Ryan Townsend (born 2 September 1985) is an Australian footballer. 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. References 1985 births Living people Footballers from Manchester Australian soccer players Australian expatriate soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England English footballers A-League Men players Burnley F.C. players Wanneroo City SC players Perth Glory FC players Persiba Balikpapan players English Football League players Expatriate footballers in Indonesia Association football central defenders