Jason Brett Kearton (born 9 July 1969) is an Australian soccer coach and former professional

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

. He was a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

from 1987 until 2004. After starting his career with

Brisbane Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is a professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland. competing in Australia's premier men's competition, A-League Men, which is the top tier Australia's football pyramid. When Queensland Lions F.C. were ...

, he moved to England to play in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

for Everton. He also played in England with

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

and

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

. He finished his career with

Brisbane Strikers Brisbane Strikers Football Club is an Australian semi-professional football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in 1991 as Brisbane United, the club competed in the National Soccer League until the 2003–04 season. Brisbane Strikers ...

and now owns his own goalkeeping coaching school.

Playing career

Kearton was born in

Ipswich, Queensland Ipswich () is an urban centre within the City of Ipswich in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated on the Bremer River (Queensland), Bremer River, it is approximately 40 km (25 mi) west of the Brisbane central business district. Ipswich is ...

, and began his career in his native land, firstly with Coalstars and then with the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

. In

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

, at the age of 19, he made the biggest move of his career when then- Everton manager

Colin Harvey James Colin Harvey (born 16 November 1944) is an English former professional association football, footballer who is best known for his time as a player, coach and manager with Everton F.C., Everton. Playing career Harvey was born in Liverpool ...

signed him as cover for first-choice

Neville Southall Neville Southall (born 16 September 1958) is a Welsh Manager (association football), football manager and former international association football, footballer. He has been described as one of the best Goalkeeper (association football), goalk ...

. He was never able to dislodge Southall from the number one spot at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...

making eight appearances for the club in eight years. He spent time out on loan at

in 1991–92 where Kearton kept six clean sheets in sixteen appearances for the Potters. He also spent time on loan at

(14 appearances) and

(12 appearances). In

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, Kearton signed for

Dario Gradi Dario Gradi (born 8 July 1941) is an Italian-English former football player, coach and manager. He was associated for more than 36 years with Crewe Alexandra, where he was variously manager, director of football and director of the Academy, unt ...

, where he spent four years and made close to 200 league appearances helping the side gain promotion in 1996–97 by beating

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

in the play-off final. In August

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, he returned to his homeland and went on to play for

and Queensland Lions. In 2014, Kearton was an unused substitute for the Roar in an

FFA Cup The Australia Cup (currently known as the Hahn Australia Cup for sponsorship reasons) is the national soccer knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia (known as Football Federation Austra ...

match against

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, u ...

Coaching career

Kearton is the owner, founder and head coach of Jason Kearton Goalkeeping, an Australian-based goalkeeping soccer academy. He was appointed goalkeeping coach of

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

club

in 2012.

Personal life

He has two UK-born children, Jake and Chloe.

Career statistics

Honours

; Everton *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier ...

; Crewe Alexandra *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

play-off final winner:

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

References

External links

*
Jason Kearton Goalkeeping WebsiteKearton's profile at Supercamp Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kearton, Jason 1969 births Living people Soccer players from Ipswich, Queensland Men's association football goalkeepers Australian men's soccer players Australian expatriate men's soccer players Premier League players English Football League players National Soccer League (Australia) players Queensland Lions FC players Blackpool F.C. players Brisbane Strikers FC players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Everton F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in England 20th-century Australian sportsmen