Ryan Christie (born 22 February 1995) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or winger for Premier League club Bournemouth and the Scotland national team.
Christie began his career with Inverness Caledonian Thistle before joining Celtic in 2015, and had two spells on loan at Aberdeen. He has also represented the Scotland under-21 and full national teams.
Club career Inverness Caledonian Thistle Christie was born in Inverness in 1995; he is the son of footballer Charlie Christie, who was playing for Caledonian Thistle at the time and who had previously been a reserve player with Celtic.
Christie joined the Inverness Caledonian Thistle youth system aged 10, before eventually signing his first professional contract in 2011. He signed a new deal with the club under Terry Butcher, and was among several youngsters to be promoted to the club's first team.
Christie made his debut in the Scottish Premiership against Celtic on 29 December 2013. He came on as a substitute in the 100th minute in the Scottish League Cup Final against Aberdeen, a game that Inverness lost on penalties. Despite this, Christie helped the club finish in the top-six of the Scottish Premiership. His first goal for Inverness came in a 2–1 loss against Motherwell on 1 April 2014. Christie added two more goals later in the season against Dundee United and St Johnstone. After impressive displays for Inverness, Christie signed a new contract with the club at the end of the 2013–14 season.
Ahead of the 2014–15 season, Christie was told by John Hughes to challenge himself by fighting to regain his place in the team. He scored his first goal of the 2014–15 season in a 2–0 win over Hamilton Academical. Christie's performances against Dundee, Motherwell, Celtic, Kilmarnock and Partick Thistle saw him win the SPFL Young Player of the Month for August. During a match against St Mirren in October 2014, he was sent-off for the first time in his career – being dismissed by referee Willie Collum for two-bookable offences. Christie added to his earlier success by winning the SPFL Young Player of the Month award for February 2015, and his eye-catching form over the whole season subsequently saw him shortlisted for the Young Player of the Year award. Although he didn't win that accolade, he was later honoured with the SFWA Young Player of the Year award. Christie started the 2015 Scottish Cup Final and was later substituted for James Vincent, who scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory over Falkirk. After the match, Christie described winning the Scottish Cup as "unbelievable, hard to put into words".
Celtic 2015–16 On 1 September 2015, Christie joined Celtic on a four-year deal. After signing for the Scottish champions, Christie was immediately sent back to Inverness on a season-long loan deal. He sustained a knee injury against Motherwell in November, and was recalled by Celtic so he could work with their medical staff at their Lennoxtown training complex. In December 2015, Celtic announced they would be recalling Christie from his loan spell at Inverness.
Christie made his debut for Celtic on 23 January 2016 in their 3–1 win over St Johnstone, coming on as an 88th-minute substitute for Stuart Armstrong.
Aberdeen loans On 24 January 2017, Christie joined Aberdeen on loan until the end of the 2016–17 season. He scored his first goal for Aberdeen on 4 February 2017, in a 2–0 win against Partick Thistle. He helped Aberdeen finish second in the 2016–17 Scottish Premiership and progress to the 2017 Scottish Cup Final, but was unable to take part in the cup final because it was against his parent club Celtic.
Christie returned to Aberdeen on loan for most of the 2017–18 season, moving in June 2017 as part of a deal for Jonny Hayes.
2018–19 Christie returned to Celtic for the 2018–19 season. Neil Lennon, who returned to Celtic as manager later in the season, said in July 2019 that he had wanted to sign Christie for Hibernian during the summer of 2018 as part of a proposed deal for John McGinn. In the 2018–19 League Cup semi-final against Hearts at Murrayfield, Christie won a penalty, caused a goalkeeping error and hit a "wonderful left-foot shot" leading to each goal in the eventual 3–0 victory. Christie signed a new contract with Celtic in November 2018. On 2 December, he scored the only goal of the 2018 Scottish League Cup Final at Hampden against former club Aberdeen. His season ended abruptly on 14 April 2019 in the Scottish Cup semi-final, again at Hampden against Aberdeen, when he suffered facial fractures in an aerial collision with opponent Dominic Ball, who was sent off for the reckless nature of the challenge.Celtic star Ryan Christie shares gruesome photo showing damage from Dom Ball collision, Daily Record, 15 April 2019Ryan Christie to undergo facial surgery after incident in Celtic-Aberdeen Scottish Cup semi-final, The Scotsman, 16 April 2019
2019–20
Christie scored a hat-trick in a 7–0 win against St Johnstone in the first game of the 2019–20 Scottish Premiership season. In October 2020, he scored the opening goal of the 2019–20 Scottish Cup semi-final against Aberdeen (delayed from its usual April scheduling due the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland, which also led to Celtic being awarded the Premiership title after the season was curtailed) with a curling left-footed shot from outside the penalty area – Celtic won 2–0.Ryan Christie looking to end long wait for Scottish Cup final with Celtic after stunning strike in semi-final, Andrew Smith, The Scotsman, 1 November 2020 In the final against Hearts he scored a very similar goal,Ryan Christie Goals v Aberdeen and Hearts, Scottish Cup official YouTube channel, 21 December 2020; retrieved 29 March 2021 again the first of the match and with almost the same amount of time elapsed, but then missed his penalty in the subsequent shootout following a 3–3 draw after extra time; he was the only Celtic player to fail with his attempt as they won the trophy.Celtic win fourth straight Scottish Cup as Hazard's shootout saves break Hearts, Ewan Murray, The Guardian, 20 December 2020
Bournemouth On 31 August 2021, Christie moved to England, joining EFL Championship club Bournemouth on a three-year contract, for a reported transfer fee of around £1.5 million. On 11 September 2021, Christie came off the bench to make his Bournemouth debut in the side's 3–0 win over Barnsley. On 8 October 2022, he scored his first Premier League goal in a 2–1 victory over Leicester City.
