nolan left

and signed with

Arezzo Arezzo ( , ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the Province of Arezzo, province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of Above mean sea level, above sea level. As of 2 ...

. On 31 January 2020, Nolan joined

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

club

Giana Erminio Associazione Sportiva Giana Erminio S.r.l. is an Italian football club based in Gorgonzola, Lombardy. The team currently plays in Italy's . History The club was founded in 1909 as ''Unione Sportiva Argentia'', and later adopted the current name ...

on loan. In the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, Nolan's contract with

was terminated by mutual consent on 24 September 2020. He subsequently returned to Spain to join

Getafe Getafe () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city c ...

. Nolan was due to make his first team debut in December 2020 but was ruled out for the season after he tore his cruciate ligament in training. In February 2022 he signed for

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

. In August 2022 he signed with

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League. The club has won f ...

, taking the number 5 shirt. Nolan made his league debut for Raith Rovers on July 30, 2022, playing the full 90 minutes in an away game against Cove Rangers. On March 18, 2023, Nolan scored his first league goal in the reverse fixture against Cove Rangers, in a 6–1 home win. On July 15, 2023, it was announced that Nolan had returned to Spain to play for Hércules.

International career

Nolan has represented The Republic of Ireland national team at underage level. He has been capped at U16, U17, and U18 - he has made the provisional U21 squad on one occasion, although he did not make the final squad.

References

1999 births Living people Association footballers from County Clare People from Comarca of Mar Menor Footballers from the Region of Murcia Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football defenders Inter Milan players SS Arezzo players AS Giana Erminio players Getafe CF B players Getafe CF footballers Northampton Town F.C. players Serie C players Segunda División B players Irish expatriate sportspeople in Spain Irish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Italy 21st-century Irish sportsmen Larne F.C. players NIFL Premiership players {{Ireland-footy-defender-stub