Before their untimely demise, Ryde Sports was for many years a successful and significant club on the Isle of Wight and in Hampshire, and an important part of the town.

After the Great War, Ryde joined the Isle of Wight League, twice being champions before returning the county fold in 1923 when they promptly won the East Division title at the first attempt.

For the 1997–98 campaign, Ryde appointed former Bournemouth FC Coach Larry Clay, who in turn brought with him a youthful group of players from the mainland to help rebuild the club.

Ryde played a friendly against Bristol City at Smallbrook Stadium with the professional side winning 7–0 with a certain Shaun Goater scoring 5 goals.

After an unsuccessful appeal for local support and enduring some heavy defeats, Ryde, rock bottom of the table, withdrew from the competition in December 1997 with their playing record (just 2 points gained from 17 games) being expunged.

A phoenix club, Ryde '98 was immediately formed to play in the local Isle of Wight League but the new team never climbed out of the basement division and folded in 2004.

Ryde Sports had many fine players during their long history, but there are two local lads worthy of special mention: Reg Flewin – who would later go on to famously captain the Portsmouth championship-winning sides of 1948/49 and 1949/50, and Roy Shiner, who enjoyed success in the 1950's with Sheffield Wednesday, where he scored an incredible 93 goals in 153 appearances.