Ali Riley

FC Gold Pride

In January 2010, Riley was selected as the tenth pick in the first round of the 2010 WPS Draft by FC Gold Pride. While she played on her natural right wing-back position for the NZ Women's National Team, she played professionally as a left wing-back and had three assists in the 2010 run to the WPS championship by FC Gold Pride. Riley won the WPS Rookie of the Year award.

Western New York Flash

Riley signed for Western New York Flash for the 2011 season, becoming a free agent after FC Gold Pride failed to find financial backers. In the 2011 season Riley was a finalist for Defender of the year as the Flash swept both the league season title and then won the 2011 WPS Championship. In 2012, Riley re-signed with Western New York Flash for the 2012 season, however, the league folded before play began.

LdB FC Malmö/FC Rosengård

With the suspension of the WPS, she signed in 2012 with LdB FC Malmö, the 2011 Damallsvenskan champions. In her first game (the Supercupen), she assisted on the winning goal. She played her first full season in the Damallsvenskan in 2013. With LdB FC Malmö she finished top of the table. In September 2013 Riley re-signed with LdB FC Malmö (since December 2013 renamed FC Rosengård) for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. FC Rosengård again won gold in the Damallsvenskan in 2014. In March 2015 she played both at full-back and forward in her second Supercupen victory with Rosengård. In September 2015 she re-signed with…

Being US-born to a New Zealand father, Riley represented New Zealand at the 2006 Women's U-20 World Cup finals. She made her senior debut in a 5–0 loss to Australia on 6 February 2007, and represented New Zealand at the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in China, where they lost 5–0 to Brazil, 2–0 to Denmark and 2–0 to China. Riley also played every minute for the New Zealand squad in the 2008 Summer Olympics where they drew with Japan (2–2) before losing to Norway (1–0) and the United States (4–0). Riley's first international goal was scored in the final of the OFC Women's Nations Cup as New Zealand qualified for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup with an 11–0 win over Papua New Guinea. On 27 June 2011, Riley earned her 50th A-international cap in a 2–1 loss to Japan in New Zealand's opening group stage match at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. In the final seconds of extra time in the match v. Mexico she assisted on the tying goal that gave the Football Ferns their first point in a World Cup group stage. In the 2012 Olympics Riley played every minute of the Football Ferns' four games. In the preliminary round games the Ferns lost 1–0 to Great Britain and Brazil and beat Cameroon 3–1. This was the first victory by a NZ football team in the Olympics. With the victory the Ferns advanced to the second round based on goal differential. In the quarter-final the Ferns played the USA losing 2–0. In 2013 Riley started for New Zealand in a series of games establishing the Football Ferns as…

Media

In 2021 Riley started hosting an Off the Ball show for sports website Just Women's Sports.

Books

In 2023, Riley released a cookbook featuring plant-based recipes titled Girls Gone Veg with her former Orlando Pride teammate Toni Pressley.

Born in Los Angeles, California to parents John Graham Riley and Beverly Fong Lowe, Riley attended St. Matthew's Parish School in Pacific Palisades and Harvard-Westlake School in North Hollywood, California. She was named captain of the soccer team during her senior season and was a two-time Mission League Offensive MVP as well as a two-time first-team San Fernando Valley selection. As a senior, she helped lead the Wolverines to the 2006 Southern Section Division I final and was named to the All-CIF Southern Section Division I first team. Riley also competed for local soccer clubs LA Breakers FC (formerly Westside Breakers) and Real SoCal (formerly SoCal United).

Stanford University

Riley attended Stanford University and played for the Stanford Cardinal from 2006 to 2009. During her freshman year, she started in fifteen of the eighteen matches she played. She played forward and scored four goals with two assists. As a sophomore, she played sixteen games and started in fourteen of them. She scored two goals and had two assists. During her junior year, Riley converted from her position at forward to an outside back and she has played almost exclusively at left or right full-back ever since, As a senior, Riley started in each of the twenty-four games and scored one goal with one assist.