Matthew Sean O'Riley (born 21 November 2000) is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

club Celtic. Born in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, he is an under-21 international for

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

Club career

Fulham

O'Riley joined the

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

of Fulham at the age of eight, having previously played for Teddington-based NPL Youth. He progressed through several age groups, eventually becoming a regular in the club's U18 and reserve sides. He made his first team debut on 8 August 2017 in a 2–0 EFL Cup first round away win over

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...

. Over the next two seasons O'Riley featured for the club's U21 side in several EFL Trophy group matches whilst on the fringes of the first team. He made his

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

debut on 1 January 2020 as a 19th-minute substitute in a 2–1 home defeat to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

. O'Riley left the club in the summer of 2020, having declined a new three-year first team deal amidst rumoured interest from several clubs domestically and abroad.

Milton Keynes Dons

On 24 January 2021, O'Riley signed for

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

, having spent six months training with the side as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

since leaving Fulham. Less than a week after joining, on 30 January 2021, he scored his first professional career goal. After an impressive start to the 2021–22 season, on 11 December 2021 O'Riley was named

EFL Young Player of the Month The EFL Young Player of the Month is an award for young players in all three divisions of the English Football League. To be eligible players must be under-21 or turn 21 during the current season. It was first awarded in December 2009. Victor Mose ...

for November 2021, a month in which he scored four goals in as many appearances.

Celtic

On 20 January 2022, O'Riley joined

club Celtic on a four-and-a-half year deal for a reported £1,500,000 fee after the club met his release clause. He made his debut on 26 January 2022, starting in a 2–1 away win over Hearts. On 9 February 2022, O'Riley scored his first goal for the club in a 3–2 away victory over

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. On 9 April 2022 he scored a brace in a 7–0 home win over St Johnstone. O'Riley would help Celtic lift the

2021–22 Scottish Premiership The 2021–22 Scottish Premiership (known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is the ninth and current season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football, and the 125th edition overall of the top nationa ...

that year. On 6 September 2022, O'Riley made his

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

debut in a 3-0 home defeat against Real Madrid.

International career

O'Riley was an

youth international. As well as England, he is eligible to represent

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

due to his mother's side of the family. In February 2022, O'Riley declared his interest in representing Denmark internationally when he stated that: "I played for England youth teams but at the same time, I do feel quite Danish. My mum is Danish and I can speak a decent amount and I can understand a very good amount. In that sense, I don't think it is out of the question at all. If I did get a call up from Denmark, I don't think I'd be saying no". In March 2022, O'Riley was called up to the Denmark under-21s for the first time. On 14 June 2022, O'Riley scored his first goal for Denmark against the Turkey under-21s in a

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

qualifying match - which Denmark won 3-2.

Career statistics

Honours

Celtic *

: 2021–22, 2022–23 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2022–23 *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

: 2022–23 Individual *

: November 2021 *

Goal of the Month: April 2022

References

External links

England profile
at

The Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:ORiley, Matt 2000 births Living people Footballers from Hounslow Danish men's footballers Denmark men's under-21 international footballers English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Danish people of English descent Danish people of Norwegian descent Danish people of Irish descent English people of Danish descent English people of Norwegian descent English people of Irish descent Fulham F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Men's association football midfielders English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players