Just months after the Portland Thorns fired Paul Riley following an investigation into alleged sexual harassment, they recommended him for a new job.
That is according to the investigation by Sally Yates into allegations of abusive behavior and sexual misconduct in women’s soccer that was released on Monday.
Riley was fired by the Thorns in 2015, but the reason for his termination was not revealed publicly. Within months he was coaching in the NWSL again with the Western New York Flash, which would eventually move and become the North Carolina Courage.
The allegations against Riley did not become public until 2021, when The Athletic published a story including on-record allegations of sexual harassment from Mana Shim, as well as accusations of sexual harassment and sexual coercion from another player, Sinead Farrelly.
Only then was Riley fired by the Courage, more than five years after he was hired.
Wilkinson would ‘hire [Riley] in a heartbeat’
The Yates report details an email from NWSL Commissioner Jeff Plush to U.S. Soccer CEO Dan Flynn, U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati, and NWSL General Counsel Lisa Levine while Riley was in the process of being hired by the Flash in early 2016.
First, Plush tells the trio “Western New York will announce Paul Riley as head coach on Friday. Not good news,” indicating that the entire group was aware of the possible consequences of Riley getting another NWSL job.
Plush then relays his “guess” that Thorns General Manager Gavin Wilkinson likely “helped” get Riley hired.
Plush adds that Wilkinson believed it was at least partially a player’s fault that Riley was let go, and that he would recommend the coach “in a heartbeat” for another job.
The excerpt reads:
In an email to Gulati, Flynn, and Levine, Plush conveyed his understanding that Gavin Wilkinson (Thorns General Manager) told the Flash that Riley was “put in a bad position by the player,” and that Wilkinson would “hire [Riley] in a heartbeat.” Although Plush, Gulati, Flynn, and Levine all had received Shim’s detailed complaint—and Plush and Levine received the 2015 Thorns Report—none appeared to provide the Flash with additional information.
The report also states the Flash received “positive recommendations from the Thorns” over Riley and were told to hire him if they could. The Flash added that Wilkinson said the investigation that led to Riley’s firing in Portland “resulted in no findings of wrong doing [sic].”
During the hiring process, the Flash sought and received information and positive recommendations from the Thorns regarding Riley. WNY Flash’s Vice President Aaran Lines spoke with the Thorns General Manager (Wilkinson). According to the WNY Flash, “the only negative reference made during the conversation was a comment from Mr. Wilkenson [sic] that Mr. Riley did not mesh well with all of the personalities in the locker room.” The WNY Flash also reported that Wilkinson “referenced only one incident with a disgruntled player but indicated that an internal investigation resulted in no findings of wrong doing [sic] against Mr. Riley and the investigation was otherwise closed. His comment at that time was to get him if we could
The Yates report also makes it clear that U.S. Soccer was warned two more times about Riley after he was hired by the Flash, once in 2018 and once again in 2019.
ESPN reported last month that Thorns owner Merritt Paulson told Courage owner Steve Malik in 2019 that Riley should withdraw from consideration from the USWNT job, which would have helped conceal the real reason for his departure from the Thorns.
The Yates report also detailed the Thorns’ resistance to fully cooperating with the investigation.
“The Portland Thorns interfered with our access to relevant witnesses and raised specious legal arguments in an attempt to impede our use of relevant documents,” the report says.
Paulson is still the owner of the Thorns as well as the Portland Timbers of MLS. Wilkinson was removed as general manager of the Thorns last year but still serves the same role for the Timbers.
[lawrence-related id=7925,7920,7843]