Ryan Griffiths (soccer)

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Ryan Griffiths

| fullname = Ryan Alan Griffiths

| image = Ryan Griffiths.jpg

| caption = Griffiths playing for Newcastle Jets in 2012

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1981|8|21}}

| birth_place = Sydney, Australia

| height = {{Height|m=1.84}}

| position = Left winger, forward

| currentclub =

| clubnumber =

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 = Sutherland Sharks

| youthyears2 =

| youthclubs2 = Sydney United

| years1 = 1999–2002

| years2 = 2002

| years3 = 2002–2004

| years4 = 2004–2006

| years5 = 2006–2009

| years6 = 2007–2008

| years7 = 2009

| years8 = 2010

| years9 = 2010–2013

| years10 = 2013

| years11 = 2014

| years12 = 2014–2015

| years13 = 2016–2017

| years14 = 2017

| years15 = 2017–2018

| years16 = 2021

| clubs1 = Northern Spirit

| clubs2 = Manly-Warringah

| clubs3 = Newcastle Jets

| clubs4 = Naţional București

| clubs5 = Rapid București

| clubs6 = → Liaoning (loan)

| clubs7 = → Beijing Guoan (loan)

| clubs8 = Beijing Guoan

| clubs9 = Newcastle Jets

| clubs10 = Beijing Baxy

| clubs11 = Adelaide United

| clubs12 = Sarawak

| clubs13 = South China

| clubs14 = Western Sydney Wanderers

| clubs15 = Lambton Jaffas

| clubs16 = Newcastle Olympic

| caps1 = 41

| goals1 = 6

| caps2 = 15

| goals2 = 12

| caps3 = 52

| goals3 = 8

| caps4 = 35

| goals4 = 7

| caps5 = 14

| goals5 = 2

| caps6 = 36

| goals6 = 8

| caps7 = 27

| goals7 = 10

| caps8 = 25

| goals8 = 11

| caps9 = 56

| goals9 = 19

| caps10 = 29

| goals10 = 7

| caps11 = 4

| goals11 = 1

| caps12 = 51

| goals12 = 11

| caps13 = 14

| goals13 = 4

| caps14 = 5

| goals14 = 0

| caps15 = 31

| goals15 = 13

| caps16 = 12

| goals16 = 4

| nationalyears1 = 2004

| nationalyears2 = 2006–2009

| nationalteam1 = Australia U23

| nationalteam2 = Australia

| nationalcaps1 = 9

| nationalgoals1 = 6

| nationalcaps2 = 5

| nationalgoals2 = 0

| manageryears1 = 2021–

| managerclubs1 = Newcastle Olympic (assistant)

| club-update = 1 August 2021

| nationalteam-update = 14 February 2013

| medaltemplates =

}}

Ryan Griffiths (born 21 August 1981) is an Australian professional football manager who currently serves as the assistant manager of Newcastle Olympic FC for National Premier Leagues Northern NSW and retired professional football forward.

Club career

Griffiths Began his professional career at the bright age of 17 scoring 4 goals in his first 10 appearances for Northern Spirit.

He then attracted interest from other Australian clubs and decided to sign for Newcastle United Jets for 2 years with his old youth team coach Ian Crook and Gary van Egmond.

His performances at the club granted him a call up to the Olyroos Australian Olympic games team where he went on to play in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

He then attracted attention from English clubs and was about to put pen to paper with Stoke City. Unfortunately he could not sign with the club due to not having the right credentials and family background status to live and work in the UK.

Griffiths got picked up by National Bucharest in the Romanian Divizia A where he played for 2 seasons and attracted offers from some eastern European Giants.

Griffiths decided to sign for Rapid București for 4.1 million Rupees transfer fee.

On 18 March 2007, Ryan scored his first goal for Liaoning in the 32nd minute, giving his team a 1–0 win over Shenyang Jinde. Griffiths went on to produce several notable performances for the Chinese Super League side. He went back to China and at the end of 2008 season he left Liaoning for Beijing Guoan.

On 8 June 2009 it was announced that he would join A-league club Gold Coast United at the conclusion of the 2009 Chinese Super League season,[http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2009/06/08/86295_gold-coast-sport.html Griffiths set to be final signing] but he later returned to Beijing.

