James Riley (soccer)

James Riley (born October 27, 1982) is an American soccer player who plays as a defender. Riley previously spent eleven seasons in Major League Soccer (MLS) with the New England Revolution (2005–2007), San Jose Earthquakes (2008), Seattle Sounders FC (2009–2011), Chivas USA (2012), D.C. United (2013), LA Galaxy (2014), and the Colorado Rapids (2015). Riley served as the captain of the Cascadia soccer team in the 2018 ConIFA World Football Cup.[1]

James Riley
Riley in 2010
Personal information
Full name James Riley
Date of birth (1982-10-27) October 27, 1982
Place of birth Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
1998–2001 Colorado Rush
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2004 Wake Forest Demon Deacons 82 (3)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003 Carolina Dynamo 12 (1)
2004 Colorado Springs Blizzard 5 (2)
2005–2007 New England Revolution 70 (1)
2008 San Jose Earthquakes 24 (0)
2009–2011 Seattle Sounders FC 84 (1)
2012 Chivas USA 32 (0)
2013 D.C. United 21 (0)
2014 LA Galaxy 4 (0)
2015 Colorado Rapids 16 (1)
2018–2019 Tacoma Stars (indoor) 2 (1)
Total 268 (6)
International career‡
2018–2019 Cascadia 6 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of November 26, 2019
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of June 9, 2018

Playing career

College and Amateur

Riley played college soccer at Wake Forest University, and in the USL Premier Development League with both Carolina Dynamo and his hometown team, Colorado Springs Blizzard.[2]

Professional

New England Revolution drafted Riley in the second round of the 2005 MLS SuperDraft, and he acquitted himself well in his rookie season, playing various positions and scoring a goal. He continued to keep himself in the mix in defense, starting the majority of the games in 2006 and 2007.

Riley was selected by the San Jose Earthquakes in the 2007 MLS Expansion Draft and subsequently made 24 appearances for the team before being taken by the Seattle Sounders FC in the 2008 MLS Expansion Draft. He stayed with Seattle through the 2011 season, helping the club win three consecutive U.S. Open Cup championships.

Riley was left exposed by Seattle in the 2011 MLS Expansion Draft and he was selected by expansion side Montreal Impact in the November 23, 2011 draft.[3] He was then immediately traded with allocation money to Chivas USA for Justin Braun and Gerson Mayen.[4] Riley was traded to D.C. United on February 14, 2013 for a 2015 Supplemental Draft pick.[5] The trade was later described as being part of a "systematic expulsion of players" at Chivas USA who did not fit the parent club's Mexican-only policy.[6]

Riley won his 5th US Open Cup title in 2013 with D.C. United. In the sixth minute of stoppage time there was on open header in the box from Álvaro Saborío that Riley was able to deflect onto the cross bar to prevent extra time.[7]

After his release from D.C. United, Riley trialled with and was eventually signed by LA Galaxy as a free agent.[8]

On March 6, 2015, he signed with Colorado Rapids. During the 2015 season, Riley made 17 appearances in all competitions, scoring a lone goal on May 8, 2015 against former club San Jose in the third minute of stoppage time to salvage a 1–1 draw. The Rapids declined their option on Riley on December 3, 2015.

Riley returned to professional soccer on October 5, 2018, signing with the Tacoma Stars of the Major Arena Soccer League.[9]

Retirement and beyond

Riley formally announced his retirement as an active player on June 23, 2016.[10] One month prior, he had been appointed MLS's director of player relations, a position that had been vacant since Ali Curtis became the New York Red Bulls sporting director in December 2014.[11] In April 2018, it was announced that Riley would take a position on the broadcast team for the Seattle Sounders and their USL affiliate team, Seattle Sounders FC 2.[12][13]

On May 1, 2018, he was announced as the captain for the Cascadia official soccer team to compete at the 2018 ConIFA World Football Cup in London.[14]

Personal life

Riley was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to an African American father and a Korean mother. His parents divorced a year after he was born. Riley and his sister were raised by his mother in the Denver area.[15]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 25 October 2015[16][17]
Years Club Competition Apps. Goals
2003Carolina Dynamo USL Premier Development League121
2004Colorado Springs Blizzard 52
2005New England Revolution Major League Soccer231
2006 200
2007 270
2008San Jose Earthquakes 240
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Seattle Sounders FC 2009 Major League Soccer 28050–20350
2010 271404020371
2011 290206010380
Total 841110100501101
Chivas USA 2012 Major League Soccer 32030––350
D.C. United 2013 Major League Soccer 21050––260
LA Galaxy 2014 Major League Soccer 4000200060
Colorado Rapids 2015 Major League Soccer 16110––171
Career total 731902000841

Honors

New England Revolution

Seattle Sounders FC

D.C. United

LA Galaxy

Individual
  • Prost Amerika's Sounders FC Player of the Year 2009
  • MLS W.O.R.K.S. Humanitarian of the Month for October 2010

References
  1. "James Riley to captain Cascadia in ConIFA World Cup".
  2. "Carolina Dynamo All Time Roster". Archived from the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2009.
  3. Lalas, Greg (November 23, 2011). "Ching, Mapp headline Montreal expansion draft picks". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on November 30, 2011. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  4. Lalas, Greg (November 23, 2011). "Montreal take Riley, ship him to Chivas for Braun, Mayen". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  5. Goff, Steven (February 14, 2013). "D.C. United acquires James Riley". Washington Post. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
  6. D'Hippolito, Joseph (March 7, 2014). "Colorado Springs native James Riley rebuilds career with L.A. Galaxy". The Gazette. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  7. Soccer, US (October 1, 2013). "D.C. United Earns Third Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Championship with 1–0 Victory Against Real Salt Lake". Archived from the original on October 5, 2013. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
  8. Serrano, Adam (February 22, 2014). "LA Galaxy bolster their defense with the addition of veteran outside back James Riley". LA Galaxy. Retrieved February 26, 2014.
  9. "TACOMA SIGNS FORMER SOUNDER JAMES RILEY". MASLSoccer.com. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  10. Nelson, Matthew (June 23, 2016). "Former Sounder James Riley Retires". Sounders Nation. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  11. Stejskal, Sam (June 23, 2016). "Longtime MLS defender James Riley brings player's voice to league office". www.mlssoccer.com.
  12. Ciaccio, Danny (April 2, 2018). "James Riley 'very excited' to return to Seattle as part of club's broadcast team". www.soundersfc.com. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  13. West, Phil (May 24, 2018). "James Riley: From MLS to the CONIFA World Football Cup with Cascadia". MLSsoccer.com. Retrieved May 24, 2018.
  14. Steve (April 30, 2018). "James Riley to captain Cascadia in ConIFA World Cup". www.prostamerika.com. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  15. Sohn Kun-young; Park Hyun-jin (July 16, 2012). "U.S. soccer player proud of Korean heritage". Korea Herald. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  16. "James Riley". mlssoccer.com. Major League Soccer. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  17. "J.Riley". soccerway.com. Soccerway. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
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