Jamie Searle (born 25 November 2000) is a New Zealand

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 le ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for club Forest Green Rovers. He was part of the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

squad in the football competition at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

and made his senior debut in March 2022. Searle played senior football for his local side Melville United while still a teenager, earning an academy place at

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

after a trial, before spells at

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

and

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

Early life

Searle was born in 2000 in Whakatāne, and played for Whakatāne Town, Tauranga City and

Cambridge FC Cambridge F.C. is a football club based in Cambridge, New Zealand. It currently plays in the NRFL Division 2. In 2020, Cambridge finished 8th in a season shortened by restrictions to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, they came 5th in the ...

in his early years. He completed his secondary education at St Peter's School in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, south-east of Hamilton.

Club career

Melville United and Aston Villa

Searle began to play for the first team of Melville United during his time at school, making three appearances over three years. Searle's manager at Melville United, Sam Wilkinson, organised a month-long trial with

, and after impressing in friendly matches he signed his first professional contract in August 2019. For the first half-year, either his father or his mother was living with him in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

; during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

he lived on his own.

Swansea City

After his time at Aston Villa, Searle trialled for

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

and

; in July 2020, he signed a one-year contract with Swansea. On 15 June 2021, he signed a one-year extension, with a club option to extend for another season. He was released by Swansea City at the end of his contract on 30 June 2022.

Barnsley

On 16 June 2022, Searle agreed to join League One club

on a two-year deal upon the expiration of his Swansea City contract.

International career

Searle was a member of the New Zealand Olympic football team at the Tokyo 2020 games but did not play in their run to the quarter-finals. Searle made his debut for the senior New Zealand side in March 2022, playing the full 90 minutes in a World Cup qualifier against

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Searle, Jamie Living people 2000 births New Zealand men's association footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic association footballers for New Zealand Aston Villa F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players New Zealand expatriate men's association footballers New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England New Zealand expatriates in Wales Expatriate men's footballers in Wales Sportspeople from Whakatāne English Football League players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players