Omer Karime Ali Riza (born 8 November 1979) is a former footballer who is a coach at

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

's academy. Riza, who played as a forward, featured for English clubs Arsenal and

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

, Holland's Ado Den Haag and Turkish outfits

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish sports club located in the city of Trabzon. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, the men's football team has won seven Süper Lig championships. Trabzonspor also have a women's football team, ...

Denizlispor Denizlispor, due to current sponsorship Altaş Denizlispor, is a Turkish sports club based in Denizli. It is known by its distinct green and black colors. The club's branches include football, volleyball, basketball, table tennis, and gymnastics. ...

within his footballing career. Riza was also capped for the Turkish A2 team on one occasion.

Playing career

Born in

Edmonton, London Edmonton is a town in north London, England within the London Borough of Enfield, a local government district of Greater London. The northern part of the town is known as Lower Edmonton or Edmonton Green, and the southern part as Upper Edmont ...

, of

Turkish Cypriot Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( tr, Kıbrıs Türkleri or ''Kıbrıslı Türkler''; el, Τουρκοκύπριοι, Tourkokýprioi) are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,0 ...

descent, Riza started his career as a youth with English club Arsenal and made his first team debut on 2 November 1998 against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

. He also travelled with the team on away fixtures against

Dynamo Kyiv Football Club Dynamo Kyiv (, ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society, the club as a separate business entity was officia ...

and Panathinaikos as a substitute in the

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 ...

. With few first team opportunities at Arsenal, during the 1998–99 season, he went on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

to ADO Den Haag for three months. In the 1999–2000 season, he moved to

, but again was unable to break into the first team. He went on loan to Barnet and

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

, and signed a permanent deal with the latter in 2002. During the 2002–03 season he scored 17 goals for United, which prompted a move to

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

side

during the 2003 close season. In January 2006, he signed for

. In January 2008 Riza walked out of the club claiming he had not been paid. The

Turkish Football Federation The Turkish Football Federation (; TFF) is the governing body of association football in Turkey. It was formed on 23 April 1923, and joined FIFA the same year and UEFA in 1962. It organizes the Turkey national football team, the Turkish Footba ...

banned him from playing for any club. In February 2009, Riza returned to English football with a trial at

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

, and impressed manager Paul Simpson, but Riza could not take part in any official matches due to the ban imposed upon him by the TFF. The players legal representatives submitted a case to football's World governing body FIFA in early April 2009, from which a Swiss judge over-ruled the TFF decision, on 17 April, that Riza shall be allowed to compete in English football. Riza made his debut for Shrewsbury Town as a second-half substitute against

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

the following day. The case with the club and TFF continues, with the player and his legal team awaiting for FIFA to make a decision on the restriction. On 22 January 2010, he left Shrewsbury Town after struggling to break into the first team during the first half of the season, with Riza and the club coming to an agreement regarding paying off the rest of his contract. On 25 February he joined

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...

until the end of the season. Following the appointment of

David Livermore David Livermore (born 20 May 1980) is an English retired footballer who is the former assistant manager of Millwall, Cardiff City and Gillingham. Livermore has featured for clubs such as Arsenal, Millwall, Hull City, Brighton & Hove Albion, L ...

as manager at

Histon Histon is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is immediately north of Cambridge – and is separated from the city – by the A14 road which runs east–west. In ...

, Riza joined Histon on a non-contract basis and made his debut against Kettering Town in a Conference National fixture on 28 August. He scored his first goal for Histon when he scored a penalty in their league match against Hayes & Yeading United, which turned out to be the winning goal. Due to the financial cost of his wages, Histon released Riza in January 2012, giving him seven days notice to leave the club. In February 2012, Riza signed for

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

scoring on his debut in a 3–0 win against Maidenhead United. On 28 January 2013 he signed for

Chelmsford City Chelmsford City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Currently members of they play at the Melbourne Stadium. History Chelmsford Chelmsford Football Club was established in 1878 by members of ...

and scored on his debut on the same day against Dorchester Town in a 4–0 win, being named Man of the Match. In August 2015, Riza signed for Harlow Town, hoping to bounce back from a knee injury. In December 2017, Riza came out of retirement, signing for

Eastern Counties League The Eastern Counties Football League, currently known as the Thurlow Nunn League for sponsorship purposes, is an English football league at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system. It currently contains clubs from Norfolk, Suff ...

Premier Division side Newmarket Town as a player. One month later, Riza left Newmarket due to injury. On 1 January 2022, 42-year-old Riza played for Hertford Town in the Southern Football League.

Coaching career

In August 2013, Riza moved clubs again, this time signing for

Cheshunt Cheshunt ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London on the River Lea and Lee Navigation. It contains a section of the Lee Valley Park, including much of the River Lee Country Park. To the north lies Broxbourne and Wormley, ...

. Following the departure of manager Tony Faulkner, Riza was appointed as caretaker manager of Cheshunt. The holder of a UEFA A Licence badge, Riza said of his new role, "It's new to me but I am ready for the challenge. I am ready for the next step of my career. I have always wanted to go into this side of the game. I feel quietly confident I have what it takes to build something." His first game in charge was on 31 August 2013, an away game against Hertford Town in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. Riza scored to make the game 3–1 before they finally lost 4–2. His player-manager position was made permanent in November 2013. He scored 17 goals during that season, but damaged his cruciate ligament in one of his knees in a charity match for Arsenal XI in June 2014, sidelining him for 15 months. He was sacked from his Cheshunt duties in September 2014. He had a short spell as assistant manager for Heybridge Swifts, between December 2014 and February 2015. On 30 March 2017, following the resignation of Daniel Webb as manager of

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...

, Riza was promoted from his role as assistant manager and placed in charge until the end of the 2016–17 season. In his first game as manager, on 1 April, Orient lost 0–2 to

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 ...

and Riza was sent to the stands for verbally abusing referee Charles Breakspear. On 22 April 2017, after losing to

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

, Orient were relegated to the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

, ending the club's 112 years in the Football League. Riza's contract expired on 30 June 2017 and was not extended. In August 2018, Riza joined

as an academy coach. In September 2019, Riza was named as a coach for the England U16s as part of

The FA 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 an ...

's 2019–20 Elite Coach Placement Programme. In October 2020 he was confirmed as the Watford's under-23 coach, having stepped up temporarily into the role in December 2019 after

Hayden Mullins Hayden Ian Mullins (born 27 March 1979) is an English former professional footballer and current manager. He played primarily as a defensive midfielder, but he also played as a sweeper and at right-back. He was most recently the head coach at ...

was promoted to the club's first-team staff. On 26 August 2021, Riza was confirmed as an assistant coach for the England U17s working with Tom Curtis and Paul Davis.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Riza, Omer 1979 births Living people Footballers from Edmonton, London English footballers Turkish footballers Turkey B international footballers Association football forwards Arsenal F.C. players ADO Den Haag players West Ham United F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Denizlispor footballers Trabzonspor footballers Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Histon F.C. players Boreham Wood F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Southern Football League players Süper Lig players English expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Cheshunt F.C. players Sportspeople of Turkish Cypriot descent Chelmsford City F.C. players Harlow Town F.C. players English football managers Turkish football managers Leyton Orient F.C. managers English Football League managers Newmarket Town F.C. players Watford F.C. non-playing staff Hertford Town F.C. players English people of Turkish Cypriot descent English people of Turkish descent Association football coaches