“Overwhelming pride.”
Those are two words that represent Ryan Williams’ feelings as he thinks about the moment he could pull on an India jersey for the first time in Dhaka next week, during their Asian Cup qualifier against Bangladesh.
These seeds were sown some time ago by his maternal grandfather, the late Lincoln Grostedt, who played for Bombay in the Santosh Trophy in the 1950s. Even then, the message was to try to play in India, not for India, Williams told ESPN.
Since then, the Williams family has been trying. Ryan’s twin brother Arin played in India, notably for NEROCA FC, in late 2010, and explored the possibility of obtaining Indian citizenship. However, many people told Arin that it would not be possible, and he stopped pursuing it, as the Covid-19 pandemic also cut short his stint in India.
But Ryan Williams is the persistent type. “I can’t count the number of people who told me it wouldn’t be possible,” he says.
With the support of his family, he decided to give it a try, and stuck with it. This process began two years ago, the beginning of his stint with Bengaluru FC in the Indian Super League. He first had to live compulsorily in India for 12 months, before the process entered the documentation stage. Now that it’s all over, and with an Indian passport, Williams is as relieved as he is happy. Relief because the process was long and uncertain.
Now that it has been done, his grandfather’s dream will come true, and he will have the opportunity to play international football again six years later – after making his only appearance for Australia, in a friendly match against South Korea.
Williams’ motives were twofold. Honoring his grandfather’s memory played a part, but from his personal perspective, there was no higher stage for playing football than representing a country. Williams hopes to be a pioneer. It is a tough decision to give up a stronger diplomatic passport for an Indian passport. He says his wife pushed him to do it, too. He lives in Bengaluru with her and their two children, all of whom love life in the city.
Ryan Williams. Indian. ����#WeBFC pic.twitter.com/U0kW3HOGmV
– Bengaluru FC (@bengalurufc) November 6, 2025
“People looked at me like I had four heads when I told them I was giving up my Australian passport for an Indian one,” Williams says.
For the likes of Jan Dhanda and Danny Batth, who have spoken in the past of their desire to represent India but were not willing to give up their British passports, there is an example to follow. Williams says it will only take football in India forward.
Unfortunately for Williams, India’s poor showing in the Asia Cup qualifiers means he will not have competitive international players to make an impact for the next two years, at least. It’s unfortunate, he says, adding that he wished the citizenship process had gone a little faster, meaning he could have tried to make an impact on some games yet.
“That’s okay,” he says. “I don’t want to just make an impact on the field.”
He is a standard setter. Anyone who watches Bengaluru FC frequently will know that Williams demands the best from those around him, and he’s not afraid to let them know it on the pitch when they don’t. Can he become captain of the national team while he is new to the camp? For starters, he says he just wants to be in the camp, wear the India jersey and do his best.
Williams can also make a difference through the AIFF and its ways. Currently, India does not have a top-tier football league, and the AIFF announced on Friday that it had not received any offers in response to a request for proposals for the commercial rights of the Indian Super League.
“Sometimes you take a step back to take two steps forward,” Williams says, hoping that this setback is only temporary and that the league will resume activity soon.
“I have enjoyed my time in the ISL so far, it has been very well organised. I was looking forward to the calendar coming up. When will we play Kerala Blasters? When will we play Mohun Bagan away? What will I do on Christmas Day? I was excited, but hopefully we will be back soon, for the sake of these players, who depend on these salaries to run their families,” he says.
This was not just a step backwards, Indian football had taken several steps backwards in the last few months. The national team’s results were nothing short of terrible, the course of the game in the country was uncertain and chaotic, and the players were the ultimate losers.
And in the midst of it all, there was a man bold enough to put his faith in football in this country. Just like those people at the passport office looked at him in shock upon hearing his desire to shift from Australia to India, there is shock that he decided to put his trust in this system. It is up to the AIFF to ensure that Williams does not look back on this decision with regret.
For now, Williams just wants to continue living in India colours. The Bangladesh game came at short notice, but he says if he is fit and called up to the national team in March, his whole family will be there, watching Ryan fulfill a long-standing dream for the Williams family.
