Ryan Townsend

Ryan Townsend (born 2 September 1985) is an Australian former soccer player.

Biography Townsend was born in Manchester, in the United Kingdom, but was raised in Perth, Western Australia. His father was a former professional footballer, George Townsend. After growing up in Australia he returned to the UK having earned a place in Burnley's youth development set-up. Townsend could have stayed at Burnley but they could not extend his contract due to ECU Joondalup (his club in Perth) demanding a large development fee. Townsend instead returned to Perth where he started to train with Perth Glory before playing two games in 2005 on a short-term contract. Townsend then joined Wanneroo City in the Football West State League, before he was offered a full-time contract with Perth Glory in place of Daniel Vasilevski for the A-League 2006-07 season. He was released four games before the end of the A-League season after a single appearance and then decided to play in Indonesia with Persiba Balikpapan until 2008.

Australian career He has played for the Australian U20 side, the "Young Socceroos", three times. A highlight for Townsend was scoring against Japan in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship.