Harry Birtwistle

Ryan James Harry Birtwistle (born 1 December 2003) is a Singaporean professional footballer who plays as a right wing-back for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Early life

Harry Birtwistle was born in Singapore on 1 December 2003 to an English father, John Birtwistle and a Singaporean Chinese mother, Rachel. He holds a Singapore passport.

Club career

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Harry Birtwistle was first spotted and scouted by the Wolves academy staff when he was eight years old, as part of a Wolves international training camp in Singapore. Birtwistle then moved from Singapore to England in 2017 and he signed a scholarship with Wolverhampton Wanderers. He broke into the under-23 side at the age of 17 and eventually started training with the first team after impressing the coaching staff.

On 28 October 2021, it was announced that Birtwistle signed his first professional contract with the club which will run until the summer of 2024, making him the first Singapore-born player to sign for a Premier League club.

Personal life

Harry Birtwistle had applied to renounce his Singapore citizenship, but it was denied as Singapore's Ministry of Defence indicated he had yet to fulfil his National Service (NS) obligations. His family "stated that [he] would not be registering for NS". His father, John, would later release a statement that the changes on work permit requirements for non-British citizens following the Brexit had made it essential for Harry to keep his British citizenship to pursue a football career in the Premier League, and Harry had not wanted to intentionally skip NS.

Career statistics

As of matches played 7 March 2022