James Shea

Arsenal

Born in Islington, Greater London, Shea joined the Arsenal academy in August 2007. In 2009, he won both the Premier Academy League and FA Youth Cup. Shea joined League One club Southampton on a month-long loan in February 2011 to act as cover for the injured Bartosz Białkowski. However, he was recalled after eight days by Arsenal without making an appearance. Shea was sent out on loan to League Two club Dagenham & Redbridge for the 2011–12 season. He made his debut as a substitute for Chris Lewington in the match against Macclesfield Town at Moss Rose. Despite getting a yellow card for wasting time, he helped his team to win their first league match of the season by scoreline of 1–0. He was recalled from his loan by Arsenal on 5 December 2011. On 18 September 2012, he was named on the bench for a UEFA Champions League match against Montpellier HSC due to injuries to Wojciech Szczęsny and Łukasz Fabiański. On 30 June 2013, he was released along with nine other young players at Arsenal.

Non-League

After a short spell with Isthmian League Division One North club Needham Market, in October 2013 Shea signed for Premier Division club Harrow Borough, where he played 36 matches in all competitions, with 32 of these in the league.

AFC Wimbledon

Shea joined League Two club AFC Wimbledon on a free transfer on 4 July 2014. Shea was Wimbledon's regular goalkeeper during the 2014–15 season and at the start of the 2015–16 season, but was replaced by loan…

In August 2010, Shea trained with the England squad for their UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying match against Bulgaria at the Arsenal training ground, due to an injury to David Stockdale. An erroneous Wikipedia entry once led to claims that Shea was eligible for the Republic of Ireland national football team, but Shea affirmed that he had no Irish eligibility.

As of match played 3 October 2026

Arsenal

Premier Academy League: 2008–09 FA Youth Cup: 2008–09 AFC Wimbledon

Football League Two play-offs: 2016 Luton Town

EFL Championship play-offs: 2023 EFL League One: 2018–19 EFL Trophy: 2025–26 EFL League Two runner-up: 2017–18 Individual

Harrow Borough Player of the Year: 2013–14 EFL League One Golden Glove: 2018–19