Ryan Williams makes national debut in style

Dream debuts don’t come any better. A lot of the conversation before the tie against Hong Kong last month was about Bengaluru FC winger Ryan Williams’s first appearance for the Indian national team. And he certainly arrived in style.

Just 4 minutes into the game, Williams was on the scoresheet with his first shot on target. It was an inconsequential tie in Kochi, considering both teams were out of the reckoning for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. But there was a certain solace for the hosts in the 2-1 scoreline, their first win in what was otherwise a miserable qualifying campaign where they finished rock bottom in a pool featuring lower-ranked opposition.

“A sense of relief at first because there was so much talk about me before the game—how is he going to play, what is going to be his impact. All those thoughts were running in my head, but once I scored, I could go out and enjoy the experience a little more,” Australia-born Williams, 32, says.

It was the fruition of a dream that he had envisioned when he was signed by Bengaluru FC in 2023. “People obviously see the goal, but the entire journey started years ago. For it to finally happen is really special, probably one of my best memories in a football shirt,” he says.

The bond with India and football runs deep. His maternal grandparents, Philomena Joanna and Lincoln Eric “Linky” Grostate, grew up in Bombay (now Mumbai). Linky turned out for Central Railway Sports Club and Tata Sports Club, besides representing Bombay in the Santosh Trophy where he played alongside two future Olympians, S.S. Narayan and Neville D’Souza. Linky’s daughter and Williams’s mother, Audrey, too was born in Bombay. The family decided to move to England for better opportunities. Finally in 1974, they settled in Australia, where Audrey and her two brothers took to regular football.

“My mother played for Western Australia while my dad featured in the age group teams at Queens Park Rangers in England. We are all Arsenal supporters and there was memorabilia hanging all around our house in Perth. So there was a solid connection with football right through our growing years,” Williams recalls.

Birthdays and festivals were when the big family got together, the kids with a football in tow. While the adults got busy catching up, Williams and his three siblings lined up alongside their cousins for a kickabout in the backyard.

“It didn’t matter whether you liked football, you didn’t really have a choice. You were either playing football or you weren’t playing at all,” Williams says.

The Indian connection was never obvious during the early days, but they would hear stories about Mumbai from their grandparents over the odd meal of dal and rice. The three brothers, Rhys, Ryan and his twin Aryn, played their youth football in England and decided to turn professional. It wasn’t until Aryn first turned out for Manipur club, Neroca FC, in the I-League in 2017 that India was part of the daily conversations again.

“Aryn had only good things to say about playing in India. He first considered taking up Indian citizenship and playing for the national team. But he was told it wasn’t possible since he would need an OCI card and wait for five years. But when I did my research, I realised it wasn’t the case,” Williams recalls.

“Quite honestly, the number of people who told me it wasn’t possible is quite incredible. But I’m quite stubborn, so I just went with it,” he adds.

During his time off football, Williams connected with lawyers to understand the procedure. When he learned he had to spend 365 days in the country, he stayed back during the off season. A tedious application process followed that required him to gather documents related to his grandparents dating back to the 1940s, reach out to government agencies and visit multiple police stations for security clearance.

“They were baffled to have this guy walk in who was ready to give up his Australian and UK passports for an Indian one. I was even told once that it was illegal to have two passports. It was an absolute nightmare to deal with the entire process. But it was all for a good reason,” Williams says.

His Indian citizenship came through in November last year. He even travelled to Bangladesh for the AFC Asian Cup qualifier later that month, though he could only watch from the stands after he failed to receive an NOC (no objection certificate) in time from Football Australia. After five months, he was finally handed the No.10 for the Blue Tigers for their final fixture.

“A relief when you think about the work and effort put into this. And to finally step out in Kerala with my family there was incredible. I don’t think it could have been written any better,” he says. At a time when there’s a certain turmoil surrounding Indian football, Williams was enthused to see over 22,000 vociferous fans turn out in Kochi.

“I just feel this positivity is what we need going forward, to realise that we are in this together,” he says.

Shail Desai is a Mumbai-based freelance writer.