Ryan James McGowan (born 15 August 1989) is an Australian footballer who plays as a defender for Scottish Championship club Livingston.

He has previously played for Para Hills Knights, Heart of Midlothian, Shandong Luneng Taishan, Dundee United, Henan Jianye, Guizhou Zhicheng, Al-Sharjah, Bradford City, Sydney FC, Kuwait SC and St Johnstone, with loan spells at Ayr United, Partick Thistle and Dundee.

McGowan began his career at Para Hills Knights[3] and was part of the South Australian Sports Institute,[4] before moving to Scottish Premier League club Hearts in 2006 and was promoted to the first-team in 2008.

[17] He began to establish himself as a member of the first team and played in the Europa League qualifiers against Paks[18][19] and in the second leg against Tottenham at White Hart Lane, where Hearts drew 0–0 (losing 5–0 on aggregate).

[21] Later in the same game he headbutted Ivan Sproule in the stomach, which the referee viewed and took no action, however the SFA compliance officer opened an investigation.

[24] The 2011–12 SPL season was a good one for McGowan, scoring 3 goals – including one in the 2012 Scottish Cup Final victory against Hibs – and winning the Hearts Young Player of the Year award.

[31] In his last match for Shandong, he scored the winning goal in the injury time against Jiangsu Sainty in the second leg of 2014 Chinese FA Cup final.

[33] He made his debut on 31 January 2015, as Dundee United beat Aberdeen 2–1 in the semi-final of the Scottish League Cup at Hampden Park.

[36] One month after leaving Henan Jianye, McGowan joined newly promoted Chinese Super League club Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng.

[50] McGowan made his competitive debut for the Lions on 13 July in a victory over Forfar Athletic in the Scottish League Cup group stage.

[54] McGowan started in the first match for the Young Socceroos in the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup, and received a yellow and a straight red against the Czech Republic for a studs up challenge which resulted in a penalty.

[55] He received his first call-up to the Australia senior squad in August 2012, when he was selected for the friendly match against Scotland,[56] making his debut as a late substitute replacing Sasa Ognenovski.