Angel City and New Zealand captain Ali Riley will retire at the end of the 2025 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) season. The 37-year-old defender announced her retirement Tuesday morning, calling time on a career that spanned nearly two decades, five World Cups, and four Olympic Games. She has captained Angel City since the club’s inaugural season in 2022 and said she was “proud” to “say goodbye on my own terms, in my hometown”. “While I certainly experienced my share of heartbreak in my ca
The 37-year-old defender announced her retirement Tuesday morning, calling time on a career that spanned nearly two decades, five World Cups, and four Olympic Games.
She has captained Angel City since the club’s inaugural season in 2022 and said she was “proud” to “say goodbye on my own terms, in my hometown”.
“While I certainly experienced my share of heartbreak in my career, it will never compare to the immense love, joy, and gratitude I feel when I look back on over three decades of playing this game,” Riley wrote in a post on Instagram. “I am so proud to be able to say goodbye on my own terms, in my hometown, and know for certain that I am giving everything I have left to the people around me and the sport that shaped me.
“I want to thank everyone who has believed in me, supported me, bought my jersey, cheered my name, and traveled far and wide to watch me play. This chapter may be coming to an end, but I’m not going anywhere.”
In January, Riley’s family was among the thousands who lost their homes in the Los Angeles wildfires. Her parents were evacuated from her childhood home in Pacific Palisades days before her wedding in Ventura County.
Riley also struggled with a chronic nerve injury that sidelined her at the start of the 2024 Paris Olympics. While recovering, she was open with her journey with In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and her decision to freeze her eggs in the offseason.
Riley returned to the pitch with Angel City in August. “Getting myself back on the field was my singular goal after my injury last year, and I am so proud to have achieved that,” she said in a club statement on Tuesday.
“As I reflect on what this game has given me these past three decades, since I started in the Palisades here in LA, I know that I have truly given my all, both physically and emotionally. As a player, I strived to be the best teammate, a positive influence in the locker room, and compete on the field every day. For my entire career, I never took a day when I got to play soccer for granted.”
Riley began her career in Pacific Palisades, California, and played for Stanford University. As team captain, she led the program to two NCAA semifinals and one final. While still in college, she debuted for New Zealand in 2007 and is her country’s second all-time appearance maker with 163 international caps.
She captained the Football Ferns at five World Cups (2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023). She was part of the side that recorded New Zealand’s first World Cup victory in the opening game of the 2023 tournament — which the country co-hosted alongside Australia — with a surprise 1-0 win over Norway.
“I’m so, so proud,” an emotional Riley said post-game. “We’ve been fighting for this for so long and we had a clear goal that we wanted to inspire young girls, young people, in this country and around the world. And I really think we did that tonight — anything is possible!”
At club level, her career spanned the globe. In the U.S. she enjoyed stints with FC Gold Pride, Western New York Flash and Orlando Pride. She won multiple league titles with FC Rosengård in Sweden, and had spells at Bayern Munich and Chelsea.
Her time in Angel City, however, will hold a special place for Riley, as this was the first time she was able to play professional in her hometown. She joined the club in January 2022 following a trade from Orlando. She has appeared in 54 matches for the club, scoring three goals.
Angel City is 11th in the NWSL, just five points behind Racing Louisville for the final 8th place playoff spot.
Angel City returns to the pitch on October 6, against the KC Current at BMO Stadium.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Orlando Pride, Angel City, NWSL, Women's Soccer
2025 The Athletic Media Company
Category: General Sports
