Feisty central defender Andy Bernal was fresh off captaining the under-17 Australian Joeys when he signed with Sporting Gijon in 1985.

Bernal spent 2½ seasons in Spain racking up nearly 100 La Liga games with Sporting, Albacete and Xerez.

He would have spent the rest of his career there, but faced the prospect of being called up for military duty if he stayed.

The most intriguing aspect of Ryan's decision to sign with Valencia wasn't the fact he had, but the fact only four other Australians had played in La Liga.

The others are Bernal, Kostas Salapasidis (SD Compostela), Aurelio Vidmar (Tenerife) and John Aloisi (Osasuna/Alaves).

"It was something as a boy I dreamed of and wanted," Bernal said.

"My mum and dad were Spanish, were migrants, and came out to Australia, so to go back to the country of their birth and play football in a nation which is one of the top two or three in the history of world football, was a very proud thing for me to do and for them."

"It's very humbling and an honour to be the first one. It's something you look back now, it's a big achievement when you sit down and think only five have managed to do it."

Bernal was captaining the Australian Joeys in a youth tournament in Germany against the likes of Real Madrid, Real Sociedad and Borissa Dortmund when Sporting came knocking. It was an opportunity he wasn't going to pass up.

"At the time, Sporting were among the top four clubs in Spain alongside the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia," Bernal said. "I was always working out ways of how I would get to Spain and trial and I was prepared to do anything.

"In the tunnel afterwards, I went and asked their manager if it was possible if I could train with them. The manager said 'we were going to ask you to come over anyway'."

Back then, each club was only allowed to field two foreign players. When choosing between an up-and-coming teenager and an established star, the star was going to win every time.

Bernal carried Australian and Spanish passports, but since he had already represented Australia at youth level, he would have had to give up playing for his country.

Then there was the threat of serving a mandatory two-year stint in the Spanish military if he wanted to become a Spanish citizen.

Not keen on that idea, Bernal jumped on a plane to England where he rocked up on the doorstep of Nottingham Forest and renowned manager Brian Clough.

"He said, 'you've got some balls son, coming in here asking me for a trial. What have you done?'," Bernal said. "I said I just want to be a footballer, I'll do anything to be a professional footballer.

"A week later, Brian Clough signed me for Nottingham."

England has been the traditional pathway for aspiring Australian footballers. Tim Cahill, Mark Viduka, Harry Kewell and Mark Schwarzer are four who have risen to the top of the English Premier League.

Ryan could yet make that transition in the future, but his decision to continue his career in Spain shows the possibilities are endless.

"I think they are just starting in Europe to have a bit more faith in Aussie footballers and respect us a little bit more," Bernal said.

"Thirty years ago, they didn't have any respect - 'what are you doing here, you're from the land of kangaroos' and stuff like that.

"My battle for the first couple of years, I pushed the fact I was of Spanish heritage, which got me by. There was no track record, there was no respect for football."

The Socceroos are slowly changing that, having qualified for each of past three World Cups.

"It's a very, very high level of football," Bernal said. "Anyone that manages to get in there deserves a lot of respect because besides England, it's the most sought-after place for people to play."

That makes Ryan's achievement in signing a six-year deal with Valencia all the more remarkable.

The former Central Coast Mariners custodian has taken his game to new heights after being named the goalkeeper of the year in Belgium for the past two seasons with Club Brugge.

In a sign of Ryan's potential, Bernal labels him as "Australia's version of Iker Casillas" - the Spanish national team custodian.

"Wonderful feet - not the tallest, but not the shortest, he's about six foot one, a similar height to Casillas," Bernal said.

"His achievements with the Socceroos, but more importantly, his achievements with Club Brugge, secured that move. The Spanish scouts respect people who have done really well in Holland or Belgium."

Bernal is still active in football as a player manager and has an interest in The Stockade gym in Dickson.

Among the players he manages are Socceroos midfielder Tom Rogic, who is making his comeback from injury at Celtic, and Melbourne City recruit Steve Kuzmanovski.

Then there are those who are chasing their dreams in the ACT National Premier League, continuing their development with the hope of playing professionally in the A-League or overseas.

At the same age, Bernal was running out at in front of nearly 100,000 people at Barcelona's famed Camp Nou, and taking on the superstars from Real Madrid at the iconic Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

"I try to explain to young lads, some that I manage and some I'm trying to help on a football level, that you've got to go for it," he said.

"During those two seasons, to play against Valencia, to play at the Bernabeu, to play at the Camp Nou and all the famous stadiums and theatres of world football when you're 18, 19, 20, is a real, real beautiful thing.

"It was a tough, but beautiful experience."