Ryan Thomas Porteous (born 25 March 1999) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC and the Scotland national team.
Raised in Dalkeith in Midlothian, Porteous supported Hibernian in childhood and attended Dalkeith High School. He played youth football for Edinburgh club Edina Hibs and then Aberdeen before returning to Edinburgh to sign for his boyhood club. After establishing himself in the Hibernian youth system, he was loaned to Edinburgh City for the 2016âÂÂ17 season and scored goals that secured wins against Annan Athletic (Edinburgh City's first in the SPFL) and Arbroath.
He made his first team debut for Hibernian in a 2017âÂÂ18 Scottish League Cup group stage match against Montrose. He then scored two goals in his second appearance for Hibs, a 6âÂÂ1 win against Arbroath in the same competition. Although becoming a regular in the senior squad during that season (30 times an unused substitute in addition to six Scottish Premiership matches in which he did feature), Porteous also continued to appear for the club's Under-20s, whose campaign ended with a 'double' of SPFL Development League and Scottish Youth Cup.
During October 2018, Porteous signed a new contract with Hibernian, which was due to run until the summer of 2023. He suffered a knee injury in January 2019 that required surgery, which prevented him from playing for the rest of the 2018âÂÂ19 season.
On 20 December 2019, Porteous was shown a straight red card for a dangerous tackle on Rangers player Borna Barià ¡iÃÂ, with the incident provoking an angry confrontation between both coaching teams. Porteous suffered a serious knee injury during a Scottish Cup match at Dundee United in January 2020.
He returned from the injury ahead of the 2020âÂÂ21 season, in which Hibs finished in third place and reached the 2021 Scottish Cup Final. Hibs turned down a bid of around ã1 million from Millwall for Porteous in January 2021.
His 2021âÂÂ22 season was disrupted by suspensions, as he was sent off twice and also banned retrospectively once. In the same week as his widely praised debut for the Scotland national team, Porteous scored his first goal of the 2022âÂÂ23 season with the opener in a 2âÂÂ0 victory at Ross County on 1 October 2022. Hibs announced in November that Porteous had turned down their offer of a new contract.
In January 2023, Porteous was subject of interest from Serie A side Udinese and EFL Championship side Blackburn Rovers. Hibs accepted an offer from Watford, another Championship club, of around ã450,000.
On 27 January 2023, Porteous signed a contract with Watford which was due to run until the end of the 2026âÂÂ27 season. He scored a goal during his first appearance for Watford, a 2âÂÂ2 draw at Reading on 4 February.
On 3 February 2025, Porteous joined EFL Championship side Preston North End on loan until the end of the season.
On 4 August 2025, Porteous signed for Major League Soccer side Los Angeles FC until the end of the 2028 season, with an option to extend until 2029. Los Angeles FC also had to pay Toronto FC $100,000 in Discovery Priority rights to complete the signing.
Porteous was named in the Scotland under-19 squad for the elite round of qualification for the 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship.
Selected for the Scotland under-21 squad in the 2018 Toulon Tournament, the team lost to Turkey in a penalty-out and finished fourth. After he made his debut at the tournament, he made 14 appearances in total over the following two years.
He earned a first senior Scotland call-up for Euro 2020 qualifiers against Cyprus and Kazakhstan in November 2019, but did not play in either fixture. He was added to squads in October 2020 and November 2021.
Porteous was recalled to the squad in September 2022 and, following injuries to Kieran Tierney and Scott McKenna, made his full international debut in a Nations League match with Ukraine. The team produced a solid defensive performance to record a goalless draw that secured first place in the group, thereby sealing promotion to the top level of the Nations League and a guaranteed play-off appearance in qualifying for UEFA Euro 2024. Porteous was singled out for praise by his teammates, manager and members of the media, with boss Steve Clarke describing his performance as "outstanding" and pundit Michael Stewart hailing a "debut to remember". Captain John McGinn, a former teammate at Hibernian, said "(Porteous) was first class. A 10-out-of-10 performance. If he keeps on performing like that there's no doubt he can be a Scotland regular for years to come."
He scored his first international goal on 8 September 2023, during a 3âÂÂ0 win in a Euro 2024 qualifier against Cyprus.
On 7 June 2024, Porteous was named in Scotland's squad for the UEFA Euro 2024 finals in Germany. A week later, he started the opening match of the competition against Germany and was shown a red card in the 45th minute for a foul on ðlkay GündoÃÂan. The foul also resulted in a penalty kick, which was scored by Kai Havertz to make the score 3âÂÂ0 in an eventual 5âÂÂ1 loss for the Scots. UEFA later announced that Porteous would be suspended for Scotland's remaining two group stage games for "serious rough play". Scotland would be eliminated after finishing bottom of their group and Porteous was accordingly denied a second Euro appearance.
His older sister Emma is also a footballer who played for Hibernian and was selected for Scotland at youth level before taking a university scholarship in Pennsylvania to combine her sporting and academic studies. Ryan missed her graduation to play for Scotland Under-21s.
As of 2018, Porteous was signed to an agency operated by tennis player Andy Murray.
In October 2020, Porteous declared his support for the Common Goal charity.
Porteous was fined by both a court and Hibernian in June 2022, after he pleaded guilty to a charge of culpable and reckless conduct for hitting a woman with a plastic tumbler.