On 18 November 2010 Griffiths signed an 18-month deal with A-League club Newcastle Jets starting January 2011. On the opening day of the 2011–12 A-League season he scored a brace, allowing the Jets to win the game 3–2 over Melbourne Heart in Newcastle.{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-league/jets-rise-above-turmoil-in-heartstopping-victory-20111008-1lf2k.html|title=Jets rise above turmoil in Heart-stopping victory |last=Hassett|first=Sebastian|date=8 October 2011|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=9 October 2011}}

On 27 February 2012 he signed a two-year contract extension with Newcastle Jets rejecting interest for both rival A-League club and clubs abroad.{{Cite web |url=http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/232903,griffiths-pens-new-jets-deal.aspx |title=Griffiths Pens New Jets Deal - Australia News - Australian FourFourTwo - the Ultimate Football Website |access-date=28 February 2012 |archive-date=13 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013120838/http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/232903,griffiths-pens-new-jets-deal.aspx |url-status=dead }}

On 26 February 2013 Griffiths was granted a release from the club to return to China and sign with Beijing Baxy.[https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/1327180/audio-griffiths-headed-to-china/?cs=305 ]

At Baxy, Griffiths started prolifically, scoring 4 in his first 6 and was determined to make an impact for his second Beijing club{{cite web| url = http://www.goal.com/en-au/news/4024/aussies-abroad/2013/04/04/3876568/former-jet-ryan-griffiths-determined-to-make-great-move-of| title = Former Jet Ryan Griffiths determined to make great move of China {{!}} Goal.com}}

In late 2013, Griffiths was linked with Malaysia Super League club Sarawak for the 2014 season. His brother Adam Griffiths played for Malaysian club Selangor in 2013.

On 8 January 2014, Griffiths returned to the A-League, signing with Adelaide United.{{cite news|url=http://www.watoday.com.au/sport/soccer/aleague-ryan-griffiths-signs-for-adelaide-united-20140108-30gpt.html|title=A-League: Ryan Griffiths signs for Adelaide United|date=8 January 2014|newspaper=WAtoday|access-date=8 January 2014}} After only two-months and four appearances Griffiths left Adelaide United to sign for Sarawak, whom he was linked with earlier in the year before signing for Adelaide United.{{cite web|title=Ryan Griffiths leaves Adelaide United for Malaysia|url=https://www.sbnation.com/2014/3/10/5494146/ryan-griffiths-adelaide-united|publisher=sbnation.com|access-date=11 March 2013}}

On 5 December 2015, Hong Kong Premier League giants South China announced the capture of Griffiths from Sarawak via Facebook.{{cite web | url-access=limited |archive-url = https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/257573871113552/435651503305787 |archive-date = 2022-04-30| url = https://www.facebook.com/scaaft/photos/a.263175027220103.1073741828.257573871113552/435651503305787/?type=3 |title = 南華足球隊2014-2017 South China Football Team 2014-2017 on Facebook |website=Facebook}}{{cbignore}}{{User-generated source|certain=yes|date=March 2022}}

On 27 January 2017, Griffiths joined Western Sydney Wanderers to bolster their attacking options.{{cite web|url=http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/article/2017/01/27/exclusive-wanderers-land-griffiths-bolster-attacking-stocks|title=EXCLUSIVE: Wanderers land Griffiths to bolster attacking stocks|first=Dave|last=Lewis|publisher=SBS|work=The World Game|date=27 January 2017}}

In late 2017 Griffiths joined Lambton Jaffas to play in the Northern NSW National Premier League competition.

