Ryan Telfer (born 4 March 1994) is a Trinidadian 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 plays as a winger for

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

club

Miami FC The Miami FC is an American professional soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (NASL) in the 2016 s ...

and the Trinidad and Tobago national team.

Club career

Early career

Born in Canada, Telfer was raised in Trinidad, where his parents were from, and began playing with Skhy FC. He later returned to Canada and played youth soccer with Erin Mills Eagles, and was eventually signed in 2012 to their senior team the Mississauga Eagles FC in the Canadian Soccer League. In 2014, he played in the

Ontario Soccer League The Ontario Soccer League (OSL) is a competitive amateur soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The OSL is affiliated with and governed by the Ontario Soccer Association. According to the OSA, the OSL has Provincial Leagues, Regional Leagues and Multi-J ...

with Erin Mills Eagles, where he finished as the top goalscorer in the Provincial U21 West division. In 2015, he played at the college level with the

York Lions The York Lions is the official name for the athletic varsity teams that represent York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's varsity teams compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference of U Sports and, where applicable ...

where he won the

OUA Oua is an islet on the north-east of Nukufetau atoll, Tuvalu, next to Lafanga Lafanga or Lafaga is an islet of Nukufetau, Tuvalu. The traditional history of Nukufetau recalls that in order to protect the atoll from raiders from Tonga, Fialua, an A ...

and CIS championship. Further achievements included receiving OUA West second-team all-star honours and the OUA silver medal. Telfer played with

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1O) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league began play in 2014 and is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association as a pro-am league in the Canadian ...

club

Vaughan Azzurri Vaughan Azzurri is a Canadian semi-professional soccer team based in Vaughan, Ontario, that currently competes in the League1 Ontario men's and women's divisions. The semi-professional team was founded in 2014 by the Vaughan Soccer Club, which ...

during the 2016 season.

Toronto FC II

On March 24, 2017 he signed with

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, who play in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as well as ...

of the

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

. He made his debut on March 25, 2017 against

Phoenix Rising FC Phoenix Rising Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 2014 as Arizona United Soccer Club, the team is a member of the USL Championship. History On March 13, 2014, Kyle Eng, owner of an advert ...

, where he scored the lone goal in a 1–0 victory.

Toronto FC

On April 13, 2018, Telfer signed with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

side

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

. On April 14, 2018, Telfer made his debut for the first team, in a Major League Soccer game against the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, ...

. On May 18, 2018 Telfer scored his first MLS goal against Orlando City which was the game winner for TFC. Telfer would have his option for the 2020 season declined by Toronto, ending his time with the club after nine seasons. The decision to have the club not pick up his option was a mutual decision between Telfer and the club to provide him with better playing opportunities.

Loan to York

On March 6, 2019, Telfer was sent on a season-long loan to

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

side

York9 FC York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium. Histor ...

. Telfer scored the first goal in Canadian Premier League history against

Forge FC Forge FC is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Hamilton, Ontario, that competes in the Canadian Premier League, the top tier of Canadian soccer. The club plays its home matches at Tim Hortons Field. Forge FC joined the CPL in 2019 as ...

in the league's inaugural match on April 27, 2019, which eventually ended in a 1–1 away draw.

Nea Salamis

On January 29, 2020, Telfer signed with

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus official ...

side Nea Salamis.

Return to York

After leaving Nea Salamis in May 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, Telfer returned to Canada and re-joined

York9 York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium. Histo ...

on June 3. The contract had various "triggers and incentives" that could extend its length.

Atlético Ottawa

On April 20, 2021, Telfer signed with

Atlético Ottawa Atlético Ottawa is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Ottawa, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at TD Place. The team was founded in 2020 by Spanish club Atlético Madrid. History ...

. He made his debut for Ottawa in their season opening 2–0 victory over

FC Edmonton FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 to ...

. Telfer scored his first goal for his new club on August 2, netting the lone Ottawa tally in a 2–1 loss to the

HFX Wanderers HFX Wanderers Football Club, commonly known as HFX Wanderers, and spoken as Halifax Wanderers, is a Canadian professional soccer club in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League at the top of the Canadian soccer l ...

. Later in the month on August 29 in a rematch against the Wanderers, Telfer was sent off after a confrontation with the referee and HFX player João Morelli following foul which yielded a yellow card. He was subsequently suspended and sanctioned by

Canada Soccer The Canadian Soccer Association (Canada Soccer) is the governing body of soccer in Canada. It is a national organization that oversees the Canadian men's and women's national teams for international play, as well as the respective junior sides ...

, missing five games. In January 2022 Atlético Ottawa confirmed they had declined Telfer's contract option, ending his time with the club.

Columbus Crew 2

On April 1, 2022, Columbus Crew 2 announced that they had signed Telfer. Following the 2022 season, he was released by Columbus.

Miami FC

In January 2023, he signed with

of the

International career

Born in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, and raised in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, small ...

, Telfer was eligible for both countries. In August 2019,

coach

John Herdman John Herdman (born 19 July 1975) is an English professional football manager who is the head coach of the Canada men's national team. Coaching career Early career Herdman began coaching football at a young age in England, while he was a st ...

mentioned Telfer was a player he was monitoring. However, on September 3, 2019 he was called up to

for two

CONCACAF Nations League The CONCACAF Nations League ( es, Liga de Naciones CONCACAF, french: Ligue des Nations de la CONCACAF) is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of CONCACAF, the ...

matches against

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island and an Overseas department and region, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of ...

. Telfer made his debut for Trinidad and Tobago in the first match against Martinique three days later on September 6. In the second match on September 9, he scored his first international goal. In June 2021 Telfer was named to Trinidad and Tobago's squad for the

2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 16th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was originally scheduled ...

qualification tournament

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and results list Trinidad and Tobago's goal tally first. Score column indicates score after each Telfer goal.''

References

External links

* *
York Lions profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Telfer, Ryan 1994 births Living people Men's association football wingers Citizens of Trinidad and Tobago through descent Trinidad and Tobago footballers Canadian soccer players Soccer players from Mississauga Canadian sportspeople of Trinidad and Tobago descent Black Canadian men's soccer players Canadian expatriate soccer players Trinidad and Tobago expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Mississauga Eagles FC players York Lions men's soccer players Vaughan Azzurri players Toronto FC II players Toronto FC players York United FC players Nea Salamis Famagusta FC players Atlético Ottawa players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players League1 Ontario players USL Championship players Major League Soccer players Canadian Premier League players Cypriot First Division players Trinidad and Tobago men's international footballers Columbus Crew 2 players MLS Next Pro players Miami FC players