Sally James (soccer)

Last updated

Sally James
Personal information
Full name Sally Kathleen James [1]
Date of birth (2002-10-18) 18 October 2002 (age 23)
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Canberra United
Number 1 [2]
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2018 Canberra United Academy
2019 Belconnen United
2020 Illawarra Stingrays
2020–2021 Canberra United 3 (0)
2021 Blacktown Spartans
2021–2022 Melbourne City 4 (0)
2022 Blacktown Spartans 9 (0)
2022–2023 Melbourne City 12 (0)
2023 Blacktown Spartans 9 (0)
2023–2024 Perth Glory 2 (0)
2024–2025 APIA Leichhardt
2024– Canberra United 24 (0)
International career‡
2022–2024 Australia U20 3 (0)
2025 Australia U23 1 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 31 October 2025
‡ National team caps and goals as of 20 August 2025

Sally Kathleen James (born 18 October 2002) is an Australian soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for A-League Women club Canberra United. She has represented Australia internationally on both the under-20 and under-23 national teams.

Contents

Early life

Sally James was born in Canberra in 2002. [3] : 51  [4] From the age of five, she played soccer for Majura Junior Soccer Club in Dickson. [3] : 51  [5] Initially playing as a striker, she recalled switching to goalkeeper, "I chucked on the gloves one night for fun, it was raining, I was diving around in the mud, but never looked back." [5]

Club career

James began her club career in 2018 competing for Canberra United Academy. [3] : 51  She played for Belconnen United (2019) before joining various National Premier Leagues NSW Women's (NPL NSW Women's) teams Illawarra Stingrays (2020), Blacktown Spartans (2021–2023) and APIA Leichhardt (2024–2025). [3] : 51  She made her debut for A-League Women's national level team Canberra United seniors from December 2020 for the 2020–21 season. [3] : 51 

James spent two seasons at Melbourne City (2021–22, 2022–23) for 16 appearances and one season at Perth Glory (2023–24, two appearances) before returning to Canberra United for 2024–25. [3] : 51  Over her 24 appearances in that season she kept five  clean sheets. [3] : 51 

International career

James was a member of Australia women's national under-20 soccer team (Young Matildas), who played in all three of their group stage matches at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Costa Rica. [6] Australia did not qualify for the knock-out stage. She joined the Australia U23 for the 2025 ASEAN Women's Championship, held in Vietnam in August. [7] During the first group stage match, James kept goals in her team's 1–2 loss against Myanmar. [7] However, Australia U23 improved their performances in the other group matches to reach the semi-final and subsequently won the championship final 1–0 against Myanmar. [7]

In 2025, James was added to the senior team's extended squad for two friendlies against South Korea in Sydney and Newcastle, following an injury to Mackenzie Arnold. She is still yet to debut for the senior team, however. [8]

References

  1. ↑ "Australia - S. James - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway".
  2. ↑ "Sally James Biography - ESPN (AU)".
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Ninja_A-League_2025-26_Season_Guide-1.pdf" (PDF). A-Leagues Media Centre. 31 October 2025. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 November 2025. Retrieved 5 November 2025.
  4. ↑ "Hometown Goalkeeper James Returns to Canberra". 23 August 2024.
  5. 1 2 "Spotlight On: Sally James". MyFootball. 3 August 2022. Archived from the original on 13 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2025– via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ "Sally James".
  7. 1 2 3 Tan, Gabriel (20 August 2025). "How Australia U23 overcame slow start to be worthy ASEAN Women's Championship winners". ESPN. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
  8. ↑ "James & Bertolissio Added to Matildas Squad in Train-On Capacity". 3 April 2025.
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