Jason Naismith (born 25 June 1994) is a Scottish professional

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 lea ...

who plays as a defender for

Johnstone Burgh Johnstone Burgh Football Club is a Scottish football (soccer), football club based in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, and play in . History The club was formed in 1956, in response to an article in the "Johnstone & Linwood Gazette" newspaper from a ...

. Naismith has previously played for St Mirren,

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the . The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greenock Morton in 1994 to celebr ...

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

, Hibernian, Ross County,

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

and Queen's Park. He has also represented Scotland in youth internationals, including one game at under-21 level.

Club career

St Mirren

Naismith was born in Paisley. A member of St Mirren's under-19 squad, Naismith made his first team debut as a substitute on 25 February 2012 against

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

in the Scottish Premier League. In May 2012, Naismith was loaned out to

for six months. In doing so he became the first player in history to be loaned between the two rival clubs. Naismith joined

for a month on loan at the end of February 2013. On 24 May 2013, it was confirmed by St Mirren that Naismith had signed a new one-year deal to keep him at the club until the end of season 2013–14. On 22 November 2013 it was announced that Naismith had signed a three-year contract extension, tying him to the club until the summer of 2017. Naismith scored his first senior goal for the club on 26 December 2013, in a 4–1

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

victory over

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

. During the 2013–14 season Jason became a regular first team player for the club, making 27 league appearances and scoring 2 goals. On 15 August 2015, Naismith suffered serious knee ligament damage in a 2–1 home defeat to

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

in the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

Ross County

Naismith signed for

side Ross County on 18 January 2017, moving for an undisclosed fee.

Peterborough United

Naismith moved in June 2018 to

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

club

, with whom he signed a three-year contract. He was loaned to Hibernian in September 2019. Naismith made 14 appearances for Hibs, but suffered a serious knee injury during a Scottish Cup match at

in January 2020. Following the formal conclusion of the truncated 2019/20 season, Naismith returned to his parent club in May 2020. On 7 December 2020, Naismith left

via mutual agreement.

Ross County (second spell)

Naismith signed a short-term contract with Ross County on 8 December 2020, although he cannot register to play for them until the January 2021 transfer window opens. Naismith was released by County on 27 May 2021 along with nine other players.

International career

Naismith has represented Scotland at under 17 level. He made his debut for the under 17s on 11 March 2011 playing the full 90 minutes against

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. He was also called up to the Scotland under-18 squad in February 2012, and made his debut against

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

in April that year. In May 2012, Naismith spent time with the Scotland U20 squad at the

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

youth tournament in the Netherlands. He made one appearance in the competition as a substitute against ADO, but was injured and missed the remainder of the tournament. On 18 November 2014, Naismith earned his first Scotland Under–21 cap against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

in a friendly match. The 20-year-old came on as a 72nd-minute substitute, replacing Marcus Fraser. The match ended in a 1–1 draw.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naismith, Jason 1994 births Living people Footballers from Paisley, Renfrewshire Scottish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Scotland men's youth international footballers Scottish Premier League players St Mirren F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Cowdenbeath F.C. players Ross County F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Peterborough United F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Queen's Park F.C. players Cove Rangers F.C. players Johnstone Burgh F.C. players English Football League players 21st-century Scottish sportsmen