James Duncan Keene (born 26 December 1985) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a striker.

Club career

Early career

Keene is a product of the Portsmouth youth scheme. After making his way through the ranks – including a successful 'work experience' loan at A.F.C. Newbury – he was loaned to

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club Kidderminster Harriers, making his debut in a 2–0 defeat to Bristol Rovers. Keene was the Man of the Match for the visitors. He played five more games for Kidderminster, excelling during his loan period. He was rewarded upon his return to Fratton Park with his first professional contract, to run until the summer of 2007. Following his loan he broke into the first team squad, and played in the final two games of the 2004–05 season, making his debut against Bolton Wanderers in a 1–1 draw as a 60th-minute substitute. He started his next game against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

. He then had two loans spells in the 2005–06 season. First he joined League 1 side AFC Bournemouth. It was there he scored his first career goal on 15 October 2005, a last minute winner as Bournemouth beat Colchester away from home by the single goal. Three days later he scored twice in a 4–1 win over

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...

in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

. His fourth and final goal for the club came in a 2-0 league victory against Brentford. He then joined League 2 side Boston United, where he scored his first and only goal for the club in a 1–1 draw with

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

Sweden

Keene was loaned in March 2006 to GAIS for the Swedish 2006 Allsvenskan. Keene scored the first goal of the season for GAIS in the Allsvenskan in the Gothenburg derby against

Örgryte IS Örgryte Idrottssällskap, commonly referred to as Örgryte IS, Örgryte () or (especially locally) ÖIS or Öis, is a Swedish sports club based in Gothenburg. It consists of four departments, namely bowling, football, athletics and wrestling. H ...

. He finished the season as the club's top scorer with 10 goals in 24 league appearances, and following his success he was at the end of the season transferred to the Swedish champions

IF Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spent ...

, signing a five-year contract with them. Keene has been an integral member of the club's Champions League campaigns. Keene was on loan to the Norwegian

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

team

Fredrikstad FK Fredrikstad Fotballklubb (also known as Fredrikstad or FFK) is a Norwegian football club from the town of Fredrikstad. With nine league championships and eleven Norwegian Cup wins, FFK is one of the most successful clubs in Norwegian footbal ...

during the latter part of the 2011 season. He then returned to Elfsborg, and was loaned to

Djurgården Djurgården ( or ) or, more officially, ''Kungliga Djurgården'' (), is an island in central Stockholm, Sweden. Djurgården is home to historical buildings and monuments, museums, galleries, the amusement park Gröna Lund, the open-air museum ...

for 2012 season. Keene has recently become a Swedish citizen and Is fluent in the language.

Return to Portsmouth

On 10 January 2013, Keene signed a one-month loan deal with Portsmouth, his former club. He made his debut on 26 January, against

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...

. He scored his first Pompey goal on 2 February, against

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

. He returned to Elfsborg on 2 March, after the game against

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

, in which Portsmouth managed to get a win.

Return to Sweden

On 24 April 2015, Keene joined Allsvenskan side Halmstad.

Bidvest Wits

On 1 January 2016,

Bidvest Wits Bidvest Wits Football Club, (simply often known as Wits University F.C. or Wits) was a South African professional football club from Johannesburg which played in the Premier Soccer League the first-tier of South African league football system ...

of the

South African Premier Division The South African Premier Division, officially referred to as the DStv Premiership for sponsorship purposes, is the premier men's professional football/soccer league and the highest division in the league system of South Africa, organized sinc ...

announced that Keene had signed for them. On 14 May 2018, it was announced that he would join SuperSport United for the 2018–19 season. In July 2019, Keene returned to Sweden once again to sign for Superettan side Öster.

International career

Uncapped by England, Keene expressed his interest in playing for the

Swedish national football team The Sweden national football team ( sv, svenska fotbollslandslaget) represents Sweden in men's international football and it is controlled by the Swedish Football Association, the governing body of football in Sweden. Sweden's home ground is Fr ...

He became eligible in 2012.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual *

Årets Järnkamin Årets Järnkamin ''(literally Iron Stove of the Year)'' is an award given to a Djurgårdens IF player, or coach, voted by the members of the official supporter club Järnkaminerna (The Iron Stoves). A person whom they felt represented the core val ...

: 2012. Bidvest Wits *

Premier Soccer League Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

: 2016–17 *Mtn 8:2016 *Telkom Knockout:2017-18

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keene, James 1985 births Living people People from Wells, Somerset English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Premier League players Portsmouth F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Boston United F.C. players NorthEast United FC players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in India Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa Allsvenskan players Israeli Premier League players Indian Super League players GAIS players English expatriate sportspeople in Sweden English expatriate sportspeople in Norway English expatriate sportspeople in Israel English expatriate sportspeople in India English expatriate sportspeople in South Africa IF Elfsborg players Djurgårdens IF Fotboll players Halmstads BK players Fredrikstad FK players Eliteserien players Bidvest Wits F.C. players SuperSport United F.C. players South African Premier Division players English Football League players Östers IF players Superettan players Footballers from Somerset