Club Ryan enjoyed a lengthy club career as a dual player with
Upperchurch–Drombane. In 1998 he enjoyed the biggest success off his club career when he won a
championship medal in the intermediate grade.
Inter-county Minor Ryan first played for Tipperary as a dual minor in 1987. After losing out to
Cork in the provincial football championship, he later collected a
Munster medal with the hurlers following a 2–11 to 1–9 defeat of the same opposition. Tipperary later qualified for the All-Ireland final against
Offaly with Ryan lining out at right wing-back. The game was a close affair, with Tipperary eventually losing out by 2–8 to 0–12.
Under-21 Two years later in 1989, Ryan had joined the Tipperary under-21 teams in both codes. He won his first
Munster medal with the hurlers following a remarkable 5–16 to 1–6 thrashing of
Limerick. Tipperary later faced old rivals Offaly in the subsequent All-Ireland decider. A huge crowd at
O'Moore Park of over 30,000 saw one of the great finals, as Tipperary narrowly triumphed by 4–12 to 3–11. It was a first
All-Ireland medal for Ryan. Ryan added a second Munster under-21 medal to his collection in 1990 as Tipperary defeated Limerick by 2–21 to 1–11.
Kilkenny provided the opposition in the subsequent All-Ireland final, however, Tipperary were defeated by 2–11 to 1–11.
Senior Ryan made his senior championship debut for Tipperary on 9 June 1991 when he came on as a substitute in a 2–18 to 0–10 Munster semi-final defeat of Limerick. He started the subsequent Munster decider against Cork on the bench, but was once again introduced as a substitute. Although that game ended in a draw, Ryan impressed the selectors and was rewarded with a starting berth for the replay. A 4–19 to 4–15 victory gave Ryan his first
Munster medal. The subsequent All-Ireland decider saw a first clash between Tipperary and Kilkenny in twenty years. The opening thirty-five minutes saw both sides trade score-for-score, however, a controversial 20-metre free, miss-hit by
Michael Cleary, landed in the net and gave Tipperary a lead which they never surrendered. The final score of 1–16 to 0–15 resulted in a Tipp victory and a first
All-Ireland medal for Ryan. After surrendering their titles in 1992, Tipperary bounced back the following year. A 3–27 to 2–12 trouncing of
Clare gave Ryan a second Munster medal. In 1994 Ryan added a
National Hurling League medal to his collection following a 2–14 to 0–12 defeat of
Galway. Tipperary went into decline following this and suffered a number of championship defeats, however, the introduction of the new "back-door system" saw Ryan's side reach the All-Ireland final again in 1997. Clare provided the opposition in the first all-Munster All-Ireland decider. The game itself was one of the best of the decade. Clare were well on top for much of the game, however,
Liam Cahill and
Eugene O'Neill scored twice for Tipperary in the last ten minutes.
John Leahy missed a goal chance in the last minute while another Tipp point was controversially ruled wide. At the full-time whistle Clare had won by a single point by 0–20 to 2–13. Ryan retired from inter-county hurling following Tipperary's exit from the
2000 championship.
Inter-provincial Ryan also had the honour of lining out for
Munster in the inter-provincial series of games. After defeat in 1993 and 1994, Ryan secured his first
Railway Cup medal in 1995 following a narrow 0–13 to 1–9 defeat of
Ulster. Two years later in 1997 Ryan won a second Railway Cup medal as
Leinster were defeated by 0–14 to 0–10. ==Managerial career==