Player Profile

A former Middlesbrough goalkeeper who played 40 games in League Two across a number of loan spells, Fryer was signed by Swindon as backup to loan keeper Matej Kovár ahead of the 2020/21 season. Having recovered from a horrific double leg break suffered in 2018 whilst on loan at Carlisle, Fryer was attempting to rebuild his career in professional football and accepted a short term contract until January.

With Kovár not impressing between the sticks, calls grew to give Fryer a chance to stake his claim. Having played just the one EFL Trophy game, in which he conceded four times, under Wellens, his first team chance came when John Sheridan took over the managerial reins, and he looked the part on debut a second EFL Trophy game against Forest Green, keeping a clean sheet. At 6’ 4, Fryer looked well equipped for the role, and whilst his distribution wasn’t up to his rival’s standard, Town were mostly after a solid keeper.

Retaining his spot for two league games against Shrewsbury and Accrington, it quickly became clear why Wellens hadn’t thrown Fryer in - he was seriously exposed and conceded three goals in both games, including a blooper reel moment when he air-kicked a simple backpass from Akin Odimayo which rolled into the net: to add insult to injury, the ball clipped his standing leg, leading to the own goal being recorded against Fryer himself. He didn’t feature again in the first team and was not offered a new contract when his short term deal expired in January.

Playing Record

Senior

Career details

Club	Details
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough	2009 (youth) rptd October 14th, 2014 (signed professional contract); released (rptd May 30th, 2020)
Hartlepool United Hartlepool United	January 26th, 2017 (loan)
Stevenage Stevenage	July 1st, 2017 (announced June 29th, 2017) (loan); expired (rptd May 5th, 2018)
Carlisle United Carlisle United	July 1st, 2018 (announced June 28th, 2018) (loan); contract terminated (rptd August 26th, 2018)
Swindon Town Swindon	September 10th, 2020 (unattached); released (rptd January 7th, 2021)
Middlesbrough Middlesbrough	rptd November 24th, 2022 (appointed academy goalkeeping coach)