| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jonathan Russell | ||
| Date of birth | 19 September 2004 | ||
| Place of birth | Larne, Northern Ireland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) [1] | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Crawley Town | ||
| Number | 16 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2023 | Glentoran | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2023–2026 | Glentoran | 59 | (1) |
| 2023 | → Dundela (loan) | ||
| 2026– | Crawley Town | 1 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2024– | Northern Ireland U21 | 7 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 13:28, 6 January 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 12:15, 3 January 2026 (UTC) | |||
Jonathan Russell (born 19 September 2004) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for EFL League Two club Crawley Town, and the Northern Ireland national under-21 team.
Russell was born in Larne on 19 September 2004 as the son of former Glentoran footballer Jeff Russell. [1] [2] He progressed through the youth ranks at Glentoran, having joined the club's youth set-up aged 10. [3] [2]
He spent the second half of the 2022–23 season on loan at Dundela, [3] [4] having made his first-team debut for Glentoran in the Northern Ireland Football League Cup earlier that season. [2]
He signed his first professional contract with Glentoran in November 2023, valid until 2026, after five NIFL Premiership appearances in the early stages of the 2023–24 season, [2] leaving his apprenticeship with Northern Ireland Electricity in the process. [4] The 2023–24 season was a "breakthrough campaign" for Russell, as he made 26 Premiership appearances in total for Glentoran, [4] and won the club's Player of the Year award at the end of the season. [5] He was the youngest winner of the award in the club's history. [6]
He played less regularly in the first half of the 2024–25 season due to "injury and illness and the form of Danny Amos at left-back", though he did also play at right-back during this period. [7] He ended the 2024–25 season having made 20 Premiership appearances, and made 13 league appearances in the first half of the 2025–26 season. [8]
On 3 January 2026, Russell signed for EFL League Two club Crawley Town for an undisclosed fee, on a contract of undisclosed length. [9] It had been reported three days prior by Belfast Telegraph that the fee was to be £100,000. [10]
He has represented Northern Ireland internationally at under-21 level. [1] He was given his first call-up to the under-21 team in March 2024, for a 2025 U21 Euro qualifier against Serbia. [11] He made his debut coming on as a substitute for the final 15 minutes as Northern Ireland won 2–1. [12]