Jonathan Meades (footballer)

Jonathan Charles Meades (born 2 March 1992) is a retired Welsh footballer who last played for AFC Wimbledon in League One. He represented Wales at both under-17 and under-21 level.

Jonathan Meades
Meades (front) playing for AFC Wimbledon in September 2015
Personal information
Full name Jonathan Charles Meades[1]
Date of birth (1992-03-02) 2 March 1992
Place of birth Gloucester, England[2]
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
0000–2010 Cardiff City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2012 Cardiff City 0 (0)
2010 → Moss FK (loan) 10 (1)
2012–2013 AFC Bournemouth 0 (0)
2012–2013 → AFC Wimbledon (loan) 26 (1)
2013–2015 Oxford United 7 (0)
2015–2018 AFC Wimbledon 91 (7)
Total 134 (9)
National team
2008 Wales U17 1 (0)
2011–2013 Wales U21 4 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Early years

Meades came through the youth system of Cardiff City under the supervision of then Head of Academy Neal Ardley. On 19 August 2010, it was announced that the 18-year-old defender would go on a three-month loan deal to Norwegian football club Moss FK who at that time were playing in the Adeccoligaen.[3] The defender made his debut for Moss FK on 22 August 2010 in a 2–0 win at home over Alta IF. Although he was sent off after a second bookable offence in the 84th minute,[4] he was still named as man of the match.[5] Having served his one-match suspension, Meades made a further 9 appearances for the Kællan, scoring once in a 4–2 defeat by Tromsdalen UIL on 10 October 2010.[6] Meades was released by Cardiff manager Malky Mackay at the end of the 2011–12 season having failed to break into the first team after being plagued by injuries, suffering patellar tendonitis in his knee and having to have an operation on his calf.[7]

AFC Bournemouth

The left-back featured twice for AFC Bournemouth during pre-season whilst on trial, against Havant & Waterlooville and Reading respectively. His performances were enough to impress then manager Paul Groves and he signed a two-year contract with the Cherries on 9 August 2012.[8] However, Meades failed to break into the first team and on 5 November 2012 new Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe loaned him to League Two side AFC Wimbledon. On 20 May 2013, it was announced that Meades had left Bournemouth after his contract was terminated by mutual consent.[9]

Meades' initial two-month deal at AFC Wimbledon saw him joining then teammate Steven Gregory and former Cherries captain Warren Cummings[10] and reunited him with Neal Ardley, who had left his post as Head of the Cardiff City Academy to become manager of AFC Wimbledon on 10 October 2012.[11] Meades made his senior Football League debut for AFC Wimbledon on 6 November in a 2–0 loss to Exeter City.[12] With Meades having established himself as a regular in the starting XI, it was announced on 8 January 2013 that Ardley had extended Meades' loan spell with AFC Wimbledon by a further month.[13] On 31 January 2013, it was announced that AFC Wimbledon had once again extended Meades' loan from Bournemouth until the end of the 2012–13 season.[14] On 20 April 2013, Meades scored his first Football League goal in a 2–2 draw with 2012–13 Football League Two Champions Gillingham.[15] Meades capped the end of a successful loan spell on 27 April 2013, the final day of the 2012–13 Football League Two season, by helping AFC Wimbledon to avoid relegation from the Football League after a 2–1 victory over Fleetwood Town.[16] The 21-year-old was subsequently awarded the Natalie Callow Memorial Trophy for AFC Wimbledon's Young Player of the Year, as voted for by the fans.[17]

Oxford United

On 22 May 2013 Meades joined Football League Two side Oxford United on a two-year deal, having rejected the offer of signing a contract with AFC Wimbledon.[18] He suffered an ankle-ligament injury in a pre-season friendly against Coventry City[19] and he did not appear in the Oxford first team during his first season. He made only seven league appearances (10 in all competitions) for Oxford in 2014–15 and returned on a free transfer to AFC Wimbledon in June 2015.[20]

AFC Wimbledon

In his second spell at AFC Wimbledon, Meades made 100 appearances,[21] 91 of them in the League, before retiring due to injury after the 2017–18 season, at the age of 26.[22]

