Ryan Gilligan

Ryan James Gilligan (born 18 January 1987) is an English footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder.

Ryan Gilligan
Personal information
Full name Ryan James Gilligan
Date of birth (1987-01-18) 18 January 1987
Place of birth Swindon, England
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Youth career
2003–2005 Watford
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2012 Northampton Town 181 (20)
2011 → Torquay United (loan) 5 (0)
2011 → Newport County (loan) 6 (0)
2012–2013 Östersund 22 (3)
2013 Brage 5 (1)
2014 Dalkurd 21 (0)
2015 Umeå 22 (0)
2016–2017 PS Kemi 28 (1)
2017–2018 TP-47 33 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11:34, 15 October 2018 (UTC)

Personal life

Gilligan's father, Jimmy Gilligan, was also a professional footballer and is the current head coach of the Nike Football Academy. He started his career at Watford just like Ryan and played most notably for the Welsh clubs Cardiff City and Swansea City.

Career

Born in Swindon, Wiltshire, Gilligan joined the Watford Academy at the age of 16 before Northampton Town took over the third year of his scholarship in August 2005 after being tracked by then manager Colin Calderwood.[1] In his first professional season, Gilligan was used mostly as a striker from the bench. He did however score four goals in part of the promotion side that finished second in League Two. The next season was a poor one as he could not score in twenty-five appearances.

For the 2007–08 season, Gilligan moved into midfield where he has looked to have found his natural position, here he played regularly in the first-team scoring four goals in 28 starts. At the end of the season, he signed a new contract keeping him at Northampton until the end of the 2009–10 season.[2] Things went well for Gilligan in the 2008–09 season even though he only had a return of three goals in 31 games, he was described as an "integral part of the team".

Gillgan was later involved in Northampton Town's relegation to League Two. He then had much more productive season during 2009–10, scoring 11 goals and eight assists from midfield as Northampton narrowly missed a spot in the League Two playoffs, he was made captain for the last five games of the season and signed a new two-year contract in May 2010.[3]

On 10 February 2010, Gilligan was loaned out to Torquay United,[4] on a one-month loan as they chased promotion from League Two. He spent a month at the club, making six appearances and had an impact with back to back wins later leading to Torquay finishing seventh ensuring their place in the League Two Playoffs

Gilligan signed on loan for Newport County on 18 August 2011,[5] with a view to a permanent move. His father also had a brief spell on loan at Newport County. However, Ryan returned to the Northampton after his loan spell was completed.

Upon expiry of his contract at Northampton Town in 2012, Ryan joined Swedish club Östersunds FK, managed by ex English Footballer Graham Potter . Within his first season at the club had their highest ever finish in history as they won promotion to the Superettan. Upon conclusion of the season in December 2012, Ryan extended his stay at ÖFK by signing a 6-month contract extension.

After spending 12 months at ÖFK and upon expiry of his contract, Ryan opted to leave the club signing for Borlänge based club IK Brage for a period of up to 2.5 years. With IK Brage going into administration, Gilligan opted to leave and signed a contract with local rivals Dalkurd FF, this proved to be a very good move. Considered the best central midfielder of the 2014 season Gilligan was crucial in the teams playing style. At the end of the season he decided to move back to the north of Sweden and sign with Umea FC a club that had been keen on Ryan for several years. It also gave him the opportunity to work with Johan Sandhal who Gilligan openly praised on several occasions. he wears the number 10 jersey

On 1 April 2017, Gilligan left PS Kemi,[6] joining TP-47 on 19 April 2017, on a one-year contract with the option of an additional year.[7] In June 2018, he took over some of the coaching responsibilities at the club after they sacked manager Aleksey Zhukov.[8]

Career statistics
As of match played 1 November 2015[9]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Northampton Town 2005–06[10] League Two 2340020-254
2006–07[11] League One 230101010260
2007–08[12] 384301010434
2008–09[13] 313203000363
2009–10[14] League Two 4282110324811
2010–11[15] 221103000261
2011–12[16] 2000000020
Total 18120911105220623
Torquay United (loan) 2010–11[15] League Two 5000000050
Newport County (loan) 2011–12[16] Conference 6000000060
Östersund 2012 Division 1 11200--112
2012 Superettan 11100--111
Total 22300----223
Brage 2013 Superettan 5110--60
Dalkurd 2014 Division 1 21020--230
Umeå 2015 Division 1 22000--00
Career total 262241211105229027

References
  1. Fudge, Simon (12 August 2005) Cobblers snap up Hornet Sky Sports. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
  2. Gilligan stays with Cobblers Sky Sports. 10 May 2008. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
  3. Northampton midfielder Ryan Gilligan agrees contract BBC Sport. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
  4. BBC Football (10 February 2005) Torquay Sign Northampton Town's Ryan Gilligan.
  5. Northampton Town midfielder Ryan Gilligan joins Newport. BBC News (18 August 2011). Retrieved on 2 July 2013.
  6. "RYAN GILLIGAN EI JATKA PS KEMISSÄ". pskemi.fi (in Finnish). Palloseura Kemi Kings. 1 April 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  7. "TP-47 ja Ryan Gilligan sopimukseen". tp47.com (in Finnish). TP-47. 19 April 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  8. "TP-47:n valmennuskuviot uusiksi – nyt myös Aleksei Zhukov lähti penkin päästä" (in Finnish). Lapin Kansa. 6 June 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  9. "R.Gilligan". uk.soccerway.com. Soccerway. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  10. "Games played by Ryan Gilligan in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  11. "Games played by Ryan Gilligan in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  12. "Games played by Ryan Gilligan in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  13. "Games played by Ryan Gilligan in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  14. "Games played by Ryan Gilligan in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  15. "Games played by Ryan Gilligan in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  16. "Games played by Ryan Gilligan in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
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