Paul Riley (footballer)

Paul Riley (born 23 September 1963) is an English former football player and coach.

Paul Riley
Personal information
Date of birth (1963-09-23) 23 September 1963
Place of birth Liverpool, England
Position(s) Midfielder
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1982–1985 Adelphi Panthers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988 Albany Capitals (2)
1989–1990 New Jersey Eagles
1991 Glen Cove
1992 Hercules
1993 New York Atlas
1994–1997 Long Island Rough Riders
Managerial career
1986–1989 CW Post (assistant)
1990–1997 CW Post
1997–2003 Long Island Rough Riders
2006–2009 Long Island Fury
2010–2011 Philadelphia Independence
2012–2013 New York Fury
2014–2015 Portland Thorns
2016 Western New York Flash
2017–2021 North Carolina Courage
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He spent his entire professional playing career in American leagues, including the American Professional Soccer League and the USISL. He has been a coach, mostly of women's teams, since the 1990s. In 2021 he was accused of sexual misconduct and mistreatment of players that spanned over a 10-year coaching period. In 2023, Riley was banned from the NWSL for life.

Playing career

Youth

In 1982, Riley came to the United States to attend Adelphi University. From 1982 to 1985, he played on the Adelphi Panthers men's soccer team.[1] In 1999, Adelphi inducted Riley into the school's Hall of Fame.[2]

Club career

After graduation, Riley became a manager, but in 1988, he turned professional when he joined the Albany Capitals of the American Soccer League.[3] The Capitals did not renew his contract at the end of the season and Riley moved to the New Jersey Eagles for the 1989 and 1990 season.[4] In 1990, the Eagles played in the American Professional Soccer League which had been formed by the merger of the American Soccer League and the Western Soccer League. Riley was 1989 All League[5] and 1990 Second Team All League. In 1991, Riley moved down to Glen Cove of the New England Professional Soccer League. Glen Cove won the league championship as Riley was named MVP. In 1992, he again moved, this time to Hercules, again winning the NEPSL title. In 1993, he played for New York Atlas. In 1994, Riley returned to professional soccer with the expansion Long Island Rough Riders of the USISL. In 1995, Riley and his teammates won the league title. When he retired at the end of the 1997 season, Riley held the team's all-time career record for assists.

Coaching career

In 1986, Riley began his coaching career when CW Post hired him as an assistant. He was the head trainer for the Albertson Soccer League in the 1990’s. In 1990, Riley became head coach at CW Post, a position he held until 1997. Over his eight seasons as head coach, he compiled an 88–49–13 record. In 1997, Riley became the head coach of the Long Island Rough Riders, in addition to his duties as a player with the Rough Riders and head coach of CW Post. In 1999, Riley was named the USISL A-League Coach of the Year.[6] In 2002, the Rough Riders moved down to the USL D3 Pro League, winning the league championship that season. His last season with the Rough Riders came in 2003. Over the years, Riley was involved with the Albertson Fury Soccer Club. In 2006, Riley became the head coach of the Long Island Fury of the Women's Premier Soccer League. The Fury was part of the Albertson Fury Soccer Club.[7] Riley coached the Fury through the 2008 season. In September 2009, the Philadelphia Independence of Women's Professional Soccer hired Riley as the team's first coach.[8] Riley was selected as the 2010 WPS Coach of the Year.[9] In 2011, he took the team to the championship where they fell in penalties to the Western New York Flash.[10] Riley was also named 2011 WPS Coach of the Year.[11]

On 12 March 2012, following the collapse of WPS, Riley was named head coach of the New York Fury in the Women's Premier Soccer League.[12]

In 2013, Riley was named head coach of the Portland Thorns in the newly formed top-division National Women's Soccer League.[13] After leading the team to a 16–17–11 record and one playoff appearance over two seasons, but finishing the 2015 season in sixth place, the Thorns declined to renew Riley's contract.[14]

On 19 February 2016, Riley was announced as the head coach of the WNY Flash of the National Women's Soccer League.[15]

On 9 January 2017, the National Women's Soccer League announced that the WNY Flash franchise would be relocated to North Carolina.[16] Riley was officially hired as head coach of the relocated club, now called the North Carolina Courage, on 30 January.[17]

The Courage finished in first place during the 2017 regular season with a 16–7–1 record, winning the NWSL Shield and advanced to the Playoffs. The game that clinched the NWSL Shield for the Courage was a 4–0 win over Houston Dash.[18] In 2018 North Carolina finished in first place and won the NWSL Shield for the second consecutive season with a 17–1–6 record.[19] On 22 September, the Courage won the NWSL Championship 3–0 over the Portland Thorns, the first time the Courage had won the title.[20][21]

In the 2019 season, the Courage finished in first place with a 15–5–4 record, winning the NWSL Shield for the third consecutive season.[22] After defeating Reign FC 4–1 in the semi-finals,[23] the Courage won their second NWSL Championship shutting out the Chicago Red Stars 4–0 in the final.[24]

Misconduct allegations
See also: 2021 NWSL abuse scandal

A September 2021 report by The Athletic alleged that Riley had sexually coerced and verbally abused players on his teams, specifically during the time period between 2011 and 2015 (consisting of his time in WPS, WPSL, and NWSL). In the article, Riley denied the allegations.[25][26] The article also stated that NWSL failed to act on Riley's alleged abuses multiple times, including earlier in 2021 when the league declined to act on an offer from two of Riley's alleged victims to assist in investigating Riley's alleged abuses.[27][28]

