Keith Ryan is an English former professional footballer, born in Northampton

Northampton

Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...

, who played in the Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

 as a midfielder

Midfielder

A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

 for Wycombe Wanderers

Wycombe Wanderers F.C.

Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football team from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, which has been promoted to Football League One after finishing third in Football League Two in the season 2010–11. The club's nicknames are "The Chairboys" and "The Blues", and they play...

. In July 2009 he was appointed reserve team manager at Queens Park Rangers

Queens Park Rangers F.C.

Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...

.

Career

Ryan started his career at Berkhamsted Town

Berkhamsted Town F.C.

Berkhamsted Town F.C. was a football club from Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. The club was founded in 1919, played in a black & white strip, and was nicknamed the Lilywhites or Berko. The team began the 2008–09 season playing in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division, but was dissolved in...

 and was signed for Wycombe Wanderers

Wycombe Wanderers F.C.

Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football team from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, which has been promoted to Football League One after finishing third in Football League Two in the season 2010–11. The club's nicknames are "The Chairboys" and "The Blues", and they play...

 in August 1990 by Martin O'Neill

Martin O'Neill

Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, OBE, is a Northern Irish football manager and former player.Until resigning the post on 9 August 2010, he was manager of Aston Villa. Starting his career in his native Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playing career with Nottingham...

. "Rhino", as he is nickname

Nickname

A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....

d, played in over 500 games for the club and scored more than 50 goals, including Wycombe's goal in the 2001 FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 semi-final against Liverpool

Liverpool F.C.

Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...

.

Following the departure of manager Tony Adams

Tony Adams (footballer)

Tony Alexander Adams, MBE is an English football manager and former player.Adams spent his entire playing career of 22 years as a defender at Arsenal. He is considered one of the greatest Arsenal players of all time by the club's own fans and was included in the Football League 100 Legends...

 in November 2004, Ryan was appointed caretaker manager

Caretaker manager

In association football, a caretaker manager is someone who takes temporary charge of the management of a football club, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caretaker may also be appointed if the regular manager is ill or unable to attend to his...

 until the appointment of permanent successor John Gorman

John Gorman (footballer)

John Gorman is a Scottish former football player and coach. He is currently Assistant Manager at MK Dons in the English League One....

. Gorman rewarded Ryan's service to the club by making him an assistant manager, along with fellow Blues legend Steve Brown. Ryan retired from professional football in April 2006. He was retained as a coach when Paul Lambert

Paul Lambert

Paul Christopher Lambert is a Scottish football manager and former player who is the manager of Norwich City. He won numerous trophies as a player, winning the Scottish Cup with St...

 took over as manager in June 2006, but left the club a year later when the coaching staff structure was reorganised for financial reasons.

He was promptly appointed by John Gregory, his former manager at Wycombe, as a youth team coach at Queens Park Rangers

Queens Park Rangers F.C.

Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...

, and promoted to reserve team manager in July 2009.

External links

• League stats at Neil Brown's site