Fresh from claiming the Aurelio Vidmar Club Champion award for a stellar 2019/20 campaign, the accolades have continued to fall Riley McGree’s way.
On Thursday night the 21-year-old prodigy was named the Hyundai A-League Young Footballer of the Year during the online edition of the Dolan Warren Awards.
McGree enjoyed immense productivity, scoring 10 goals to also claim the Club’s Golden Boot award, while laying off a further five assists in 23 league appearances.
The attacking midfielder said it was a tremendous privilege to receive the award he had been eying for the last few years.
“It’s such a great honour for me personally,” McGree said in his acceptance speech.
“I’ve had a few cracks at it in the league and to finally get it it’s great.”
McGree returned to the Reds in July 2019 after a fee was agreed with Belgian outfit Club Brugge and quickly demonstrated his undeniable quality.
.@McgreeRiley is Young Footballer of the Year!
Great season, congratulations, Riley! 👏👏👏 #AUFC #ALeague #DolanWarrenAwards pic.twitter.com/RZj0Y7crST
— Adelaide United (@AdelaideUnited) September 10, 2020
He had spent the previous 18-months on loan at fellow Australian sides, Newcastle Jets and Melbourne City respectively.
McGree attributes some of the reasons for his individual success to the fact that he was in a familiar environment and already knew most of his teammates.
“I think coming back home I was quite comfortable and my confidence was high,” he continued.
“I did know most of the players in the team so that helped a lot, and the staff and the players believed in me which helps a lot as well.”
