Ryan Thomas Porteous (born 25 March 1999) is a Scottish 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for club

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

and the Scotland national team. He has previously played for Hibernian and spent a spell on loan at Edinburgh City, and represented Scotland at the under-19, under-20 and under-21 levels before making his full international debut in September 2022.

Club career

Hibernian

Raised in

Dalkeith Dalkeith ( ; , ) is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1541. The settlement of Dalkeith grew southwestwards from its 12th-century castle (now Dalkeith Pala ...

in Midlothian, Porteous supported Hibernian in childhood and attended

Dalkeith High School Dalkeith High School is a secondary state school located in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland. History Dalkeith High School was previously the historic Dalkeith Grammar School. A list of masters of the Grammar School at Dalkeith (located on the Hi ...

. He played youth football for Edinburgh club Edina Hibs and then

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

before returning to Edinburgh to sign for his boyhood club. After establishing himself in the Hibernian

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

, he was loaned to Edinburgh City for the 2016–17 season and scored goals that secured wins against Annan Athletic (Edinburgh City's first in the

SPFL The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) is the national men's association football league in Scotland. The league was formed in June 2013 following a merger between the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League. As well ...

) and

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...

. He made his first team debut for Hibernian in a

2017–18 Scottish League Cup group stage The 2017–18 Scottish League Cup group stage was played from 14 July to 30 July 2017. A total of 40 teams competed in the group stage. The winners of each of the eight groups, as well as the four best runners-up progressed to the second round ( ...

match against Montrose. He then scored two goals in his second appearance for Hibs, a 6–1 win against Arbroath in the same competition. Although becoming a regular in the senior squad during that season (30 times an unused substitute in addition to six

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

matches in which he did feature), Porteous also continued to appear for the club's Under-20s, whose campaign ended with a 'double' of

SPFL Development League The SPFL Development League was the top level of youth football in Scotland, which was contested in various formats between 1998 and 2018. History A youth league was founded as the Scottish Premier under-18 League in 1998. Clubs fielded under-1 ...

and

Scottish Youth Cup The Scottish Youth Cup (also known as the SFA Youth Cup) is an annual football in Scotland, Scottish football competition run by the Scottish Football Association for under-18 teams,red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or di ...

for a dangerous tackle on Rangers player

Borna Barišić Borna Barišić (; born 10 November 1992) is a Croatian professional association football, footballer who plays as a left-back for club CD Leganés, Leganés, on loan from Süper Lig club Trabzonspor, and the Croatia national football team, Croa ...

, with the incident provoking an angry confrontation between both coaching teams. Porteous suffered a serious knee injury during a Scottish Cup match at

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

in January 2020. He returned from the injury ahead of the 2020–21 season, in which Hibs finished in third place and reached the

2021 Scottish Cup Final The 2021 Scottish Cup final was the 136th final of the Scottish Cup and the final of the 2020–21 Scottish Cup, the most prestigious knockout football competition in Scotland. The match was played on 22 May 2021 at Hampden Park, Glasgow. St Jo ...

. Hibs turned down a bid of around £1 million from

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

for Porteous in January 2021. His 2021–22 season was disrupted by suspensions, as he was sent off twice and also banned retrospectively once. In the same week as his widely praised debut for the Scotland national team, Porteous scored his first goal of the 2022–23 season with the opener in a 2–0 victory at Ross County on 1 October 2022. Hibs announced in November that Porteous had turned down their offer of a new contract. In January 2023, Porteous was subject of interest from

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

side

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

and

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

side

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

. Hibs accepted an offer from

, another Championship club, of around £450,000.

Watford

On 27 January 2023, Porteous signed a contract with

that is due to run until the end of the 2026–27 season. He scored a goal during his first appearance for Watford, a 2–2 draw at

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

on 4 February.

Preston North end (loan)

On 3 February 2025, Porteous joined

side

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

on loan until the end of the season.

International career

Porteous was named in the Scotland under-19 squad for the elite round of

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-19 Euro 2017) was the 16th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (66th edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included), the annual international youth footba ...

. Selected for the Scotland under-21 squad in the

2018 Toulon Tournament The 2018 Toulon Tournament (officially ) was the 46th edition of the Toulon Tournament. It was held in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône from 26 May to 9 June 2018. England won the tournament for the third successive year beating Mexico 2–1 i ...

, the team lost to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in a penalty-out and finished fourth. After he made his debut at the tournament, he made 14 appearances in total over the following two years. He earned a first senior

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

call-up for Euro 2020 qualifiers against

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

and

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

in November 2019, but did not play in either fixture. He was added to squads in October 2020 and November 2021. Porteous was recalled to the squad in September 2022 and, following injuries to

Kieran Tierney Kieran Tierney (born 5 June 1997) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Scottish Premiership club Celtic and the Scotland national team. Tierney came through the Celtic youth system and made his first-team debut in ...

and Scott McKenna, made his full international debut in a Nations League match with

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. The team produced a solid defensive performance to record a goalless draw that secured first place in the group, thereby sealing promotion to the top level of the Nations League and a guaranteed play-off appearance in qualifying for

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

. Porteous was singled out for praise by his teammates, manager and members of the media, with boss Steve Clarke describing his performance as "outstanding" and pundit Michael Stewart hailing a "debut to remember". Captain

John McGinn John McGinn (born 18 October 1994) is a Scottish association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa, whom he Captain (association football), captains, and the Scotland national football team, Scot ...

, a former teammate at Hibernian, said "(Porteous) was first class. A 10-out-of-10 performance. If he keeps on performing like that there's no doubt he can be a Scotland regular for years to come." He scored his first international goal on 8 September 2023, during a 3–0 win in a Euro 2024 qualifier against

. On 7 June 2024, Porteous was named in Scotland's squad for the

finals in Germany. A week later, he started the opening match of the competition against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and was shown a red card in the 45th minute for a foul on

İlkay Gündoğan İlkay Gündoğan (; born 24 October 1990) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Manchester City. A youth academy graduate of VfL Bochum, Gündoğan joined 1. FC Nürnberg in 2009. In 2011, he signed for Borus ...

. The foul also resulted in a penalty kick, which was scored by

Kai Havertz Kai Lukas Havertz (born 11 June 1999) is a German professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or forward for club Arsenal and the Germany national team. Having graduated from Bayer Leverkusen's youth academy in 2016, Havertz ...

to make the score 3–0 in an eventual 5–1 loss for the Scots.

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

later announced that Porteous would be suspended for Scotland's remaining two group stage games for "serious rough play". Scotland would be eliminated after finishing bottom of their group and Porteous was accordingly denied a second Euro appearance.

Personal life

His older sister Emma is also a footballer who played for Hibernian and was selected for Scotland at youth level before taking a university scholarship in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

to combine her sporting and academic studies. Ryan missed her graduation to play for Scotland Under-21s. As of 2018, Porteous was signed to an

agency Agency may refer to: Organizations * Institution, governmental or others ** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients ** Employment agency, a business that s ...

operated by tennis player

Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...

. In October 2020, Porteous declared his support for the Common Goal charity. Porteous was fined by both a court and Hibernian in June 2022, after he pleaded guilty to a charge of culpable and reckless conduct for hitting a woman with a plastic tumbler.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Porteous goal''

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Porteous, Ryan 1999 births Living people Footballers from Edinburgh Sportspeople from Dalkeith Footballers from Midlothian Scottish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Aberdeen F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Edinburgh City F.C. players Watford F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players English Football League players Scotland men's youth international footballers Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Scotland men's international footballers People educated at Dalkeith High School UEFA Euro 2024 players 21st-century Scottish sportsmen