James Keatings

James Keatings
Personal information
Date of birth (1992-01-20) 20 January 1992
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current team
 Hibernian
Number 19
Youth career
2008–2010 Celtic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2013 Celtic 0 (0)
2012 → St Johnstone (loan) 4 (0)
2012 → Hamilton Academical (loan) 8 (2)
2013–2014 Hamilton Academical 30 (13)
2014–2015 Heart of Midlothian 29 (11)
2015– Hibernian 37 (10)
National team
2007–2008 Scotland U16 6 (4)
2008 Scotland U17 6 (1)
2009–2010 Scotland U19 6 (4)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:38, 20 November 2016 (UTC).


James Keatings (born 20 January 1992) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays for Scottish Championship club Hibernian, as a forward. He has previously played for Celtic, Hamilton Academical, Heart of Midlothian and St Johnstone. Keatings has also represented Scotland at under-16, under-17 and under-19 level.

Club career

Celtic

A member of Celtic's under-19 team Keatings was promoted to the first team on 10 November 2010, being named as a substitute for their game against Hibernian.[1] He made one more appearance on the bench[2] before suffering a cruciate knee injury in April,[3] despite the knee injury he still finished the under-19's top scorer with 25 goals.[4] In June 2011, he was rewarded with a new three-year contract extending his stay until 2014.[3]

After a long rehabilitation[5] and with his involvement being limited to one appearance on the bench[6] and being a member of the club's development squad, Keatings was sent out on loan to St Johnstone.[7] After ten years with Celtic, Keatings was released by the club in 2013.[8]

St Johnstone (loan)

On 30 January 2012, Keatings joined fellow Scottish Premier League club St Johnstone on loan until the end of the season.[9] He made his debut on 5 February as a substitute against Hearts in the Scottish Cup,[10] with his Scottish Premier League debut coming on 25 February against Dunfermline Athletic.[11] In all he made five appearances for the club.[12]

Hamilton Academical (loan)

On 24 August 2012, Keatings joined First Division club Hamilton Academical on a loan deal.[13] The next day, Keatings made his debut for the club coming on as a substitute in the second half, in a 1–0 loss against Cowdenbeath. Then, on 22 September 2012, Keatings came on as a substitute in the second half and scored twice, to make a come-back draw in a 3–3 draw against Dumbarton.[14] By the January transfer window, Keatings' loan spell with Hamilton had been terminated after his loan spell was cancelled.[15]

Hamilton Academical

After being released by Celtic ahead of the new 2013–14 season,[16] Keatings went to Australia to have trials at Brisbane Roar[17] and Newcastle Jets.[18] Despite an offer in Australia[8] he signed for Hamilton on a permanent deal in July 2013, signing a one-year contract having impressed the club during pre-season training once again.[19] Upon his move to Hamilton, Keatings said that he hoped joining the club would help him to get his career back on track.[20]

Keatings made a perfect start for the club when he scored twice in the first round of Scottish League Cup, as they beat Stirling Albion 3–0.[21] In the league, he scored three goals in two games against Raith Rovers[22] and Dumbarton.[23] He continued his positive start when he scored twice in a 2–0 win over Livingston on 5 October 2013, ending his goal-scoring drought of six matches.[24] However, Keatings sustained a calf injury during a match against Raith Rovers and was sidelined for two weeks.[25] He made his return, in a 3–0 loss to Dundee on 23 November 2013. Keatings would score another three goals in two games against Cowdenbeath[26] and Dumbarton, which put his goal tally to ten.[27] After the match, Keatings believes the title race in the Scottish Premiership will go all the way in the remaining 15 matches.[28] Though scoring, Keatings began making assist for players to score by ensuring the club keep on aiming for the promotion to Scottish Premiership. Keatings scored his 15th goal of the season in all competitions, in a match against Raith Rovers on 25 March 2014. He said after the match: "I hadn’t scored in three games and managed to put a header in the corner. The position I’m playing in means I haven’t had many chances like that, it’s probably the only one that has dropped to me in the box, and I’m delighted. Hopefully I get more and achieve my target."[29]

Despite initially indicating he would sign a new contract with the club following their promotion to the Scottish Premiership,[30] Keatings rejected the clubs offer.[31] In all he made 35 appearances, scoring 15 times over the course of the season.[32]

Heart of Midlothian

On 13 June 2014, it was announced Keatings had signed a two-year contract with recently relegated Scottish Championship side Heart of Midlothian.[33] After joining Hearts, Keatings said joining Hearts made him "over the moon to have the opportunity to sign for a big club like this after leaving Hamilton."[34] In his first league start for Hearts he scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 victory over Raith Rovers at Stark's Park.[35] Keatings scored a fantastic goal against Queens at home during a 4–1 victory,[36] this was Keatings fifth league goal of the season. He was released by Hearts at the end of the 2014–15 season, having only served half of his initial two-year contract.[37]

Hibernian

On 1 June 2015, Keatings signed a two-year contract with Hearts' Edinburgh rivals, Scottish Championship side Hibernian.[38] In his first league start for Hibs he scored the opening goal in a 2–0 victory over Raith Rovers at Easter Road.[39] On 7 November, Keatings scored a hat-trick for Hibs in a 4–1 win at St Mirren.[40] He netted twice against Falkirk in the second leg of the play-off semi-final, although Hibs eventually lost the match 3–2. Keatings came on as a substitute in the 2016 Scottish Cup Final, which Hibs won 3–2 against Rangers.[41]

International career

Keatings has represented Scotland at under-16,[42] under-17[43] and under-19 level.[44]

