Jayde Riviere was once a Red Devil worshipper in Pickering. Now she's playing for Manchester United Soccer
Jayde Riviere was once a Red Devil worshipper in Pickering. Now she’s playing for Manchester United
Riviere once honed her craft in a basement mini field. At Old Trafford, she’s become an elite defender.
Jayde Riviere was once a Red Devil worshipper in Pickering. Now she's playing for Manchester United
Before anyone accuses the Olympic gold medallist of some sort of sinister occult affiliation, it should probably be established that the family’s religious devotion was to a team — the Red Devils of Manchester United — rather than any supreme spirits.
That a Pickering girl would go on to represent her father’s beloved club? That part, perhaps, required the soccer gods’ divine intervention.
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“I remember the first time I saw my picture amongst some of the men’s players, I didn’t have a lot of words,” Markham-born Riviere tells the Star.
“I would have never guessed that my face would be on the side of Old Trafford. It’s something that has never really set in. That’s the theatre of dreams. That’s in my mind unattainable.
“To know that there are so many legends that have walked and played on the same piece of grass that I have, or be in the same locker room as I have, is something that I will forever take with me.”
Coaches and teammates in England have said Riviere has the potential to become the best right-back in the world.
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Coaches and teammates in England have said Jayde Riviere has the potential to become the best right-back in the world.
Riviere’s journey is as quintessentially Canadian as a double-double, precisely because it began elsewhere entirely: in Hong Kong — where her mother, Emily Lui, was born — and the Caribbean island of Dominica, where father Tony grew up playing soccer. They welcomed their only child in January 2001.
Tony used to call Jayde into the living room every weekend for his own take on Sunday school. She would sit, like a miniature scout, taking notes on each United game before the pair would venture outside and put what she learned from players like her idol Nani, Wayne Rooney and Ashley Young into practice.
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At one point, Tony even transformed their basement into a mini field to give Riviere a leg-up in the winter.
Most Britons would not be able to tell you what a Timbit is, let alone that one of Manchester United’s top talents got her start as a tot in a program sponsored by doughnut holes — at Pickering FC — before joining Markham Soccer Club. At just 14, she gave a verbal commitment to Division I Michigan, and earned her first senior Canada call-up two years later.
“I looked up to Kadeisha Buchanan, Ashley Lawrence, Janine Beckie, these Canadians playing abroad for massive clubs,” Riviere said. “I never would have imagined that I could play for a big team, but to know that a Canadian (Adriana Leon) could play for United, I wanted to do that as well.”
What a way to score your first United goal! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/2cdgXg68wZ
— Manchester United Women (@ManUtdWomen) September 4, 2026
Riviere now knows she was on United’s radar for years, but she could only enter negotiations with then-head coach Marc Skinner after making the difficult decision to step away from collegiate soccer before her final year.
“Me being an only child, my family is all I have,” explains Riviere, who joined her dream club in January 2023. “Hopping on a 9 1/2-hour plane ride and being a five-hour time difference isn’t something I want to wake up to every day and regret.
“For me, (Skinner’s) family-oriented introduction was something that really allowed me to be here. My parents were very strongly opinionated on academics and football, and my goal was always to finish university, but when a team like United comes calling we don’t shut that door. It was a no-brainer for me.”
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Pickering’s Jayde Riviere, left, earned her first call-up to the Canadian women’s soccer team at 16.
Riviere code-switches between calling it “soccer” and “football,” occasionally accompanied by air quotes, and sometimes starts answers with a distinctly Canadian “yeah, no.” England took some adjustment, but the defender has evolved into one of United’s most consistent players, as adept in one-on-one defending as she is in delivering crosses.
In a 2025 interview for the United website, Skinner said: “I believe Jayde has the ability to be the best in the world … she doesn’t really have a ceiling.”
Last Friday, Riviere discovered a more literal interpretation of the idiomatic “bleeding United red” when she collided with London City Lionesses forward Rosa Kafaji less than four minutes into their season opener.
She spat up blood, but carried on until the 84th minute, later denying Kafaji a goal with a vital clearance off the line. The extent of Riviere’s true grit was revealed a day later when she told her Instagram followers: “I didn’t know you could stitch up a tongue, but I am … all good.”
Jayde Riviere is one of six active Canadians in the Women’s Super League and one of 20 all-time.
Jess Hornby Getty Images
Professional women’s soccer was effectively banned in England from 1921 to 1971, and the Women’s Super League only turned fully pro in 2018. That year, United reintroduced a women’s team after a 13-year hiatus.
Riviere was an integral part of Canada’s gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, arguably the biggest victory in Canadian soccer history and, she says, “a pivotal moment for Canadian women’s football … it shone a light on (what) Canadian players could do.”
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She started all three World Cup games in 2023, the same year the Canadian women successfully negotiated a landmark interim equal pay agreement. Riviere is one of six active Canadians in the WSL and one of 20 all-time.
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Jayde Riviere was once a Red Devil worshipper in Pickering. Now she's playing for Manchester United
Jayde Riviere was once a Red Devil worshipper in Pickering. Now she's playing for Manchester United