James Shea

James William Shea (born 16 June 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Luton Town.

Having started his career in the Arsenal youth system, he played for Needham Market, Harrow Borough and AFC Wimbledon before joining Luton Town in 2017. He is currently the longest serving player at the club.

Club career Arsenal Born in Islington, Greater London,

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.

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 signings Kelle Roos and Ben Wilson whilst injured, and was not able to regain his place. He was on the substitutes' bench for all three 2016 League Two play-off matches, including a 2–0 win against Plymouth Argyle at Wembley Stadium to achieve promotion to League One.

Luton Town On 3 July 2017, Shea joined League Two club Luton Town on a one-year contract. In his first season at the club he made 8 league appearances in his role as second-choice keeper behind Marek Štěch, however took over as first-choice for the majority of the following 2018–19 season due to Štěch recovering from an operation. During that season the club achieved a second successive automatic promotion, reaching the Championship after a 12-year absence. Shea won the Golden Glove for the season alongside Barnsley's Adam Davies, having both kept 19 clean sheets.

In 2019–20 and 2020–21, Shea was once again second-choice behind new signing Simon Sluga, making 13 and 7 league appearances respectively. In the second half of the 2021–22 season, Shea once again become first-choice after Sluga's departure in January, however in April, Shea was ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering an ACL injury after a collision with team-mate Tom Lockyer during a match away at Cardiff City. He signed a new contract the end of the season.

Shea remained out injured for the first half of the 2022–23 season, with Nottingham Forest loanee Ethan Horvath and new signing Matt Macey taking over. After recovering, he returned to his role as second-choice goalkeeper, including being named on the bench for the 2023 Championship play-off final, in which Luton beat Coventry City on penalties to secure promotion to the Premier League for the first time.

During the 2023–24 season, Shea was demoted to third-choice behind new signings Thomas Kaminski and Tim Krul. He made his Premier League debut on the final day of the season against Fulham, coming on with 15 minutes left of the match. On 24 May 2024, the club announced that it had exercised an option to extend Shea's contract.

Shea continued to be third-choice goalkeeper until the 2024–25 season in League One, in which he became the Luton's longest serving player after the departure of Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu. After Kaminski and Krul left the club after back-to-back relegations, the club signed Josh Keeley from Tottenham Hotspur. Keeley started all but one league game, with Shea playing in every match in the EFL Trophy. He started in the 2026 EFL Trophy final after receiving praise for his performances by Luton manager and former Arsenal youth team-mate Jack Wilshere. They won the game 3–1, with Shea stating that he had now "completed the EFL".

He signed a new contract with Luton Town on 28 August 2025, extending his stay to 10 years with the club.

International career 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.

Career statistics + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals

2010–11 Premier League

2011–12 Premier League

2012–13 Premier League

Southampton (loan) 2010–11 Isthmian League Premier Division

2014–15 League Two

2015–16 League Two

2016–17 League One

2017–18 League Two

2018–19 League One

2019–20 Championship

2020–21 Championship

2021–22 Championship

2022–23 Championship

2023–24 Premier League

2024–25 Championship 2 0 0 0 0 0

2 0 2025–26 League One 1 0 1 0 1 0 8 0 11 0 2026–27 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