Stu Riddle

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Stu Riddle (born 23 May 1976 in Luton, England) is a New Zealand soccer player.

In 2006 he accepted a player-coaching job with Kalamazoo Kingdom in the USL Premier Development League, United States elite development league.

Personal information
Stu Riddle
Full name	Stuart Allen Riddle
Date of birth	May 23, 1976 (age 30)
Place of birth	Luton, England
Height	5ft 11.5in (181 cm)
Nickname	The Riddler
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Kalamazoo Kingdom
Number	18
Youth clubs
1991–92	Tawa AFC, Wellington United FC
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1995 1996 1996 1997 1997 1997-1998 1999 1999-2000 2001-2002 2001 2001 2004 2004 2005 2006	Wellington United FC → Chelmsford City FC → Miramar Rangers FC → Western Suburbs FC → Tawa AFC → Coastal Carolina University → Nelson Suburbs FC → Football Kingz FC → Des Moines Menace → Oxford City FC → Greenock Morton FC → West Michigan Edge → Youngheart Manawatu → Altona Magic → Kalamazoo Kingdom → Total	18 (18) 4 (1) 6 (1) 6 (3) 11 (7) 34 (18) 15 (18) 9 (2) 41 (23) 3 (3) 4 (0) 18 (9) 5 (1) 7 (4) 14 (6) 195 (107)
National team²
1996	New Zealand	004 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 August 2006. ² National team caps and goals correct as of 1 July 2006 source = http://http://www.mysoccer.com/usl6/riddle.jpg. * Appearances (Goals)

[edit] Biography

Less than a year after leaving High School at Wellington's Scots College, Riddle shot to prominence after a high scoring debut season with Wellington Utd in the New Zealand Superclub competition and at 19 was the youngest member of Bobby Clark's 1996 New Zealand Olympic Team. He would make four appearances for his country including one as a substitute in a 1-0 victory over then Oceania rivals Australia where Fulham midfielder Simon Elliott scored the only goal of the game at Adelaide's Hindmarsh Stadium.

After brief stints with several clubs including Chelmsford City in the UK, Riddle turned to the US College system and spent 2 successful years with the Myrtle Beach based Coastal Carolina University before being snapped up by Kiwi football icon Wynton Rufer for the Football Kingz debut season in the National Soccer League in 1999.

Despite signing a 2 year contract Riddle struggled to regularly feature in the Kingz side and only managed 9 appearances with a return of 2 goals both of which came away from home against Adelaide United and Brisbane Strikers.

Better form would be found in the lower United States leagues with Riddle being a mainstay of the Laurie Calloway coached Des Moines Menace side that would achieve an undeafeated season in the 2002 PDL competition.

Riddle turned to the UK again in the hope of being signed by a Football League side but again struggled with the higher level of play and had short spells at Oxford City and Greenock Morton before being re-united with former Kingz teammates Marcus Stergiopoulos and Levent Osman at the Melbourne based Altona Magic in the Victorian Premier League.

Despite a good scoring record he fell out of favour with the management of the Macedonian flavoured club and returned to the United States in August 2005 to take up a coaching position at the University of Evansville in Indiana.