IN late 2020, Shannon’s Ryan Nolan was on the brink of something big.
A graduate of Inter Milan’s academy, the young centre back had been on the bench for Spanish club side Getafe twice in La Liga games. He was a couple of days away from making his club debut in the Copa Del Rey (Spanish Cup). He was on the brink of a career disaster.
Two days before he was set to make his debut for one of Spain’s bigger clubs he tore his cruciate ligament, and more than a year out of football would follow.
The 24 year old is back on his feet now, literally and figuratively, anchoring the Raith Rovers defence in the Scottish Championship.
For the first time he has had a long run of games in a club’s first team, rebuilding his sharpness and confidence.
Nolan was eight years old and attending Clonmoney National School, when his parents opted to move the family to Spain. “We used to go on holiday and my parents decided to try it for a year. My brother and myself loved it and we stayed there,” he says of the relocation.
Ryan had been playing for Park Rangers before leaving and football helped him find his feet in Spain.
Always talented, he said it was only when he was a teenager he started thinking about playing professionally. “My Dad used to play as a defender as well. Since I was young I’ve played at the back and I’m quite tall. I was probably one of the best at my age group, but I didn’t really think about it much until I was 14 or 15 and then I started to think about making it as a professional.”
The fact that Inter Milan took him at the age of 16 shows how apparent his ability was, but it meant another move. “It was very hard because I was on my own. I was just 16 and it was tough to go to another country, learn another language and meet new people. You have the pressure of playing for a big team and all that goes with it. But it was too big of an opportunity to say no to really. I definitely had to give it a go and if I didn’t like it i could go back home, but I did well over there.”
He would go on to captain their U-19 side, but with Antonio Conte at the helm as he was maturing, there were no opportunities at one of Europe’s biggest clubs. “When you get to that age and you either get into the first team or you move out, go out on loan or you go somewhere else. Obviously Conte got in that year, and he brought in big players, Lukaku, Sanchez and those, so the youngsters never really had an opportunity. It’s hard enough anyway to get into one of the biggest teams in Europe, but at that time there was never really a chance for any of us.”
Inter still saw something in their tall Irish defender, and he went out on loan to Serie C side Giana Erminio. He started quite well, but in January 2020, Italy went into lockdown.
Opportunity knocked again later that year when he signed for Getafe.
He made a positive start, was promoted to train with the first team, and was all set to make an impact when injury struck. “Getafe had been in the Europa League the year before, they had a good team. I felt like I was doing really well in training, had been on the bench for the first team, and the manager did really like me. In the first round of the cup we were going to play a lower league team and I was going to play, but that injury happened before it.”
The injury saw him lose over a year of his career, and coming back from the cruciate the same player is not a certainty by any means.
However Getafe didn’t want to give up on him, but he knew it was time for another move. “Getafe wanted to renew my contract, but the B team had gone down a division. The first team manager who had liked me had gone to Valencia. There were a few things and I didn’t feel there was any point in me staying.”
He moved to England, to Northampton Town, with a view to reinvigorating his career, but it became apparent he wouldn’t get the opportunities that a young player who has missed a lot of football needs. “I signed an 18 month deal and the first few months for me were just to get up to speed after so long out, I wasn’t match fit or anything like that. The plan was to push on and get into the team this season. Obviously the gaffer felt I was a good player or he wouldn’t have given me the deal, but I was talking to him in pre pre-season and he said he didn’t think I’d get as many matches as I wanted. I knew I needed to play week in week out after being out for a year with my knee injury. I couldn’t be in and out of the team.
“Northampton’s squad was very big, it was a good squad, and for this year for me it was about playing as many games as I could. I only turned 24 a few weeks ago, and after being out for a year I needed to find myself again, to get my confidence back and start doing well.”
And so last summer he signed for Raith Rovers, with 2022/23 seeing him establishing himself at the heart of its defence.
It has provided Nolan with an injection of confidence along with badly needed regular football at last. “At the moment I’ve played 29 games. For the first few games I had to get up to speed, get some match sharpness. In the last few months I’ve pushed on a lot, I feel fit, feel confident and back to myself.
“It (his career) has been stop and start because of the Covid and the injury. When you’re out for so long you miss a lot of football. A lot of players struggle coming back, for me it was important to keep my head right, get back playing games. I feel I’ve done that now and I’m happy where I am at the moment.”
The Scottish Championship is a higher standard than some people might think, with Nolan having to handle players who have already done a lot in the game. “You have a lot of centre forwards who played in the Championship or League One in England or in the Premier League here in Scotland for a good few years. They’re good, experienced centre forwards. It’s really good for me this year to play against these guys with a lot of experience, for me as a young centre half.
“We’re probably the team (in the division) that plays the most football. We definitely have very good technical and talented players. We do play quite good football to be fair. Sometimes it’s not easy because you get these big physical teams, and some small pitches, but we do play decent football.”
For the first time in a few years things are going well. “My family were over and watched me play last week. I’ve played basically every game I could have, there’s another few to go now. I feel I’m doing well, I still feel there’s another bit to go. I’m getting better and better the more games I play. I needed this year to get my fitness and everything back, secondly to get it in my head that my knee is good and thirdly confidence, when you’re out for so long you do lose belief and confidence. You ask yourself a lot of questions, will I be back like I was. Definitely this year has been very positive for me to get back and do well again.”
It has been a good season so far, but he’s not sure what will happen after it ends. “I’m enjoying my football here, the lads are really good, the manager, the fans have really taken to me. I just want to finish the season well with the team, and in the summer see what happens. I’m happy at the moment with the season and how I’ve played.”
The mental scars left by a career-threatening injury have now healed, he feels. “Football is my life, it’s been my dream since I was a young kid. I’ve been training and playing every day for so long, and for that to be taken away from you, for you to be on crutches and not able to do anything, it’s really, really tough. You see other people progressing and you’re like ‘I’m better than those players, but can’t do anything about it’. It’s frustrating, you do get really down. There were a lot of days when you doubt yourself, think is this what I really want to do. You don’t see the future, just the present and you can’t play. Now I see the light at the end of the tunnel, I’m playing week in week out, enjoying my football again. Hopefully it’s onwards and upwards from here.”
He still feels he could win an international cap.”I was in with the 16s, the 17s and 18s. With the U-21s, I was in the pre-list. I think there was a 23 or 24 man pre-list and it got knocked down to 18. The lads that were there, the centre backs I was competing with were Darragh O’Shea, Nathan Collins and Liam Scales (O’Shea and Collins are now full internationals while Scales has been in senior squads). I’m Irish and it’s every young lad’s dream to put on that green jersey and play for my country. Of course that’s still the dream and hopefully I can keep progressing.”
With all his extended family in Shannon, he will be back there when the season ends. “My grandparents, uncles and aunts and cousins are there, so after the season is over I’ll go back for a week and see everyone. Might take in a hurling game as well, I used to play it when I was younger as well and I enjoy watching it.”
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.