International career

He made his international debut on 6 September 2006, coming on as a substitute for Ahmad Elrich (who was injured) in the 30th minute in a 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Kuwait.[http://www.sportsaustralia.com/articles/sep06/artid6382.html Socceroos first loss in AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725193135/http://sportsaustralia.com/articles/sep06/artid6382.html |date=25 July 2008 }}

His second cap for Australia came in a friendly against Ghana in November 2006, substituted on the last 15 minutes of the match.{{cite web |title=Socceroos to face former European champions in friendly |date=8 November 2006 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060646/https://www.smh.com.au/news/football/socceroos-to-face-former-european-champions/2006/11/07/1162661682136.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=live |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/football/socceroos-to-face-former-european-champions/2006/11/07/1162661682136.html}}

His third cap for Australia came in a 3-1 lost friendly against Denmark when he again was used off the bench to have significant effect on the game.[http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,21109973-23215,00.html Arnold focused beyond Denmark]

Fourth cap game in June 2007, in a friendly rematch against Uruguay, when he came on as a substitute in the 55th minute. The game ended in a 2–1 loss.[http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/football/finally-holmans-where-the-heart-is/2007/05/29/1180205252309.html?page=2 Finally, Holman's where the heart is]

His latest appearance for the Socceroos was in 2008 in a friendly game against Singapore, when he came on as a substitute. The game ended in a 0–0 draw.[http://www.sportsaustralia.com/articles/news.php?id=3301 Socceroos finalise squad for Singapore match] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716121649/http://www.sportsaustralia.com/articles/news.php?id=3301 |date=16 July 2011 }}

Personal life

His two brothers, twins Joel and Adam, are also professional footballers.[http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23093411-11088,00.html Griffith brothers to play big part in A-League finals][http://sportal.com.au/football-news-display/griffiths-bros-sink-jets-66459 Griffiths brothers sink Jets] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314020509/http://www.sportal.com.au/football-news-display/griffiths-bros-sink-jets-66459 |date=14 March 2012 }} His twin brothers are born on the same day as him (21 August).

Ryan is now the Director at the Digital Marketing Agency [https://www.geekmedia.com.au/ Geek Media].

Honours

With Beijing Guoan:

Chinese Super League Championship: 2009

Club statistics (Hong Kong)

width="6%" \|Apps !width="6%" \|Goals !width="6%" \|Apps !width="6%" \|Goals !width="6%" \|Apps !width="6%" \|Goals !width="6%" \|Apps !width="6%" \|Goals !width="6%" \|Apps !width="6%" \|Goals !width="6%" \|Apps !width="6%" \|Goals !width="6%" \|Apps !width="6%" \|Goals !width="6%" \|Apps !width="6%" \|Goals
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" !colspan="1" rowspan="2" width="12%" style="text-align: center" \|Club !colspan="1" rowspan="2" width="12%" style="text-align: center" \|Season !colspan="1" rowspan="2" width="12%" style="text-align: center" \|League !colspan="2" width="12%" style="text-align: center" \|Premier League !colspan="2" width="12%" style="text-align: center" \|Season play-off !colspan="2" width="12%" style="text-align: center" \|Senior Shield !colspan="2" width="12%" style="text-align: center" \|League Cup !colspan="2" width="12%" style="text-align: center" \|FA Cup !colspan="2" width="12%" style="text-align: center" \|Sapling Cup !colspan="2" width="12%" style="text-align: center" \|AFC Cup !colspan="2" width="12%" style="text-align: center" \|Total
South China	2015–16	Premier League \|8	4	1	1	0	0	3	1	0	0	3	2	6	3	21	11
South China	2016–17	Premier League \|6	0	0	0	1	0	N/A	N/A	0	0	0	0	2	0	9	0
colspan="3"\|Total\|\|14\|\|4\|\|1\|\|1\|\|1\|\|0\|\|3\|\|1\|\|0\|\|0\|\|3\|\|2\|\|8\|\|3\|\|30\|\|11

References

External links

[http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Players/G/GR.html#GriffithsRyan Oz Football Profile]
[http://scaaft.com/product_images/uploaded_images/38.jpg South China Squad – Ryan Griffiths Profile]
{{NFT player |15724}}

Category:1981 births

Category:Living people

Category:Sportsmen from New South Wales

Category:A-League Men players

Category:Australian expatriate men's soccer players

Category:Olympic soccer players for Australia

Category:Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics

Category:Soccer players from Sydney

Category:Men's association football midfielders

Category:Australia men's international soccer players

Category:Newcastle Jets FC players

Category:North West Sydney Spirit FC players