Joseph Michael Riley (born 13 October 1991) is an English former footballer who played as a right back. He is currently Head of Recruitment at Fleetwood Town.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joseph Michael Riley[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1991-10-13) 13 October 1991 (age 30) | ||
| Place of birth | Salford, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Right back | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Fleetwood Town (Head of Recruitment) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2001–2011 | Bolton Wanderers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2011–2015 | Bolton Wanderers | 3 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | → Oxford United (loan) | 22 | (0) |
| 2015–2016 | Bury | 50 | (2) |
| 2016–2018 | Shrewsbury Town | 42 | (2) |
| 2018–2020 | Plymouth Argyle | 33 | (1) |
| 2020–2021 | Mansfield Town | 6 | (1) |
| Total | 156 | (6) | |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Born in Salford, Greater Manchester, Riley started his professional career at Bolton Wanderers since he was seven and attended Walkden High School.[2] A product of the youth system, Riley started regularly playing in the reserve side led Riley signing his first professional contract at the club.[3]
Riley made his competitive debut in the League Cup tie at home to Macclesfield Town on 24 August 2011.[4] Riley went on to make his Premier League debut at right-back in a 5–0 victory over Stoke City at the Reebok Stadium on 6 November 2011. He received a standing ovation by the Bolton fans when substituted late in the game.[5] After starting the next game against West Brom, Riley suffered a hamstring injury,[6] disrupting the start to his debut season. He returned in the FA Cup match against Macclesfield Town on 7 January 2012.[7]
On 23 February, both Riley and Michael O'Halloran signed new three-and-a-half-year contracts, committing them to the club until the summer of 2015.[8] Despite his determination to make a return to the first team,[9] Manager Dougie Freedman quoted on Riley: "Joe Riley needed to go out and play some games as well but we couldn't quite find the right development team for him."[10] However, Riley spent most of the 2012–13 season because of the succession of injuries limited him to just two starts.[11][12]
Ahead of the 2013–14 season, Riley returned to the first team in the pre-season friendly and things got worse for him when he damaged his anterior cruciate ligament in a friendly against Skelmersdale, which kept him out for ten months, implied that he may miss the 2013–14 season.[13][14]
After ridding himself of the injuries that had stopped his progress over the last two years, Riley joined Oxford United on loan on 28 July 2014.[15]
Riley made his Oxford United debut, making his first start in a year, in the opening game of the season, as Oxford United lose 1–0 against Burton Albion.[16] After making 28 appearances in total (22 league) for Oxford, Riley returned to Bolton on 3 January 2015.[17] Upon his return to Bolton, Oxford United were keen to sign Riley on loan for the second time.[18]
With less than six months remaining on his Bolton contract, Wanderers manager Neil Lennon decided against offering Riley a new deal and accepted an offer from Bury.[19] On 14 January 2015, Riley completed a free transfer to Bury,[20] in a deal that included a sell-on clause in Bolton's favour.[21]
His debut was delayed - due to a hamstring injury he sustained in training - until 27 January, where he came on as a substitute for Kelvin Etuhu in the second half, in a 1–0 loss against Accrington Stanley.[22] He was sent-off in the 49th minute after making a challenge on Tom Newey, in a 2–1 win over Northampton Town on 21 March 2015.[23] After serving a three match ban,[24] He returned to the side and scored the only goal against Shrewsbury Town to confirm the club's qualification to the play-offs.[25] Eventually, Riley helped the club finish in third place, and therefore promoted to League One automatically. In his first half-season at Bury, Riley made seventeen appearances and scored once.
Riley moved to fellow League One side Shrewsbury Town in July 2016 for an undisclosed fee, signing a two-year deal.[26] Ever-present in the early part of the 2016–17 season, he scored his first goal for the club on 3 September, the winner in a 3–2 victory over Oldham Athletic.[27] Riley's match time was restricted by a number of injuries during the season, which saw him undergoing a knee operation in October,[28] missing two weeks with a hamstring injury in February,[29] breaking his wrist in April,[30] before suffering ligament damage and a broken fibula in the final match of the season.[31]
Following surgery and subsequent recovery from his leg-break, Riley returned to the side in an EFL Trophy group-stage match against Coventry City on 29 August 2017. With the scores tied at 2−2, and Shrewsbury reduced to ten men following the dismissal of fellow right-back James Bolton, Riley came on as a late substitute and scored a 25-yard free-kick in injury time to earn his side a 3−2 victory.[32]
He was released by Shrewsbury at the end of the 2017–18 season.[33]
On 10 June 2018, Riley signed for League One side Plymouth Argyle for a free transfer.[34]
On 25 January 2020 he signed for Mansfield Town.[35] He played six times.
On 20 July 2021, he announced his retirement at age 29 due to a knee injury.[36]
On 17 June 2022, Riley joined Fleetwood Town as Head of Recruitment.[37]
| Club | Season | League | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Bolton Wanderers | 2011–12[38] | Premier League | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | − | 7 | 0 | |
| 2012–13[39] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | − | 2 | 0 | ||
| 2013–14[40] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | − | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2014–15[41] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | − | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | ||
| Oxford United (loan) | 2014–15[41] | League Two | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| Bury | 2014–15[41] | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 | |
| 2015–16[42] | League One | 33 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 40 | 1 | |
| Total | 50 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 57 | 2 | ||
| Shrewsbury Town | 2016–17[43] | League One | 32 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 35 | 1 |
| 2017–18[44] | 10 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8[b] | 1 | 20 | 2 | ||
| Total | 42 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 55 | 3 | ||
| Plymouth Argyle | 2018–19[45] | League One | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| 2019–20[46] | League Two | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[a] | 1 | 18 | 2 | |
| Total | 33 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 38 | 2 | ||
| Mansfield Town | 2019–20[46] | League Two | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| 2020–21[47] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 156 | 6 | 13 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 193 | 8 | ||
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