Jamie Young
Jamie Young | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jamie Iain Young August 25, 1985 Brisbane, Australia |
| Occupation | Professional footballer (goalkeeper) |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Known for | Goalkeeper for various clubs including Brisbane Roar, Western United, Melbourne City; England U20 international |
Jamie Iain Young (born 25 August 1985) is a former professional soccer player who specialized as a goalkeeper. Though born in Australia, he represented England at youth international levels.
Early life and education
Young entered the world in Brisbane, Australia, with heritage tracing back to Sri Lanka and Scotland.
He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Sport Science, dedicating his thesis to exploring human genomic studies within professional football. Throughout his athletic career, Young managed to juggle his university education, pausing it temporarily in July 2016 to focus fully on his sporting responsibilities. Currently, he is undertaking doctoral research at the University of Queensland, concentrating on sports coaching psychology and particularly the dynamics between coaches and athletes in Australian football.
Beyond academia and sport, Young acts as an ambassador for the Multicultural Development Association, aiding refugee and migrant communities in Queensland.
Club career
Growing up in Australia, Young attended Padua College, where he guarded the goal for the First 11 team. His early club experience included stints at Pine Hills, Albany Creek, Easts, and the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS). In 2002, he relocated to England to join professional side Reading. After being unable to secure a position in Reading’s senior squad, he was released on 8 May 2006. Subsequently, on 2 August 2006, Young signed a one-year contract with Wycombe Wanderers.
A knee injury sidelined him for much of the 2007–08 season, but he returned to fitness by its conclusion. His contract with Wycombe was ended by mutual consent in January 2010 after it became clear it would not be renewed. On 11 March 2010, Young joined League Two club Aldershot Town on a non-contract basis as backup for goalkeeper Mikhael Jaimez-Ruiz.
Young secured the starting goalkeeper role at Aldershot late in the 2009–10 season and earned a one-year contract extension in June 2010. With the arrival of Ross Worner for the 2011–12 season, Young moved into a secondary role but continued to feature when Worner was unavailable due to injury. On 24 June 2012, he further extended his stay at Aldershot through to 2013.
Following Aldershot’s relegation and financial difficulties, Young departed in June 2013. He had a brief spell with Basingstoke Town before signing with Whitehawk in October 2013. Limited playing time there led him to join Hayes & Yeading United, where he made ten appearances before being released after an on-field incident.
On 10 May 2014, Young returned to Australia by signing with reigning A-League champions Brisbane Roar for the 2014–15 campaign. Despite facing early criticism from fans and teammate Shane Stefanutto, Young became the primary goalkeeper following Michael Theo’s wrist injury. He featured in 24 matches that season, achieving five clean sheets and contributing significantly to a memorable AFC Champions League victory over Urawa Reds.
After seven years with Brisbane Roar, Young transferred to Western United ahead of the 2021–22 season. He remained with Western United for two seasons before leaving upon contract expiration following the 2022–23 season.
Subsequently, Young signed with local rivals Melbourne City.
International career
Although born in Australia, Young chose to play internationally for the England national under-20 football team.
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | CS | Apps | CS | Apps | CS | Apps | CS | Apps | CS | ||
| Reading | 2003–04 | First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
| 2004–05 | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2005–06 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Rushden & Diamonds (loan) | 2005–06 | League Two | 20 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| Wycombe Wanderers | 2006–07 | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 | |
| 2007–08 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2008–09 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 17 | 0 | ||
| 2009–10 | League One | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 59 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 72 | 0 | ||
| Aldershot Town | 2009–10 | League Two | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | (1)[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 2010–11 | 46 | 3 | 1 | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 52 | |||||||
| 2011-12 |25 | 3 | 1 | 1 [lower-alpha 1] | 30 | ||||||||
| 2012-13 |44 | 3 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Basingstoke Town |2013-14 |rowspan =3 |Conference South |1 | — | |||||||||||
| Whitehawk |2013-14 |1 | — | |||||||||||
| Hayes & Yeading United |2013-14 |10 | — | |||||||||||
| Brisbane Roar |2014-15 |rowspan =6 |A-League |24 | 5 | — | — | 4 | 1 | 28 | ||||||
| 2015-16 |20 | 7 | — | ||||||||||
| 2016-17 |6 | 3 | |||||||||||
| 2017-18 |24 | 5 | |||||||||||
| 2018-19 |24 | 2 | |||||||||||
| 2019-20 |21 | 6 | |||||||||||
Honours
Individual Achievements
- A-League Goalkeeper of the Year: awarded in the 2017–18 season
- Recipient of the Brisbane Roar Gary Wilkins Medal for consecutive seasons: 2017–18 and 2018–19
- Selected for the A-Leagues All Star squad in 2022
- Named in the PFA A-League Men Team of the Season during the 2017–18, 2019–20, and 2021–22 campaigns
External links
- England profile at the FA
- OzFootball profile
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- Pages with script errors
- Articles with short description
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- 1985 births
- Living people
- Soccer players from Brisbane
- Australian men's soccer players
- English men's footballers
- England men's youth international footballers
- Men's association football goalkeepers
- Reading F.C. players
- Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players
- Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players
- Aldershot Town F.C. players
- Basingstoke Town F.C. players
- Whitehawk F.C. players
- Hayes & Yeading United F.C. players
- Brisbane Roar FC players
- Western United FC players
- Melbourne City FC players
- English Football League players
- National League (English football) players
- A-League Men players
- A-League Men All-Stars
- Australian expatriate men's soccer players
- People educated at Padua College (Brisbane)
- Expatriate men's footballers in England
- English people of Scottish descent
- English people of Sri Lankan descent
- Australian people of Scottish descent
- Australian people of Sri Lankan descent
- 21st-century English sportsmen
- 21st-century Australian sportsmen
- A-League Men championship–winning players
- Pages with reference errors