James Meredith

Early career

Meredith was spotted playing soccer in Melbourne at the age of 16 by a Derby County scout. He was offered a trial by the club and he joined their youth system on a two-year contract in 2004. He progressed through the youth team and he signed a two-year professional contract with Derby on 19 July 2006. He joined Conference National club Cambridge United on a one-month loan on 19 October 2006 and he made his debut in a 3–0 defeat to Oxford United. He finished the loan with two appearances. He had a trial with Conference National club York City in January 2007, playing in a reserve-team match against Rotherham United. He joined League One team Chesterfield on a one-month loan on 19 February 2007, making one appearance as a left midfielder in a 2–0 defeat to Tranmere Rovers on 2 March. Following the expiry of the loan, Chesterfield opted against extending it.

Sligo Rovers

Meredith joined League of Ireland Premier Division club Sligo Rovers on a contract until the end of the 2007 season on 31 July 2007. He made his debut in a 2–0 defeat at Galway United on 24 August 2007 and he finished his time at the club with four appearances.

Shrewsbury Town

Meredith signed for League Two team Shrewsbury Town on 14 January 2008 on a one-and-a-half-year contract after training with the club, which included a clause that after making five appearances the contract could be renegotiated. He made his debut on 23 February 2008 in the 2–1 home defeat to…

In March 2015, Meredith expressed his desire to play for the Australia national team. Australia coach Ange Postecoglou said at the time that he was open to selecting a number of new players to the national team, including Meredith. Meredith was first called up by Australia for a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Jordan on 8 October 2015, for which he was an unused substitute as Australia lost 2–0. Meredith debuted for Australia on 12 November 2015, after being selected in the starting line-up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Kyrgyzstan, which the team won 3–0 at home. He only learned he would be starting on the morning of the match, and his family flew to Canberra from Melbourne to watch him. He made a second start in a win over Bangladesh four days later. Meredith had not featured for Australia again by August 2017, when he stated his aim to be recalled to the Australia squad following his move to Millwall in the Championship. He was named in Australia's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Meredith primarily plays as a left back, although he has been described as being "versatile" and is able to play at centre back or in midfield. After signing for York in 2009, manager Martin Foyle described him as being "a very attack-minded, left-footed full-back with pace who can play the ball out from the back."

Meredith was born in Albury, New South Wales. His father, Greg Pollard, was a squash player who ranked as highly as third in the world while playing in England. Meredith attended Scotch College in Melbourne, Victoria and grew up supporting South Melbourne FC and Manchester United F.C.