Charles Riva was born in Melbourne in 1889 and moved to Western Australia with his family where he learnt to play football. Before the war he played for Claremont, a member of their 1910 Charity Cup winning team.
Riva received a severe gunshot wound to the neck during the Battle of Pozieres in early August 1916. Fortunately he recovered and by war’s end had attained the rank of Staff Sergeant.
Upon his return Riva does not appear as a soccer player as his bank work had him move around Western Australia. He was promoted to bank manager and took charge of Manjimup Branch of the National Bank in 1921 and in 1922 he married Constance Murphy. By 1925 he had been transferred to Moora where he kept fit by playing cricket and Australian Rules.
Charles Riva passed away in 1961 in Perth at the age of 72.