International career

Meades was first called up to represent Wales at under-17 level on 17 March 2008, in a 1–1 draw against Slovenia under-17s in the 2008 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship Elite Round.[23]

Meades made his first appearance for Wales under-21s on 6 September 2011 in a 3–1 defeat by Montenegro under-21s in the qualifying stages of the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, in which he came on as a 74th-minute substitute for Elliott Hewitt.[24] Meades featured once again for Wales under-21s in the UEFA Under-21 qualifying stages on 10 September 2012 as a 76th-minute substitute for Adam Henley in a 5–0 defeat by Czech Republic under-21s.[25] On 6 February 2013, Meades again represented Wales under-21s in a friendly fixture against Iceland under-21s, ending as a 3–0 victory.[26] Meades' fourth cap for the under-21s came on 22 March 2013 in a 1–0 victory over Moldova under-21s in the qualifying stages of the 2015 UEFA European under-21 Football Championship.[27]

Career statistics
As of match played 31 October 2017
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
AFC Wimbledon (loan) 2012–13[28] League Two 261000000261
Oxford United 2014–15[29] League Two 7010101[lower-alpha 1]0100
AFC Wimbledon 2015–16[30] League Two 41310101[lower-alpha 2]0443
2016–17[31] League One 242200000262
2017–18[32] League One 26230001[lower-alpha 1]0302
Wimbledon total 9176010201007
Career total 12487020301368
  1. Appearance in the Football League Trophy.
  2. Appearance in the League Two play-offs

Honours

AFC Wimbledon

References
  1. "The Football League Retained List". The Football League. 12 June 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  2. "Meades, JC (Jonathan)", English National Football Archive
  3. "Cardiff teen Jonathan Meades heads to Norway on loan". BBC Football. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  4. "Moss FK 2 – 0 Alta IF". walesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  5. "Cardiff City's Jonathan Meades at centre of relegation battle". walesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  6. "Tromsdalen UIL 4 – 2 Moss FK". Soccerway.com. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  7. "Cardiff City confirm departures". walesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  8. "Cherries secure Meades". AFC Bournemouth. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  9. "Meades leaves Cherries". The Football League Limited. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  10. "AFC Wimbledon sign Jake Reeves and Jonathan Meades on loan". BBC Football. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  11. "Meades joins AFC Wimbledon". vitalfootball.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  12. "Exeter City 2 – 0 AFC Wimbledon". BBC Football. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
  13. "Dons extend loans of Bournemouth and Bristol City duo". hounslowchronicle.co.uk. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  14. "Jonathan Meades: AFC Wimbledon extend loan from Bournemouth". BBC Football. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  15. "Gillingham 2 – 2 AFC Wimbledon". BBC Football. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  16. "AFC Wimbledon 2 – 1 Fleetwood Town". BBC Football. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  17. "Meades on his awards". AFC Wimbledon. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  18. "Oxford United sign Jonathan Meades". Oxford Mail. 22 May 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  19. Pritchard, David (9 August 2013). "Upbeat Meades is focused on fitness". Oxford Mail. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  20. Slavin, Chris (23 June 2015). "Jon is first summer recruit". AFC Wimbledon. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  21. Jonathan Meades at Soccerbase
  22. "Jon Meades retires from football". AFC Wimbledon. 31 July 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  23. "Wales under-17s 1 – 1 Slovenia under-17s". The Irish FA. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  24. "Montenegro U21 3 – 1 Wales U21". BBC Football. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  25. "Czech Republic under-21s 5 – 0 Wales under-21s". BBC Football. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  26. "Wales U21 3 – 0 Iceland U21". BBC Football. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  27. "Wales U21 1 – 0 Moldova U21". soccerway.com. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  28. "Games played by Jonathan Meades in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  29. "Games played by Jonathan Meades in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  30. "Games played by Jonathan Meades in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  31. "Games played by Jonathan Meades in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  32. "Games played by Jonathan Meades in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  33. Pilnick, Brent (30 May 2016). "AFC Wimbledon 2–0 Plymouth Argyle". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
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