Riley Patrick McGree (born 2 November 1998) is an Australian 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 an

attacking 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 EFL Championship club

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

and the Australian national team. Born in

Gawler, South Australia Gawler is the oldest country town on the Australian mainland in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about north of the ...

, McGree played youth football for

Gawler Gawler is the oldest country town on the Australian mainland in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about north of the ...

, the FFSA NTC and

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was founded in 2003 to fil ...

before starting his professional career with Adelaide United in 2016. He joined Club Brugge of the Belgian top flight in 2017, and spent two loan spells back in Australia with

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australian ...

and Melbourne City before returning to Adelaide United. That club sold him to Major League Soccer expansion franchise

Charlotte FC Charlotte FC is an American professional soccer club based in Charlotte. The team competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The team is owned by David Tepper, who was awarded the expansion franchise ...

, who loaned him to English

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 ...

club

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

for 18 months before selling him to Middlesbrough in 2022. McGree was first called up to the Australian national team in 2017, having previously played for Australia under-17 in 2013.

Early life

McGree was born and raised in

, to the north of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. He joined Gawler Eagles FC as a four-year-old after the town's Australian rules football club was full, and remained with the Eagles for eight years.

Club career

Adelaide United

McGree made his debut for

in the A-League on 19 March 2016 in a draw with

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...

. He made his first start for the club in a

2016 FFA Cup Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film d ...

loss to

Redlands United Redlands United Football Club is an association football club based in Cleveland, Brisbane, Queensland. The club, formed in 1918, is one of the oldest soccer clubs in Queensland. It re-entered the top tier, Brisbane Premier League (BPL), in 20 ...

on 3 August 2016, having been called up from the club's youth squad. Two weeks later, McGree signed a one-year senior contract with Adelaide. McGree scored his first goal for the Reds in his second A-League start, on 29 January 2017, with a shot from the edge of the area in a draw with

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...

Club Brugge

After impressing at Adelaide United, including being called up for the Australian national team, McGree left the national Australian league in July 2017 to join Belgian club Club Brugge.

Loan to Newcastle Jets

On 19 December 2017, it was announced that McGree would be joining the

on a short-term loan deal for the remainder of the

2017–18 A-League The 2017–18 A-League was the 41st season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the 13th since the establishment of the A-League in 2004. The season began on 6 October 2017 and ended with the Grand Final on 5 May 2018. Sydney FC won the A- ...

season, as an injury replacement for Jake Adelson. The transfer would be officially lodged in January, with him expected to join the squad in late January, due to his international commitments in

2018 AFC U-23 Championship The 2018 AFC U-23 Championship (also known as the 2018 AFC U-23 Asian Cup) was the third edition of the AFC U-23 Championship, the biennial international age-restricted football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) fo ...

. In that season's A-League semi-finals, McGree became the subject of international attention after scoring with a

scorpion kick The scorpion kick, also known as a reverse bicycle kick In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick, scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by ...

, and which received a nomination for the FIFA Puskas Award for the most beautiful goal in the world that year. At the end of the season McGree returned to Club Brugge, though Newcastle Jets looked to sign him on loan once more.

Loan to Melbourne City

In June 2018, a few weeks after the announcement that McGree returned to Club Brugge, he returned to the A-League, joining Melbourne City on a season-long loan.

Return to Adelaide United

On 5 July 2019, it was announced that McGree would return to Adelaide United for an undisclosed fee for the next three seasons. McGree starred for Adelaide United in his season back for Adelaide United scoring 10 goals in the league and 3 goals in the cup, including one in the FFA Cup final against Melbourne City. He capped off his season by winning the Aurelio Vidmar Club Champion award for the best and fairest player at Adelaide United, and winning the club's golden boot award.

Charlotte FC

On 5 October 2020, McGree was sold to Major League Soccer expansion franchise

for an undisclosed fee.

Loan to Birmingham City

Immediately after joining Charlotte FC, McGree was loaned to English

club

for the season. He made his Birmingham City debut on 17 October, as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat at home to

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

. Two weeks later, he scored his first goal two minutes into his first start, away to Preston North End, when he reacted quickest to a loose ball after

Lukas Jutkiewicz Lukas Isaac Paul Jutkiewicz (born 28 March 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Birmingham City. He previously played for Swindon Town, Everton, Plymouth Argyle, Huddersfield Town, Motherwell, Coventr ...

's mis-hit shot; the match ended 2–1 to Birmingham. McGree finished the season with 15 appearances, and his loan was renewed until 1 January 2022. He made his first league start of 2021–22 in October, in place of the injured Tahith Chong, and according to the ''

Birmingham Mail The ''Birmingham Mail'' (branded the ''Black Country Mail'' in the Black Country) is a tabloid newspaper based in Birmingham, England but distributed around Birmingham, the Black Country, and Solihull and parts of Warwickshire, Worcestershire a ...

'', became "undroppable, impressing with his work-rate, mobility, versatility and, latterly, quality." He scored twice and made two assists in 13 league matches before his loan expired. Although McGree was expected to return to Charlotte FC in preparation for their MLS debut, rumours in early January linked him with a permanent move either to

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 Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

, managed by Ange Postecoglou, the coach who first called him up to the senior national team, or to another EFL Championship club. He chose not to join Celtic, and on 14 January, he signed for

Middlesbrough

McGree signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with EFL Championship club

on 14 January 2022; the fee was undisclosed. McGree made his debut for the club on 12 February, coming off the bench during a 4–1 win 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 ...

International career

McGree was called up to the Australia under-17 team in August 2013 for the

2013 AFF U-16 Youth Championship The 2013 AFF U-16 Youth Championship is the 9th edition of the AFF U-16 Youth Championship, organised by the ASEAN Football Federation for the men's under-16 national teams of Southeast Asia. It will be hosted by Myanmar. It will be played betwee ...

in Myanmar. He scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in the side's group stage win over

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...

. In March 2017, McGree was called up to the Australian team for the first time, for

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...

matches against

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

and

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. In November 2019 he was one of four players suspended by the

Australia national under-23 soccer team Australia national under-23 soccer team may refer to: * Australia men's national under-23 soccer team * Australia women's national under-23 soccer team See also * Australia national under-20 soccer team * Australia national under-17 soccer team * ...

due to "unprofessional conduct". The four players allegedly mistreated a woman after an intimate encounter. As a result, McGree was forbidden to play in the upcoming

2020 AFC U-23 Championship The 2020 AFC U-23 Championship was the fourth edition of the AFC U-23 Championship, the biennial international age-restricted football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-23 national teams of Asi ...

, but was free to be selected for their World Cup team if Australia qualify. McGree made his senior debut on 3 June 2021, as a late substitute in a 3–0 win against

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

in a 2022 World Cup qualifier. In a man-of-the-match performance on his first start, he provided two assists in a 5–1 victory against Chinese Taipei, and was a late substitute as Australia beat

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

to complete a perfect record in the second phase of qualifying. He scored his first international goal to complete Australia's 4–0 defeat of

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

on 27 January 2022 in a third-phase qualifier.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Adelaide United * A-League Premiership: 2015–16 *

FFA Cup The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Austral ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGree, Riley 1998 births Living people People from Gawler, South Australia Australian soccer players Australia international soccer players Australia youth international soccer players Association football midfielders Adelaide United FC players Club Brugge KV players Newcastle Jets FC players Melbourne City FC players Charlotte FC players Birmingham City F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players A-League Men players National Premier Leagues players English Football League players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic soccer players of Australia Australian expatriate soccer players Australian expatriates in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Belgium Australian expatriates in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Australian expatriates in England Expatriate footballers in England 2022 FIFA World Cup players