Frustrating finale to an Australian adventure that promised so much
69 Tunnicliffe’s Pompey games
3 Tunnicliffe’s Pompey goals
21 Tunnicliffe’s Adelaide games
1 Tunnicliffe’s Adelaide goals
While Pompey are toasting the League One title, life away from Fratton Park has proven a little tough for one of the 2022-23 season’s squad.
Ryan Tunnicliffe embarked on an Australian adventure last summer after John Mousinho opted to release the central midfielder.
The former Manchester United man had long been linked with a move Down Under and subsequently signed for A-league side Adelaide United on a twoyear deal.
Life began encouragingly too, with Tunnicliffe registering his maiden goal in his second outing after coming off the bench in a 6-0 victory over Melbourne City in October 2023.
However, that would be the highlight of a frustrating season for the player as the club finished a disappointing eighth.
Ultimately, the 31-yearold would struggle for game time, finding himself on the bench for the final three months of a campaign which ended this month.
A maiden start in November against Sydney coincided with a 5-1 home defeat and, while Tunnicliffe did start other matches, the majority of his outings arrived as a substitute.
Of his 21 appearances, 11 were as a substitute, with just the one goal.
Tunnicliffe previously spent two years at Fratton Park, yet struggled to live up to a sensational start on the south coast.
Signed by Danny Cowley in June 2021, he began the 2021-22 campaign with a flurry of assists, while netted the winner against Shrewsbury. However, a hamstring injury sustained against Bolton in October 2021 sidelined him for three months when at the peak of his midfield powers.
Another injury at the start of 2022-23 kept him out for two months and, while he became a regular under Mousinho, ominously he was left out of the final three matches. It was therefore no surprise that Pompey declined to take up his contract option.