Highly-rated defender joins Kidsgrove Athletic

Ryder joined Leek from neighbours Congleton Town in the summer of 2021, having impressed for two years in the North West Counties Premier Division.

He previously came through the Port Vale ranks as a scholar and was also on the books at now-Premier League side Wolves.

Ryder has missed almost a year of football after suffering a serious knee injury last season. He had made 28 appearances for the Blues during the 2022/23 campaign before suffering the injury setback.

He took to social media last month to confirm he had played his first minutes since injury, but had yet to feature competitively for Leek this season.

Now he joins a Kidsgrove side currently languishing in a mid-table position in the NPL West Division after a run of eight games without victory.

Nevertheless, they remain 15th in the division and 11 points clear of the bottom two ahead of Saturday's home game against Nantwich Town.

Manager Scott Dundas said: "I hope that signing Josh will give us the boost we all need to get back to winning games.

"With numerous phone calls and a couple of meetings, I'm delighted to have him on board.

"Josh is an outstanding talent and a real coup for the club."