Omer Riza

Omer Karime Ali Riza (born 8 November 1979) is a football coach and former player who is the manager of EFL Championship club Cardiff City.

Born in Edmonton, London,[2] of Turkish Cypriot descent,[6] Riza started his career as a youth with English club Arsenal.

He made his only appearance for the club on 28 October 1998 in the League Cup third round, a 2–1 win away to Derby County in which he came on in the last minute as a substitute for Christopher Wreh.

Riza said in 2018 that he believed he should have played more, due to his form for the under-19 and reserve teams; he said that although Nicolas Anelka, Ian Wright and Dennis Bergkamp were first-team forwards for Arsenal, players that he considered inferior to himself such as Kaba Diawara, Fabián Caballero and Wreh were getting more opportunities.

He scored the equaliser in a 4–4 pre-season friendly against nearby part-time club Brechin City, but was passed over by manager Ebbe Skovdahl for being too much like their player Darren Mackie.

[10] He made five appearances that season, ending on 23 May in the 1–0 loss to Gillingham in the 2009 Football League Two play-off final, in which he came on for Nick Chadwick with 11 minutes of regulation time remaining.

[11] On 22 January 2010, Riza left Shrewsbury Town after struggling to break into the first team during the first half of the season, with player and club coming to an agreement regarding paying off the rest of his contract.

[27] 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,[28] sidelining him for 15 months.

[33] In his first game as manager, on 1 April, Orient lost 0–2 to Wycombe Wanderers and Riza was sent to the stands for verbally abusing referee Charles Breakspear.

[38] 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 was promoted to the club's first-team staff.

[42] Riza joined EFL Championship club Cardiff City in June 2024, as first team coach in Turkish manager Erol Bulut's backroom staff.

[43] Riza lost 4–1 away to Hull City on his debut on 28 September, before earning Cardiff's first win of the season three days later with a 1–0 home victory over Millwall; he then said that he hoped to receive the job permanently.