The Most Important Man in Waterford's Season?

The name Joe Riley mightn’t mean any more to Waterford fans than those of James Olayinka, Trae Coyle, Maarten Pouwels or Navajo Bakboord did a couple of months ago, but the 33 year old from Salford will potentially have a major influence on how this season goes for the Blues.

Riley is the Head of Recruitment for both Fleetwood and Waterford and, thus, is the man behind a lot of signings, particularly those who are new to the League of Ireland. It is his responsibility is to scout players and present potential signings to Keith Long (or Pete Wild in the case of Fleetwood). Riley was appointed in June 2022 replacing James Wallace who moved to Preston North End. That was two months before the Fleetwood group bought Waterford FC so the role was expanded to cover both clubs.

A right back in his playing days, Riley came through Bolton’s academy with first team manager Owen Coyle giving him a Premier League debut shortly after his 20^th birthday. He started in a memorable 5-0 win over Stoke City, playing alongside Wanderers stalwarts Jussi Jaaskelainen, Gary Cahill and Kevin Davies. The young defender impressed by marshalling a Stoke forward line including Jonathan Walters and Peter Crouch. He even came close to scoring with an attempt driven across goal late in the game. The Reebok Stadium gave him a standing ovation when he was withdrawn in the 93^rd minute to be replaced with Zat Knight.

 

 

An unfortunate succession of injuries prevented Riley from building on that start and new Bolton manager Neil Lennon transferred him to Bury in 2015. Joe helped them gain promotion to League One before moving to Shrewsbury Town and then on to Plymouth Argyle, spending two seasons at each. Mansfield Town was his final club, but a knee injury held him to only six appearances in eighteen months and he was forced into retirement in the summer of 2021 at just 29 years of age.

Joe worked for a football agency for a year before landing the Fleetwood role. In his first summer as Head of Recruitment, the Cods signed Brendan Wiredu, Shaun Rooney and Josh Vela amongst others. They also raided the League of Ireland for Promise Omochere from Bohemians who was sold on to Bristol Rovers last year for a reported £500,000. Teenagers Sam Glenfield and Stephen McMullan, both now in Waterford, were signed to the academy from the Irish League.

The January 2023 transfer window saw Phoenix Patterson, Junior Quitirna and David Harrington arrive from Ireland while relatively big money was spent on strikers Jack Marriott and Jayden Stockley. Last season’s recruits included Ronan Coughlan, Thomas Lonergan, Maleace Asamoah and a prudent loan deal for Bosun Lawal from Celtic. Following relegation to League Two, Matty Virtue, James Bolton and Mipo Odubeko were notable acquisitions.

Many of Waterford’s new signings will be the result of Riley and Long working alongside each other to find players that are the right fit for their needs. It’s safe to assume that players such as Raul Uche, Derik Osede and Sam Sargeant in recent years were scouted and recruited by Riley. Some others who were new to Ireland weren’t as successful. Waterford’s fortunes in 2025 will depend heavily on the impact of new players like Olayinka, Coyle and Bakboord. Whether they show a competitive advantage through clever recruitment, only time will tell.