Career statistics

As of 14:38, 20 November 2016 (UTC)[45][46]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Scottish Cup League Cup Europe Other[nb 1] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Celtic 2010–11 Scottish Premier League 00000000—00
2011–12 00000000—00
2012–13 00000000—00
Total 000000000000
St Johnstone (loan) 2011–12 Scottish Premier League 401000——50
Hamilton Academical 2012–13 Scottish First Division 820020—00102
2013–14 Scottish Championship 30130022—303515
Total 3815004200304517
Heart of Midlothian 2014–15 Scottish Championship 29111020—103311
Hibernian 2015–16 Scottish Championship 2895140—424112
2016–17 9100102010131
Total 3710515020525413
Career total 1083671112209213741
  1. ↑ Appearances in the Scottish Premiership play-offs and Scottish Challenge Cup

Honours

Club

Hamilton Academical
Heart of Midlothian
Hibernian

References

  1. ↑ "Hearts 2–0 Celtic". BBC Sport. BBC. 10 November 2010. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  2. ↑ "Aberdeen 0 – 3 Celtic". BBC Sport. BBC. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Celtic hand teenager James Keatings pro contract". The Scotsman. 9 June 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  4. ↑ "James Keatings Celtic Profile". Celtic F.C. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  5. ↑ "Keatings looks for a break". The Sun. 1 February 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  6. ↑ "Celtic 2 v 1 Dundee Utd". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 January 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  7. ↑ "James Keatings moves to St Johnstone on loan". Celtic F.C. 30 January 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  8. 1 2 "Keatings more than happy with Accies ahead of Australia". spfl.co.uk. Scottish Professional Football League. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  9. ↑ "Spurs' Kudos Oyenuga and Celtic's James Keatings join St Johnstone". BBC Sport. BBC. 30 January 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  10. ↑ "Hearts 1- 1 St Johnstone". BBC Sport. BBC. 5 February 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
  11. ↑ "Murray and Callum Davidson combined to help secure a St Johnstone win that means double trouble for Dunfermline's hopes of avoiding relegation.". bbc.co.uk/sport. BBC Sport. 25 February 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  12. ↑ "Games played by James Keatings in 2011/2012". soccerbase.com. Soccerbase. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  13. ↑ "Cowdenbeath versus Accies Preview". accies.co.uk. Hamilton Academical F.C. 24 August 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  14. ↑ "Billy Reid pleads for patience after Hamilton's late late show against Dumbarton". Daily Record. 23 September 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  15. ↑ "Transfer roundup: No money changes hands in SFL". The Scotsman. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  16. ↑ "5 players have left Celtic so far this summer". Sports Blog. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  17. ↑ "Striker heads for Australia". Video Celts. 18 June 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  18. ↑ "Burns on radar as Jets kick off pre-season". Newcastle Herald. 3 July 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  19. ↑ "Hamilton Accies Sign Ex-Celtic Striker". Hamilton Advertiser. 18 July 2013.
  20. ↑ "Striker James Keatings Hopes To Fire Hamilton to the Big Time". dailyrecord.co.uk. Hamilton Advertiser. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  21. ↑ "Stirling Albion 0 – 3 Hamilton Academical". BBC Sport. 3 August 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  22. ↑ "Accies pick up winning form from last season". Evening Times. 12 August 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  23. ↑ "Hamilton 4–1 Dumbarton". BBC Sport. 17 August 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  24. ↑ "Hamilton Academicals 2 Livingston 0: James Keatings ends his goal drought – and loses his beard against Livingston". Daily Record. 5 October 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  25. ↑ "Blow for Accies as striker James Keatings ruled out for at least two weeks". Daily Record. 7 November 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  26. ↑ "Hamilton Academical 3–4 Cowdenbeath". BBC Sport. 25 January 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  27. ↑ "Hamilton Academical 3–3 Dumbarton". BBC Sport. 1 February 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  28. ↑ "Accies striker James Keatings says title race will go all the way". Daily Record. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  29. ↑ "Hamilton striker James Keatings praises Jason Scotland's 'magic' for winner against Raith Rovers". Daily Record. 28 March 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  30. ↑ "James Keatings to quit Accies; linked with Hearts". scotsman.com. The Scotsman. 5 June 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  31. ↑ "James Keatings rejects new contract". bbc.co.uk/sport. BBC Sport. 5 June 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  32. ↑ "Keatings turns down new deal". heraldscotland.com. The Herald. 5 June 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  33. ↑ "Hearts sign former Hamilton Accies striker James Keatings on two-year deal". Daily Record. 13 June 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  34. ↑ "Keatings: I've joined one of Scotland's big guns". Edinburgh Evening News. 14 June 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  35. ↑ "Raith Rovers 0 - 4 Hearts: Keatings crushes Rovers".
  36. ↑ "Match Report - Hearts 4 - 1 Q of South - 06 Dec 2014". Sky Sports.
  37. 1 2 "James Keatings departs Hearts as Miguel Pallardo commits to another year". The Herald. Herald & Times Group. 30 May 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  38. ↑ "Striker James Keatings signs for Hibernian just days after leaving Hearts". STV Sport.
  39. ↑ "Hibernian 2-0 Raith Rovers". BBC Sport.
  40. ↑ "St Mirren 1–4 Hibernian". BBC Sport. BBC. 7 November 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  41. 1 2 "Scottish Cup final: Rangers 2-3 Hibernian - BBC Sport". BBC Sport. BBC. 21 May 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
  42. ↑ "James Keatings – U16 Squad". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  43. ↑ "James Keatings – U17 Squad". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  44. ↑ "James Keatings – U19 Squad". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  45. ↑ "J. Keatings". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  46. ↑ "James Keatings Stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
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