Alexandra Lowe Riley (born 30 October 1987) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender. Born in the United States, she represented the New Zealand national team. She captained both her club and national teams. As a collegiate athlete, she captained the Stanford soccer team to two NCAA semi-finals and one final.
Born in Los Angeles, California to parents John Graham Riley and Beverly Fong Lowe, Riley attended St. Matthew's Parish School in Pacific Palisades and Harvard-Westlake School in North Hollywood, California. She was named captain of the soccer team during her senior season and was a two-time Mission League Offensive MVP as well as a two-time first-team San Fernando Valley selection. As a senior, she helped lead the Wolverines to the 2006 Southern Section Division I final and was named to the All-CIF Southern Section Division I first team. Riley also competed for local soccer clubs LA Breakers FC (formerly Westside Breakers) and Real SoCal (formerly SoCal United).
Riley attended Stanford University and played for the Stanford Cardinal from 2006 to 2009. During her freshman year, she started in fifteen of the eighteen matches she played. She played forward and scored four goals with two assists. As a sophomore, she played sixteen games and started in fourteen of them. She scored two goals and had two assists. During her junior year, Riley converted from her position at forward to an outside back and she has played almost exclusively at left or right full-back ever since, As a senior, Riley started in each of the twenty-four games and scored one goal with one assist.
In January 2010, Riley was selected as the tenth pick in the first round of the 2010 WPS Draft by FC Gold Pride. While she played on her natural right wing-back position for the NZ Women's National Team, she played professionally as a left wing-back and had three assists in the 2010 run to the WPS championship by FC Gold Pride. Riley won the WPS Rookie of the Year award.
Riley signed for Western New York Flash for the 2011 season, becoming a free agent after FC Gold Pride failed to find financial backers.
In the 2011 season Riley was a finalist for Defender of the year as the Flash swept both the league season title and then won the 2011 WPS Championship.
In 2012, Riley re-signed with Western New York Flash for the 2012 season, however, the league folded before play began.
With the suspension of the WPS, she signed in 2012 with LdB FC Malmö, the 2011 Damallsvenskan champions. In her first game (the Supercupen), she assisted on the winning goal. She played her first full season in the Damallsvenskan in 2013. With LdB FC Malmö she finished top of the table.
In September 2013 Riley re-signed with LdB FC Malmö (since December 2013 renamed FC Rosengård) for the 2014 and 2015 seasons. FC Rosengård again won gold in the Damallsvenskan in 2014.
In March 2015 she played both at full-back and forward in her second Supercupen victory with Rosengård. In September 2015 she re-signed with Rosengård. The team went on to win the Damallsvenskan for the third straight year, earning Riley her fifth league championship in her eight-year career.
On 26 June 2018, it was announced that Riley would be leaving Rosengård in July to join Chelsea in the English FA Women's Super League.
On 18 July 2019, Riley moved to Bayern Munich of the Frauen-Bundesliga.
On 10 February 2020, Ali Riley returned to the US and signed a one-year contract with an option for an additional year for the Orlando Pride. The season was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic with the NWSL eventually scheduling a smaller schedule 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup tournament. However, on 22 June 2020, the team withdrew from the tournament following positive COVID-19 tests among both players and staff.
On 13 July 2020, having been unable to feature for the Pride, Riley returned to Sweden to be with her partner during the pandemic and rejoined Rosengård on loan.
On 27 January 2022, Riley was traded to Angel City FC in exchange for $15,000 in allocation money and a third-round pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft. As a result of the trade, she was able to play in her hometown for the first time in her career. During the club's inaugural season, Riley was a starting defender in 19 of the 20 games she played and recorded 1,591 minutes on the pitch. The club finished their first season in eighth place with a 8–9–5 record.
During the 2023 season, Riley started 15 of the 19 games she played. She scored her first goal for the club during a 2–2 draw against Chicago Red Stars on 17 September. Angel City finished in fifth place during the regular season and advanced to the playoffs for the first time where they were eliminated by OL Reign in the quarter final match. Angel City announced on 22 August 2024 that Riley would be placed on the Season-Ending Injury (SEI) list due to a chronic and persistent leg injury that had kept her out for the majority of the 2024 season and forced her to miss the 2024 Olympics. Riley made her first appearance in a matchday squad since the injury during Angel City's 1–0 win against the Orlando Pride on 21 August 2025.
On 30 September 2025, Riley announced that she would retire from professional soccer at the end of the 2025 NWSL season.
Being US-born to a New Zealand father, Riley represented New Zealand at the 2006 Women's U-20 World Cup finals. She made her senior debut in a 5–0 loss to Australia on 6 February 2007, and represented New Zealand at the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup in China, where they lost 5–0 to Brazil, 2–0 to Denmark and 2–0 to China.