Ryan Edwards (Australian soccer)

Ryan Edwards

Edwards playing for the Young Socceroos in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Ryan Marc Edwards [1]
Date of birth	(1993-11-17) 17 November 1993 (age 30)
Place of birth	Singapore
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) [2]
Position(s)	Central midfielder
Team information
Current team	Amorebieta
Number	10
Youth career
2007–2011	AIS
2011–2012	Reading
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2015	Reading	7	(0)
2013–2014	→ Perth Glory (loan)	15	(0)
2015–2018	Partick Thistle	91	(7)
2018–2019	Heart of Midlothian	4	(0)
2018–2019	→ St Mirren (loan)	14	(0)
2019–2021	Burton Albion	75	(6)
2021–2022	Busan IPark	50	(0)
2023–	Amorebieta	47	(4)
International career
2010–2013	Australia U20	18	(2)
2014–2016	Australia U-23	18	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 January 2024

Ryan Marc Edwards (born 17 November 1993) is an Australian professional football player who plays as a midfielder for Spanish club SD Amorebieta.

Born in Singapore, Edwards played youth soccer at the Australian Institute of Sport and for Reading before making his professional debut for Perth Glory on loan in 2013. In 2015, Edwards left Reading to join Scottish Premiership club Partick Thistle. Edwards left Thistle after they were relegated in 2018, and signed for Hearts.

He has represented Australia at under-20 and under-23 level. In March 2017 Edwards was called up to the senior Australian national team.

Early life

Edwards was born in Singapore. ^[3] Despite having been in the country for around 10 days after his birth, Edwards was called up for national service for Singapore on his 18th birthday. He was able to wait until age 21 and have his citizenship renounced, therefore avoiding conscription. His father, Alistair, is a former Australian international and his mother is a Singaporean national, ^[4] and his older brother Cameron is also a professional footballer. ^[5]

Club career

Reading

On 29 April 2011, it was announced he had signed with Championship side Reading along with his older brother Cameron. ^{[6] [7]}

Perth Glory (loan)

On 16 July 2013, Edwards left Reading on a season long loan to Perth Glory, then managed by his father Alistair and featuring his brother Cameron. ^[8] Edwards made his debut for Perth Glory on 13 October 2013 in their first game of the 2013–14 season, a 3–1 away defeat to Adelaide United. ^[9]

2014–15 season

In April 2015, Edwards announced he'd been informed by Reading that they would not be renewing his contract, which expired that summer, ^[10] with his release from Reading confirmed on 21 May. ^[11]

Partick Thistle

Following his release from Reading, Edwards' went on trial with Crawley Town. ^[12] and trained with Manchester City in the lead up to Australia U-23's matches in September 2015. ^[13]

On 24 September 2015, Edwards signed a one-year contract with Scottish Premiership side Partick Thistle. ^{[14] [15]} Edwards made his Partick Thistle debut in a 3–0 win over Dundee United coming on as a substitute ^[16] Edwards scored his first goal for Partick Thistle in a 2–1 victory against Hamilton Academical at New Douglas Park on 19 March 2016. ^[17] On 1 April 2016, Edwards extended his contract with Partick Thistle, until the end of the 2016–17 season. ^[18] Edwards contract was again extended, this time until the end of the 2017/18 season, on 17 November 2016, after the midfielder had triggered an extension. ^[19]

On 30 June 2016 Edwards signed a contract extension to stay at Partick Thistle until summer 2020. ^[20] Thistle were relegated via the playoffs at the end of the 2017/18 season. Following that relegation, Edwards invoked a clause in his contract which allowed him to leave Thistle immediately. ^[21]

Heart of Midlothian

On 6 June 2018, Edwards signed a two-year contract with Hearts. ^[22] At the end of August 2018, Edwards was loaned to St Mirren. ^[23] Ryan Edwards returned to Hearts in January 2019 after stating his desire to return and play for the club. Edwards made his debut in the Edinburgh Derby against Hibernian, helping them to a 1-1 draw. He made his first start the following week against Kilmarnock. ^{[24] [25]} Edwards scored in the 2019 Scottish Cup Final to give Hearts the lead in an eventual 2–1 defeat to Celtic. ^[26]

Busan IPark

On 5 July 2021, Edwards joined Busan IPark of K League 2.

Amorebieta

On 7 March 2023, Edwards signed for Primera Federación club SD Amorebieta. ^[27] He featured in 13 league matches as the club achieved promotion to Segunda División. ^[28]

International career

Edwards has captained the Australia national under-20 association football team, ^[29] and was a member of the Australian squad that went to the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup. ^[30] He was part of the U-23 squad that took part in the 2013 AFC U-22 Championship in Oman, ^[31] and the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship in Qatar. ^[32] In March 2017 Edwards was called up to the senior Australian national team.

