Who is Ryan Williams? Football player who gave up Australian passport to play for India

The land down under has just given Indian football its best gift ever in probably a decade. With the country's scope in the sport in a dire state, Australian footballer Ryan Williams has emerged as a beacon of hope.

The Australian-born forward recently gave up the citizenship of the country of his birth in order to represent the Indian national football team. On March 31, 2026, the men's team won an international game for the first time in Kochi along with winning a match for the first time in almost seven months.

The team scored two goals from open play and defeated Hong Kong's team with a 2-1 score. However, the highlight of the day at the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers was the goal from the team's latest debutant, Ryan Williams.

The 32-year-old Bengaluru FC winger broke free from his marker in the fourth minute to deliver a well-timed cross by Manvir Singh from the right flank. Soon, the fans in the stands at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi lit up with loud cheers and infectious energy.

Who is Ryan Williams?

India's new 10, Ryan Williams was born on October 28, 1993, in Subiaco, Perth, Australia. His mother Audrey was born in an Anglo-Indian family in erstwhile Bombay (now Mumbai) before she moved to England and later Australia. His father Eric was British.

One could say that Williams was passed down his football skills through a generation, and the sport is in his blood, literally. Audrey played football first in England and then represented Western Australia for seven years after moving Down Under in 1974. Eric was a semi-professional footballer who went on to pursue coaching careers in Myanmar and Malaysia. His twin Aryn and elder brother Rhys are also professional football players.

Even Audrey's father and Ryan's maternal grandfather, Linky Gorstate, contributed to the Indian football history. It was his goal which helped Bombay defeat Bengal in the semi-finals of the 1956 Santosh Trophy.

As a result of their parents' nationalities and their love for football, the brothers are eligible to represent four countries: Australia and India through their mother and England and Wales through their father.

After his grassroots training in Australia, Williams moved to England in 2010 and joined Portsmouth's academy. A year later, he was promoted to the senior side and made his club debut against Middlesbrough.

He went on to enjoy an extended career in England, turning out for Fulham, Barnsley, Rotherham United and Oxford United across League One, Two and Championship football.

In 2022, he moved back to Australia and signed for Perth Glory and spent a session with the A-League team before joining Bengaluru in the Indian Super League (ISL) in 2023. He has represented Australia at the 2012 AFC U-19 Championship in the UAE and the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey.

Journey to India

It was during his time at BFC that the idea of playing for the Indian team took root in his mind. However, Williams had given up the citizenship of his birth country to be able to play for India.

“All of my mum’s family — which is the Indian side of my family — are in Perth. That’s who I grew up with. So, when we went around my nana’s house, it was always Indian food and loads of uncles, aunties and cousins everywhere. There was always that importance to family, and coming to India and seeing that was kind of like putting two and two together,” Williams told Sportstar.

However, he said it was his wife who pushed him to acquire the Indian passport. “It came to a point where it was actually my wife who said, ‘Why don’t you just get the passport and let’s stay here. Let’s really push for this.’ Without my wife, I don’t think this would have happened because at that time, everybody was telling me no, and we just said, ‘Let’s stay.’ And in the end, perseverance prevailed,” he shared.

Indian law prohibits dual citizenship and the national sports policy requires only full citizens to represent the country. Even Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) and Persons of Indian Origin (POI) athletes must formally renounce their foreign passports before they can become eligible to play for India. But Williams chose to don the blue stripes in stride, giving up his Australian citizenship.

Interestingly, Williams is not the first of his kind. Arata Izumi, widely known as the Indian samurai, gave up his Japanese passport to play for his mother's country 2012 to represent his mother's country and ended up playing nine international matches for India between 2013 and 2014.

A beacon of hope

However, for India, Williams has arrived at just the right moment. Indian football has been trying its best but there has been a well-known slump for the past four decades. After the departure of Sunil Chhetri, the void of a right leader at the national level has never been felt more. Williams offers that pedigree, hopefully leading the country to more goals in the future.