The extraordinary story of Matt O’Riley’s winding road to the top – potentially about to move on to a whole new chapter this summer after helping lead Celtic to their third successive title – is worthy of inspiration for anyone who try to make your career. path into the fierce world of football.
As a teenager at Fulham, he was being watched by big clubs across Europe and could easily have signed the new three-year deal that came his way, aged 19, upon the expiry of his previous deal. He did not do it. He walked away because he didn’t see a path to the first team.
O’Riley spent lockdown in 2020 without a club, working out in parks around west London, by himself or with his father. He accepted an offer to train with MK Dons and drove the 140-mile round trip from his family home in Thames Ditton every day.
He saw a potential move to Belgian side KV Kortrijk fall through after a trial before agreeing a deal in Milton Keynes and trying his luck in English League One. And now, just over three years later, here he is.
Since joining Celtic for £1.5million midway through Ange Postecoglou’s first season in charge, O’Riley’s progression has been rapid under the Australian and currently Brendan Rodgers.
Now 23, he has been one of the Parkhead team’s best players, winning the league title in each of his three seasons (the latest at Rugby Park this week) and was the subject of a £20m bid from Atlético de Madrid at the turn of the year.
Matt O’Riley warms up ahead of crucial Kilmarnock match on Wednesday night
Midfielder O’Riley has become Celtic’s prized asset in recent seasons.
Jubilant O’Riley celebrates the title with his partner Joe Hart
Sure to attract renewed interest in the coming months, his personal development has ticked many boxes in terms of how to motivate players struggling to make a breakthrough at top clubs, where youth don’t always have a chance.
Believe in yourself. Make your dreams come true. Don’t make money your god. Take a step back if necessary. Get games.
With O’Riley, you feel like there’s a lot more going on beneath the surface. Deeper things that can be applied outside of the insular worlds of professional sports. To all of us, regardless of our age or stage of life.
They focus on marching to the beat of your own drum, pursuing the things you love and finding ways to continue finding fulfillment in them when times are tough, overcoming disappointment, addressing what’s holding you back, helping others, and remain open to being helped. yourself. And perhaps most importantly, especially for younger men, is to talk to the right people when it all gets a little overwhelming.
Laying out the reasons for the increased consistency in his game, O’Riley spoke about the meditation he indulges in and the regular Zoom calls he makes with a friend and life coach based in India.
‘Dish’ was working as an intern at Fulham during O’Riley’s time at Craven Cottage. “I immediately formed a relationship with him because I felt like he really wanted to help me,” O’Riley said. “I didn’t necessarily get that feeling from everyone else there.”
O’Riley scored twice against Kilmarnock in a 5-0 win at Rugby Park
O’Riley is congratulated by Greg Taylor after his double against Kilmarnock
Danish international O’Riley does a stretching routine before the match against Kilmarnock
It was fascinating to hear what his friend really tells him.
“I work a lot with him to talk about things that maybe were kept inside me for a long time,” said the midfielder. ‘(Things) that maybe I wouldn’t have had, not necessarily the courage to talk about it, but the knowledge to understand how to talk about it. “That has helped me a lot and has helped me become a more well-rounded person in general.”
Football is a tough environment. It is improving, but the young people who are part of it still feel that conforming to stereotypes is an easier option. Individualism is not always encouraged.
With the levels of pressure and expectations that exist, it can be a difficult testing ground. It is to be applauded that O’Riley is confident enough to admit that he uses such new-age approaches. The fact that he has been insightful enough to confront the obstacles that prevent him from getting where he wants is amazing.
Facing inner demons is challenging and complicated. O’Riley himself admits that getting to this mental space, to this state of mind that has brought him to the brink of takeoff, has required a couple of years of hard, very hard work. Something about him also tells you that he’s probably still a work in progress.
Almost everyone who talks about O’Riley mentions his deep and never-ending love of football. Not long ago he spoke of his desire to maintain the “young, childlike joy” he had on the field when he was 14, expressing himself freely and valuing football as it is and should be.
Admit that not all of this comes from within. It has involved accepting help and advice from others when things have been a little difficult.
He talks about how the support others have given him in the past now leads him to offer encouragement and support to colleagues and teammates.
If it weren’t for former Rangers player Russell Martin, O’Riley might not be where he is today: playing international football for Denmark and preparing to enter the arena of the real, true elite.
Martin, then managing MK Dons, received a call from an agent in 2020 to inform him that O’Riley, scouted by Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and all sorts as a child, was looking for a place to train. . The invitation he extended led to a contract and a real change in the way O’Riley related to the game.
“From day one, they were always very nice to me,” O’Riley said in an interview with The Athletic at the time. “Just a lot of praise, which he actually wasn’t that used to.” It was nice to feel loved.
“I’ve never really had a relationship with a manager who talked to me regularly about how he feels about me, telling me what I can and can’t do.”
O’Riley is a self-help ad, but it serves as proof of what can happen when people are willing to reach out to others, embrace goodness in their own lives, and talk about their fears and insecurities with those they trust, rationalizing them. and turn them into an action plan.
O’Riley has walked his own path to the top, from Fulham to Celtic and potentially beyond.
It certainly served him well when his form dipped midway through this season at a time when Atletico’s interest was gaining momentum, but he was ultimately turned down.
O’Riley worked his way up to become one of Celtic’s most influential players and their most valuable asset.
Having since admitted that he would be better equipped to deal with transfer speculation in the future, he frankly deserves everything that awaits him.
* A version of this story first appeared in the Mail on Sunday in January.