Thread by @BelvedereFCDub, 1971 50 YEARS OF BELVOWhere Are They NowRICHIE RYAN@richieryan20Richie joined Belvo as [...]

1971 50 YEARS OF BELVO
Where Are They Now

RICHIE RYAN
@richieryan20
Richie joined Belvo as a 11 year old in 1996 & played up to U17’s in the sky blue jersey. Richie lived in Templetuohy County Tipperary & made the two hour journey for training & matches on the weekend week in

week out, a midfielder he played under managers Eddie Moen & Danny Kenny RIP & won numerous league & cup honours in what was a hugely talented team with half the squad going on to play professionally in the U.K

Derek Tyrell, Eddie Keyes & Andy Cousins Leeds Utd, Gary Mulligan Wolves, Karl Bermingham Man City, Mark Quigley Millwall & Adrian Harpur Sheffield Utd. He was also capped for Ireland from U16 up to Youths & was picked in a LOI team of the year selection.

After courting interest from many U.K. clubs Richie eventually signed for Sunderland in 2001 working his way up through the youth ranks eventually making his first team debut in 2003 in the Tyne-Wear derby against Newcastle. After a string of injuries & finding regular football

hard to come by at Sunderland he went out on loan to Scunthorpe Utd eventually signing for the Lincolnshire club in 2005 staying for one season before signing for Boston Utd were he also stayed a season in their relegation from League 2 to the Conference.

Richie then moved to Belgium were he signed for Royal Antwerp in the second division playing a lot more regularly for the Flanders club who were managed at the time by Warren Joyce who would go on to great sucess with Man Utd under Sir Alex Ferguson. But again he only stayed in

Belgium for one season before moving back to Ireland & Sligo Rovers were he would eventually go on to captain the team & win 2 FAI Cup finals, a League Cup final & PFAI players player of the year in 2010. With Richie in some of the best form of his career he earned a move to the

Scottish Premiership with Dundee Utd in 2012 becoming an integral part of a team that included other Irish players Jon Daly, Willo Flood, Sean Dillon & Gavin Gunning under Jackie McNamara making 36 appearances & finishing 6th in the league.

Another return to Ireland in 2013 saw Richie sign for another former Belvo boy Trevor Croly & Shamrock Rovers were he won more silverware in the EA Sports League Cup against Drogheda Utd. Come the end of that season the travel bug bit again and saw another move but this time it

was across the Atlantic to Canada & the North American Soccer League with Ottawa Fury were he spent a season captaining his side to the NASL final in 2015 while also building an impressive reputation in his one season with the Ottawa club.

On the back of this he again was on the move this time to Jacksonville Armada but only stayed for a short period of time before Lazio & AC Milan legend Alessandro Nesta payed a reported $750,000 (a record fee for a NASL club at the time) to bring him to south Florida & Miami FC,

in his season & a half at Miami his leadership qualities, experience, deft passing & defensive qualities earned him the label of best midfielder & captain in the NASL & a move closer to the MLS when he signed for expansion side FC Cincinnati,

however in the run up to their opening season in the MLS Richie had a string of injuries that that curtailed his season & only featured sporadically to the end of that season & before moving on to his next & current team Locomotive El Paso in the USL

were he has led them to the Western Conference final in 2020 & is still pulling the strings for the border Texas side. A fantastic career spanning two continents for the #Belvo boy from Tipp