Riley's Story
Fast Facts
Sport: Football
Event: Men's Football
Olympic History: Tokyo 2020
Coach: Graham Arnold
Year Born: 1998
State Born: SA
About Riley
Born and raised in the town of Gawler situated just north of Adelaide, RIley McGree began playing football at a young age and never looked back.
After eventually rising up through the ranks of A-League side Adelaide United, McGree made his professional debut in March 2016 against the Western Sydney Wanderers. The attacking midfielder scored his first A-League goal with his second start for Adelaide, as McGree found the back of the net with a piercing effort against the Wellington Phoenix.
McGree left Australia in July 2017 to sign with Belgian side Club Brugge after multiple strong performances in the A-League. Once in Belgium, McGree was loaned to A-League side Newcastle Jets, where he played a critical role in the side’s success in the 2017/18 season, including scoring a magnificent scorpion kick goal that was nominated for the FIFA Puskas Award.
Once he returned to Bruges, McGree was again sent on loan, this time to Melbourne City for the duration of the 2018/19 season.
McGree returned to Adelaide United in July 2019 for one season before being sold to American expansion side Charlotte FC, and was immediately loaned out to English side Birmingham City. McGree earned strong game time in Birmingham, and his loan was extended to January of 2022. He would continue to stay in the EFL Championship after moving to Middlesbrough shortly after his loan completion in January 2022.
After multiple stints in the Australian youth setups, McGree was selected for the Australian senior squad for the 2018 World Cup qualification matches against Iraq and UAE.
In June 2021, McGree made his debut for the Socceroos as a second-half substitute in a 3-0 victory against Kuwait. In his second appearance and his first start just days later, McGree delivered a top performance in a 5-1 drubbing of Chinese Taipei, providing two assists for his country.
He would feature heavily for Australia in the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup, playing in all four of Australia fixtures across the tournament, providing an assist in Australia’s 1-0 win over Denmark.
Riley made his Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020, where he would begin Australia’s first two games of the tournament against Argentina and Spain.
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