Ryan Porteous has travelled from Dalkeith in Midlothian to Los Angeles, building his experience in Major League Soccer while aiming to reignite his Scotland career in Glasgow against North Macedonia on Friday.
Career beginnings from Dalkeith
Ryan Porteous is from Dalkeith in Midlothian, and his career began with the Hibernian Under-20s, including a loan spell at Edinburgh City. He then went on to play more than 150 games for the Hibernian first team and, after moving south of the border, made more than 80 appearances for Watford.
Ryan Porteous is 27 years old and moved to Major League Soccer in August last year, joining Los Angeles, described as the cross-town rivals of LA Galaxy. He has already racked up 52 appearances for the club.
Asked about his hometown and his journey, Ryan Porteous laughed and said: "Dalkeith, I know man. I could be the first ever, actually, to be fair."
Life in Los Angeles and MLS demands
Ryan Porteous stays in Pasadena and has chosen to live close to the training base. He said: "It's some place. It's good. I stay in Pasadena. So a little bit outside the temptation zone, as I call it. I stay pretty close to the practice facility as I can't be doing with the traffic every day when I'm in and out to training."
He says he is enjoying playing in Major League Soccer but admits the schedule and travel initially surprised him. Ryan Porteous said: "I'm enjoying it. There's been a lot of games. It's probably something I didn't realise when I went over there, how many games there were in terms of travel and dealing with long flights, recovery times and things like that. That caught me off guard a little bit. It was tough, but I think, once you start getting into the swing of it, it's good."
Reflecting on his recent form, Ryan Porteous assessed his consistency and the varying levels across the league: "I think I've probably had one of my most consistent seasons over the last three or four years. The level varies, I think, between every team and every position."
He also highlighted the type of opponents he faces in MLS and the league's growth: "I'm fortunate and unfortunate at the same time that the majority of the team's best players are number 10s, strikers, or wingers, so every game for me is really tough and the league's growing out there. You see it, there's more money getting put into it. There's bigger names coming out that, you know, aren't just coming out for retirement. I think it's a good place for me to be."
Facing world-class players
Ryan Porteous has played against Lionel Messi, described as an Inter Miami veteran and a certain Argentine superstar who has just retired from international football. Speaking about that match, he said: "I don't know if I enjoy being up against Messi like that, but we had a good night that night. But that was one where you just could never settle. We managed to get the win, so I'll take that."
He underlined that MLS regularly pits him against top-level talent, not only Messi: "You're playing against world-class players. Even if you take Messi out of it, you're still playing against probably good Premier League forwards with the amount of money that these guys are getting paid. So, for me, it's playing at that level all the time and being used to coming up against these top players."
Ambitions with Scotland
Ryan Porteous' last Scotland cap came against Greece in March 2025. He is determined to notch up many more appearances for Scotland under Sebastien Pocognoli, who has recalled him following an injury to Swansea City's Stephen Welsh, and he is hoping to rekindle his Scotland career in Glasgow on Friday against North Macedonia.
Ryan Porteous said the Scotland manager is probably still working out his selections and has been handing opportunities to players. He said: "That's the same as everyone. The manager is probably still figuring out who he wants to select and he's given boys an opportunity in most games. For me, it's all about just putting in a good representation of myself and being professional and doing what I do."
