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Jamie Young opens up on reports of Brisbane Roar exit

Jamie Young says his commitment to Brisbane Roar remains strong despite recent reports linking him to a departure from the club.

Jamie Young

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Last week a story surfaced that the veteran goalkeeper had been granted permission to speak to rival A-League clubs and was seeking a move away from the Roar.

Young, who joined his hometown club in 2014 after 12 years in the UK, is Brisbane’s oldest player and has made more 100 appearances for the Queensland outfit. The 35-year-old says he is fully committed to the Roar.

“There’s obviously been a bit of media around my situation at the club,” he told The World Game.

“It’s unfortunate that these articles do come out but as anybody would know while I’ve been at the Roar in the last seven years I’ve been incredibly committed to the club. I’ve won literally every individual award that someone can win at the club, and I think the response to the article was shown in the win over Western United.

“Sometimes you get articles that come out and actions speak louder than words. I think you can see my commitment to the players, to the fans, in full view. That’s how I responded to that article.

“I’m at the stage of my career where I have to look at all options, but at the end of the day I’m very committed to playing for the Roar. That article was speculation, people are going to speculate because I’ve won X, Y and Z.

“But I’m committed while I’m playing for the Roar and at 35 years of my age I’m at the peak of my career, and given the accolades I’ve won over the years, there’s always going to be that level of interest I suppose.”

Young has been a stalwart for Brisbane, was named A-League goalkeeper of the year in 2018 and has twice won the club’s player of the year award. This season the shot-stopper has made 17 appearances and notched four cleansheets.

Young was born and raised in the sunshine state, came through the Queensland Academy of Sport and is a proud Queenslander.

“It’s one thing playing for the club, it’s another playing with the players,” he said.

“I’m with them every day, day-in-day-out, and you grow a bond with that. I’m not a young player now so I have that senior leadership position and now I am the oldest player at the club, as Scott McDonald’s gone.

“I think the thing that’s important to remember is I play for passion, I think I’ll probably go down as one of the greats of this club so no one can question my commitment to playing and representing Brisbane, the fans and the community. I want to leave that legacy to them and I got a great reception against Western United.”

The Roar have won two A-League titles in their history but struggled in recent years and are on their third head coach since John Aloisi’s resignation at the end of 2018.

“I’m a player who wants to win things, the club has done that in the past,” Young said.

“There are administrative reasons for that [not winning trophies recently] no doubt but that’s not my area of expertise. But as a player of course we want to be winning trophies, lifting cups and having that adulation from the public.

“But individually I’ve won incredible accolades so I know that I’ve done literally everything that I can. I’ve done exceptionally well over my time with the Roar but obviously winning trophies as a team comes down to people above me.

“So there’s not really much I can do about that but every time I do put a Roar shirt on people know what they’re going to get from me, and I think that’s indicative from this season where we’ve got the best defensive record.”

Brisbane are currently sitting in seventh spot on the table, just two points behind second-placed Sydney FC. The Roar went down 3-2 to Melbourne City on Sunday, but before that went seven games unbeaten.

They have also conceded just 21 goals this campaign, two less than league leaders City. Young is confident Brisbane can mount a finals push on the back of their stingy defence.

“We’re only two points off second,” he said.

“It’s a tight league. That defensive record has really enabled us to be the dark horse going into the back end of the season. It’s something I’m proud of as a keeper.

“For me, at my age, I’m hitting the sweet spot in my career and having the best defensive record in the league so far is positive signs. I’ve got the best back three, back five in front of me in the country.

“We’ve been playing together for a long time now and it’s a well-oiled machine. Now that I’ve got Kai Trewin coming in place of Tom Aldred, and he’s adapted incredibly well too. So there’s good quality around me in terms of defence.”


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5 min read
Published 11 May 2021 9:53am
Updated 11 May 2021 11:18am
By John Davidson

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