José Riga

Riga in November 2011

José Riga (born July 30, 1957 in Liège ) is a Belgian football coach and official.

Athletic career

After a playing career in the lower-class league area at CS Visé and RJS Haccourt , he also took over his first coaching position at the latter club. After several years with Espanola Liège , CS Visé and Sprimont Comblain Sport , he took over the first division relegated RAEC Mons in 2005 . As the champion of the second division , he led the team back to the Pro League . After a new place in the table on promoted, he finished with the team in the 2007/08 season tied on points but due to the poorer direct comparison behind KFC Verbroedering Dender EH on the last non-relegation place. After the team found themselves at the end of the table in the following season, Riga was released early in January 2008.

In the summer of 2008, Riga returned as sports director to third division club CS Visé, with whom he rose as a coach in the second division in 2010. In the summer of 2011, Standard Liège recruited him as the successor to the interim solution Dominique D'Onofrio , but after only one season he was replaced by Ron Jans . First he went to the Aspire Academy in Qatar, later AC Milan brought him to their junior coaching team.

In March 2014, Riga inherited Chris Powell , who had been released from Charlton Athletic , with the aim of staying up in the Football League Championship by the end of the season . Although he reached the goal as twelfth in the table with 19 points ahead of the relegation ranks, the expiring contract was not extended, Riga then hired at the relegated FC Blackpool in the third-rate Football League One . After only one win in the first 15 league games, the club parted ways with him again at the end of October. After almost three months without a job, he returned to Standard Liège in early February, where Ivan Vukomanović had been dismissed. He looked after the team until the end of the season, then took over the first division relegated FC Metz in Ligue 2 . After a mixed first half of the season, he was replaced by Philippe Hinschberger in December . In January he found a new job in which he returned to Charlton Athletic. This time he missed relegation, so that he was again without a job at the end of the season.

In November 2016, Riga returned to Belgium and took over the coaching position at the second division club Cercle Bruges .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ "José Riga au Cercle Bruges"