He is a fun and interesting character and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records for being the oldest player to feature in a Conference match at 52 years, although he did not touch the ball in his three minutes for Doncaster against Hereford in 2003.
Despite being back in the Football League for only six years, Doncaster have become a model club, have no debt and are quickly becoming an established Championship outfit.
But multi-millionaire Ryan is seriously concerned about the increasing number of clubs who are run by men with no real love for the English game.
Flavio Briatore, whose position at QPR is under threat after he was given a lifetime ban from Formula One, is one name which springs to mind.
Ryan, 59, who has a ¾-size football pitch at the bottom of his Cheshire mansion's garden, explained: "I would say this but it is far better that you have people who are genuine supporters of a club.
"You wouldn't be owner of Doncaster Rovers for the glory, would you! When I took over, it was a non-league club. I've done it because it's my team. That's the best motivation. Doncaster is run carefully and we don't overspend. If there is a shortfall, we know it is us directors who pick up the tab but we do not go crazy.
"There is this fit-and-proper person test. But if Thaksin Shinawatra didn't fail the test, I don't know if Flavio Briatore does. I know that Lord Mawhinney is looking into it but Briatore may decide to go anyway as I don't know if he's that bothered.
"I remember when QPR came to Doncaster in March, he walked out when they were losing 2-0.
"He turned up in jeans, like scruffy. In football, it is a tradition that in the boardroom, all clubs say no denims, no football shirts. Collar and tie. We respect that. QPR write and tell us the same thing and he turns up like that.
"I thought 'Hang on, you turn up like that and we have got people wealthier on our board than you, mate.'
"There are a lot of people in football who adhere to the rules. But Briatore brings all these odd females, although some of them are attractive. But the whole thing is strange.
"If I was a Man City fan, I'd think 'Great, fantastic.' But what happens if the Arabs ever pull the plug?
"What happens with Notts County? Abramovich at Chelsea? Football has to ensure if foreign owners come in, the money is put in as share capital and not handed out in loans.
"If it is loans, they could destroy the club on leaving.
"Also, if these Premier League clubs sign players on £150,000 a week, there should be guidelines in place for if the owner disappears and the club is left with a massive problem.
"Even Manchester United are in massive debt. I'm not a fan of Michel Platini but, in many ways, he is right about debt in English football.
"There are some very good foreign owners like Randy Lerner at Aston Villa but you only have to look at Portsmouth to see the other side of the coin. I really worry for them.
"It is also very important for managers to be left alone to manage. It does happen that certain directors and chairmen get involved and try to start picking the team but we are not one of them. It will never work.
"I always wanted to be involved in Doncaster Rovers. I first got involved in 1989 in a minor way.
"I was a director for five years but along came a chap called Ken Richardson who I could not abide. I got out and he got someone to try and burn the stadium down and got four years for his troubles. I came back in 1998 when they had just been relegated to the Conference with a record low number of points." While he is clearly loaded and has put quite a few quid into the South Yorkshire club, Ryan has ensured that even if he walks away tomorrow, however unlikely, the club would not find itself in a bad position. Their top-paid player is on £5,000 a week.
And Ryan, who is looking to buy the Keepmoat Stadium from the local council, believes the Championship is the best and most unpredictable league in English football.
He said: "A team like Manchester City can throw lots of money and they might break through. But the Championship is so unpredictable.
"Who would have predicted last season that Southampton, Norwich and Charlton would go down? The prediction would have been Doncaster, Barnsley and Plymouth. I'm fairly confident another big team will go down this year.
"Look at Leeds. It is still amazing that we are a league above them. Due to their history, a lot of people in our town support Leeds, so it's no surprise that beating them in the League One play-off final last year was our greatest moment.
"The most important thing is to appoint a good manager and stick with him. We've had Sean O'Driscoll for the last three years and, remarkably, he is already one of the longest serving in the Championship."