In April 2025, he sustained a groin injury which would sideline him for the remainder of the 2024–25 season. Regardless, his performances up to that point earned him the Supporters' Player of the Season award from the club.
On 8 September 2026, in the third round of the 2026-27 EFL Cup, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 win over EFL Championship side Lincoln City.
International career On 25 August 2014, Christie was called up by Scotland U21. After being left on the bench against Slovakia U21, Christie finally made his Scotland U21 debut against Luxembourg U21 on 9 September 2014, coming on as a substitute for Lewis Macleod in the second half, which Scotland U21 won 3–0.
Christie received his first call-up to the senior Scotland squad for a friendly against the Netherlands in November 2017, and played the full 90 minutes of the 1–0 defeat. He scored his first international goal on 16 November 2019, opening the scoring with a curling shot from outside the penalty area in a 2–1 away win over Cyprus in UEFA Euro 2020 qualification.Cyprus 1 Scotland 2: Steve Clarke's side benefit from early lucky break to move into third place in Group I, Glasgow Times, 16 November 2019 In September 2020, he scored penalties in successive matches as Scotland drew with IsraelScotland 1–1 Israel: Nations League campaign begins with draw, STV News, 4 September 2020 and defeated the Czech Republic in the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League.Czech Republic 1 Scotland 2: David Marshall heroics and woodwork to rescue in Nations League victory, The Scotsman, 7 September 2020
In October 2020, Christie was required to pull out of the Scotland squad for a Euro 2020 play-off semi-final against Israel after being in close contact with Stuart Armstrong, who had tested positive for COVID-19. A month later, Christie returned to the team and scored Scotland's only goal in the Euro 2020 play-off final against Serbia; they won the tie on a penalty shootout after a 1–1 draw, qualifying for a major tournament for the first time in 22 years.
Christie was a member of Scotland's squad for UEFA Euro 2020, making one appearance at the tournament in the team's opening 2–0 defeat to the Czech Republic.
On 7 June 2024, Christie was named in Scotland's squad for UEFA Euro 2024. A week later, he started the opening match of the tournament against Germany, winning his 50th cap for Scotland (as did teammate Scott McTominay) in the 5–1 loss. He went on to appear as a substitute against both Switzerland and Hungary as Scotland finished bottom of Group A with one point from three matches.
On 19 May 2026, Christie was selected in the 26-man squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. In the second group stage game against Morocco, he and teammate Grant Hanley became only the 11th and 12th players to reach 70 caps for the men's team.
Career statistics Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupEuropeTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsInverness Caledonian Thistle2013–14Scottish Premiership1531010—1732014–15Scottish Premiership3546010—4242015–16Scottish Premiership133002020173Total63107040207610Celtic2015–16Scottish Premiership511000—612016–17Scottish Premiership51001010712018–19Scottish Premiership239302210038112019–20Scottish Premiership2411423014745202020–21Scottish Premiership3452110914672021–22Scottish Premiership 4000005191Total95271037239915141Aberdeen (loan)2016–17Scottish Premiership13621——1572017–18Scottish Premiership324522042438Total45107320425815Bournemouth2021–22Championship38310——3932022–23Premier League3211130—3622023–24Premier League3703031—4312024–25Premier League2922010—3222025–26Premier League2620010—2722026–27Premier League4000131063Total166871941018313Career total36955317226461146379
International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsScotland2017102018402019612020532021100202291202310020241322025622026102Total7411
Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Christie goal
+ List of international goals scored by Ryan ChristieNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition116 November 2019GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus1–02–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification24 September 2020Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland1–01–12020–21 UEFA Nations League B37 September 2020Andrův stadion, Olomouc, Czech Republic2–12–12020–21 UEFA Nations League B412 November 2020Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia1–01–1 UEFA Euro 2020 qualification524 September 2022Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland2–12–1 2022–23 UEFA Nations League B63 June 2024Estádio Algarve, Faro/Loulé, Portugal1–02–0 Friendly712 October 2024Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia1–01–22024–25 UEFA Nations League A89 October 2025Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland1–13–12026 FIFA World Cup qualification915 November 2025Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece2–32–32026 FIFA World Cup qualification1030 May 2026Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland4–14–1Friendly116 October 2026Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland1–01–22026–27 UEFA Nations League B
Honours Inverness Caledonian Thistle Scottish Cup: 2014–15
Celtic Scottish Premiership: 2015–16, 2018–19, 2019–20 Scottish Cup: 2018–19, 2019–20 Scottish League Cup: 2018–19, 2019–20
Individual SPFL Young Player of the Month: August 2014, February 2015 SFWA Young Player of the Year: 2014–15
References
External links
Profile at the AFC Bournemouth website