Career statistics

As of match played 22 January 2024 ^[33]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Reading	2012–13	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2013–14	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2014–15	Championship	7	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	10	0
	Total		7	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	10	0
Perth Glory (loan)	2013–14	A-League	15	0	—		—		—		15	0
Partick Thistle	2015–16	Scottish Premiership	17	2	0	0	0	0	—		17	2
	2016–17		38	1	2	0	5	0	—		45	1
	2017–18		36	4	2	0	6	1	2	0	46	5
	Total		91	7	4	0	11	1	2	0	108	8
Heart of Midlothian	2018–19	Scottish Premiership	4	0	1	1	0	0	—		5	1
St Mirren (loan)	2018–19		14	0	0	0	0	0	—		14	0
Burton Albion	2019–20	League One	33	5	4	1	4	1	3	0	44	7
	2020–21	League One	42	1	1	0	1	0	2	1	46	2
	Total		75	6	5	1	5	1	5	1	88	9
Busan IPark	2021	K League 2	16	0	0	0	—		—		16	0
	2022	K League 2	34	0	1	0	—		—		35	0
	Total		50	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	51	0
Amorebieta	2022–23	Primera Federación	13	0	0	0	0	0	—		13	0
	2023–24	Segunda División	21	2	2	0	0	0	—		23	2
	Total		34	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	36	2
Career total			290	15	13	2	19	2	7	1	329	20

Honours

Heart of Midlothian

• Scottish Cup: runner-up: 2018–19

Individual

• Burton Albion Player of the Year: 2020–21 ^[34]

See also

• List of association football families
• List of Reading F.C. players (1–24 appearances)

References

1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Burton Albion" (PDF). English Football League. p. 15. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
2. "FIFA U-20 World Cup Turkey 2013 List of Players: Australia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 23 June 2013. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2013.
3. "Ten things you didn't know about Ryan Edwards". Partick Thistle F.C. 24 September 2015. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
4. "Edwards made his mark on the pitch and now, he is doing the same in the studio | The Star". www.thestar.com.my.
5. Hope, Shayne (16 July 2013). "Son of a gun signs with Glory". The West Australian.
6. "Young Aussie Brothers Join Royals". Australian FourFourTwo. 29 April 2011. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
7. "Club confirm 14 contract offers". Reading F.C. Archived from the original on 6 August 2011. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
8. "Edwards heading for Glory". Reading F.C. Retrieved 16 July 2013.
9. "Adelaide United v Perth Glory". Soccerway. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
10. Watts, Charles (28 April 2015). "Reading FC's summer cull begins as Ryan Edwards is shown the door". getreading.co.uk. Reading Post . Retrieved 28 April 2015.
11. "Contract Update". readingfc.co.uk. Reading FC. 21 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
12. "Edwards trials with Crawley Town". fourfourtwo.com.au. FourFourTwo. 23 July 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
13. Ryan Edwards [@redwards_17] (30 August 2015). "Big thankyou to @MCFC for having me in for training. It was a very enjoyable experience" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
14. "Partick Thistle sign up midfielder Ryan Edwards". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
15. "Ryan Edwards signs for Thistle". ptfc.co.uk. Partick Thistle. 24 September 2015. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
16. "Partick Thistle 3-0 Dundee United". BBC Sport.
17. "Hamilton Academical 1-2 Partick Thistle". BBC Sport.
18. "Edwards commits until 2017". ptfc.co.uk. Partick Thistle. 1 April 2016. Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
19. "Partick Thistle's Ryan Edwards extends contract on birthday". bbc.co.uk. BBC Sport. 17 November 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
20. "Edwards signs Thistle extension". BBC Sport.
21. "Playing squad update". www.ptfc.co.uk. Partick Thistle FC. 25 May 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
22. "EDWARDS JOINS HEARTS". heartsfc.co.uk/. Heart of Midlothian F.C. 6 June 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
23. "Ryan Edwards: St Mirren take Hearts midfielder on loan for season". BBC Sport. 31 August 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
24. "St Mirren; Hearts' Ryan Edwards and Southampton's Alfie Jones have loans cut short". BBC Sport. 7 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
25. "Hearts: David Vanecek arrives from Teplice as Jimmy Dunne returns to Burnley". BBC Sport. 7 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
26. "Edouard secures Celtic's treble treble". BBC Sport.
27. "Ryan Edwards refuerza el centro del campo de los azules". sdamorebieta.eus (in Spanish). SD Amorebieta. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
28. Velasco, Juanma (27 May 2023). "El Amorebieta regresa a Segunda División un año después" [Amorebieta returns to Segunda División a year later]. MARCA (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 January 2024.
29. "Ryan Edwards catching attention at Reading". The World Game. Special Broadcasting Service. Archived from the original on 5 January 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
30. "Okon names side for Under 20 World Cup". footballaustralia.com.au. Football Federation Australia. 4 June 2013. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
31. "FFA names squad for AFC U22 Championships in Oman". footballaustralia.com.au/. Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
32. "Final Registration Player List" (PDF). AFC. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
33. "R.Edwards". Soccerway. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
34. Nigel Powlson (6 May 2021). "Ryan Edwards wins double player of the year awards at virtual evening". Burton Albion FC. Retrieved 20 February 2023.

External links

• Ryan Edwards at Soccerway
• Ryan Edwards – FIFA competition record (archived)