Born on 15 August 1989, Australian defender Ryan McGowan primarily plies his trade at central defence for Livingston. He stands tall at 6ft 3in (1.91m) and weighs in at 11st 11lb (75kg), donning the number 5 jersey.
His current market value hovers around £64k, as indicated by Transfermarkt.
In January 2008, McGowan joined Hearts in Scotland's Premiership. Over his various stints at Hearts, he notched a series of steady performance. After just one appearance in his inaugural season, he featured eight times in 2010-2011 before blooming in the subsequent season with 28 appearances and a brace of goals. During the 2012-13 season, he registered 20 appearances in the top tier league.
Over his stint at Hearts, McGowan was loaned twice to Championship clubs. His first loan spell was in October 2009 with Ayr United, during which he made 28 appearances and scored once. In February 2011, he joined Partick Thistle and made an equal number of appearances.
In January 2013, McGowan bid farewell to Hearts to join Chinese Super League side Shandong Taishan for an estimated fee of around £400k. Across two seasons in China's top tier, he featured 46 times and scored twice.
Switching continents, McGowan arrived back in Scotland's Premiership in January 2015 with Dundee United. After making 34 appearances across one and a half seasons, he returned to China in February 2016 with a move to Henan for around £300k.
From there, McGowan turned into a football globetrotter. After another stint in Chinese football at Guizhou, he transferred to Sharjah in the UAE Pro League in August 2017. In January 2018, he returned to British football with Bradford City in England's League One, before being loaned to Dundee in Scotland's Premiership the following year where he made 15 appearances.
After his time at Bradford City concluded, he returned to his homeland Australia to join Sydney FC in July 2019. For two seasons, McGowan donned the Sydney FC jersey in the A-League, making a total of 48 appearances.
After a brief stint in Kuwait with Al Kuwait, McGowan came back to Scotland in July 2022, joining St Johnstone in the Championship. Over the 2022-2024 period, he made 57 appearances and scored twice. As of July 2024, he has played with Premiership side Livingston, making 39 appearances and counting, to present date of 2025-2026 season.
He has also featured prominently in cup competitions, making five starts in the 2025-2026 League Cup with Livingston. He also scored once in three starts in the 2024-2025 Scottish Cup and made four appearances in the Premiership Play-offs for Livingston during the same year.
