James McKeown

James Karl McKeown (born 24 July 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for side Cleethorpes Town. Born in Birmingham, McKeown began his career aged 15 with Coventry City and Walsall youth teams, but was unable to establish himself and departed two years later. He then joined Peterborough United; he spent time on loan with Kettering Town and Worcester City in 2007 prior to breaking into the Peterborough first team in 2008, however, his appearances where limited during his time there. McKeown was then loaned to Conference North side Boston United during the 2010–11 season where he made a total of 14 clean sheets in 18 games. A sixth-month stint at Dutch semi-professional outfit RKSV Leonidas had led to a trial with Eredivisie side Willem II, however, his previous managers at Boston signed him for Grimsby Town; he was ever present in the starting XI and five years on helped Grimsby to win promotion out of the National League in 2015–16 and 2021–22. He moved on to play for League of Ireland side Finn Harps. McKeown has represented the Republic of Ireland at under-19 level. Club career McKeown started his career with Coventry City as an Under-10 striker in their youth system, he went on trial in goal and spent two years in their Under-11s before being released. He eventually moved on to Walsall in their Under-15s setup, but failed to make a first team appearances before his departure in 2007.