On 30 September 2021, the Courage announced that Riley had been fired due to "very serious allegations of misconduct".[29][30] The Portland Thorns released a statement the same day citing that some of the incidents occurred during Riley's two-year tenure as head coach of the Thorns in 2015 and discussing their reaction to the incidents at the time.[31]

On 1 October 2021, FIFA announced they were opening an investigation into the allegations.[32] The United States Soccer Federation suspended Riley's coaching license the same day.[33][34] Concurrently, NWSL games were canceled that weekend and NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird (who had stated she was referring the matter to the United States Center for SafeSport for investigation) and general counsel Lisa Levin resigned.[27][35] On 3 October, the US federation also hired former acting United States Attorney General Sally Yates to investigate the claims,[36] and the NWSL and its players' union launched a parallel investigation around that time.[37]

On January 9, 2023, following the release of the joint league–union report, Riley was banned from the NWSL for life, along with three other coaches named in the scandal.[38][37]

Honours

Manager

Long Island Rough Riders

Western New York Flash

North Carolina Courage

Individual

  • WPS Coach of the Year: 2010, 2011
  • NWSL Coach of the Year: 2017, 2018

References
  1. "Adelphi soccer records" (PDF).
  2. "Paul Riley (1999) - Hall of Fame". Adelphi University Athletics.
  3. "ASL 1988 Season". a-leaguearchive.tripod.com.
  4. "ASL 1989 Season". a-leaguearchive.tripod.com.
  5. "The Year in American Soccer – 1989". Archived from the original on 9 February 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  6. "The Year in American Soccer – 1999". Archived from the original on 3 January 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  7. "Here come the Fury".
  8. Civin, Todd. "Paul Riley Named Head Coach of Philadelphia Independence". Bleacher Report.
  9. Narducci, Marc (17 September 2010). "Independence's Riley named WPS coach of the year". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  10. Diaz, Cesar (27 August 2011). "2011 WPS Championship: Western NY Flash Defeats the Philadelphia Independence". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  11. Di Veronica, Jeff (17 August 2011). "Flash's Harris, Engen win top WPS awards but Marta, Sinclair and coach Lines shut out". Rochester Democrat & Chronicle. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  12. Kassouf, Jeff (12 March 2012). "Paul Riley to coach New York Fury". The Equalizer. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  13. Goldberg, Jamie (10 December 2013). "Portland Thorns name Paul Riley as head coach for the 2014 season". The Oregonian. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  14. Goldberg, Jamie (23 September 2015). "Portland Thorns part ways with head coach Paul Riley". The Oregonian. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  15. "Flash Appoint Paul Riley Head Coach". 19 February 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  16. "Flash Relocation and being renamed". 9 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  17. Cleveland, Parker (30 January 2017). "NC Courage hire Paul Riley as first head coach". Dirty South Soccer. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  18. Lee, Allison. "Courage win Shield with 4–0 shutout of Dash". The Equalizer. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  19. "NC Courage Announces Team Awards". North Carolina Courage. 20 September 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  20. Leahy, Ed (23 September 2018). "Ireland's O'Sullivan wins US NWSL Championship with NC Courage". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  21. Jones, Kaelen (22 September 2018). "NC Courage Beats Portland Thorns FC, Wins First-Ever NWSL Championship". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  22. Brown, Morgan (11 October 2019). "Denise O'Sullivan Highlights NC Courage Team Awards with Second Consecutive MVP Win". North Carolina Courage. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  23. "Courage Survive Reign in Extra Time to Return to NWSL Final". Sports Illustrated. 20 October 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  24. "O'Sullivan's North Carolina Courage crush Chicago Red Stars to win second-straight title". The42. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  25. Linehan, Meg (30 September 2021). "'This guy has a pattern': Amid institutional failure, former NWSL players accuse prominent coach of sexual coercion". The Athletic. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  26. "NWSL side regrets 'systematic failure'". BBC Sport.
  27. "Commissioner resigns as NWSL fallout continues". ESPN.com. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  28. Morgan, Alex [@alexmorgan13] (30 September 2021). "(2/3) t.co/pkwBEXPYYo" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 12 October 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021 – via Twitter.
  29. NC Courage [@TheNCCourage] (30 September 2021). "Official statement from the players, staff and principal owner the North Carolina Courage. t.co/jsY2GtXU9Y" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 9 October 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021 – via Twitter.
  30. Kurt Streeter (3 October 2021). "Female Soccer Players Are Done Taking Abuse. Let's Stop Dishing It Out". www.nytimes.com.
  31. Portland Thorns FC [@ThornsFC] (30 September 2021). "t.co/2Cag3yJxsq" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021 – via Twitter.
  32. "FIFA statement" (Press release). FIFA. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  33. Zoe Christen Jones (1 October 2021). "U.S. Soccer suspends coach Paul Riley's license after former players allege misconduct". CBS News. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  34. United States Soccer Federation [@ussoccer] (30 September 2021). "pbs.twimg.com/media/FAkJmL1XMAMFEJI" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  35. "FIFA investigates NWSL coach abuse scandal; games called off". PBS NewsHour. 1 October 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  36. Rebecca Falconer (3 October 2021). "U.S. Soccer hires Sally Yates to investigate NWSL sexual abuse reports". Axios. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  37. "Four NWSL coaches get lifetime ban after sexual harassment investigation". ESPN.com. 9 January 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  38. Greenawalt, Tyler (9 January 2023). "NWSL announces permanent ban for ex-Thorns coach Paul Riley, other sanctions following misconduct investigation". Yahoo News. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
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