Jamie Maclaren

Blackburn Rovers

Jamie Maclaren grew up in the north-western suburbs of Melbourne. He first joined the junior side of local team Sunbury United at the early age of four or five, then switched to the youth ranks of nearby Victorian Premier League (now National Premier Leagues Victoria) side Green Gully in 2003, where although he continued to play against older players, his team was very successful, at one point winning around 50 games in a row. In July 2009, aged 15, he was invited to trial for Blackburn Rovers' under-16 squad. In his first trial match he scored two goals against Derby County's under-16 squad, followed by a hat-trick against Manchester United, which resulted in a contract offer from Rovers.

Maclaren benefited from the mentorship of fellow Australians Vince Grella and Brett Emerton at Blackburn, where he soon progressed to be a regular under-21 squad player and training with the senior team. However, after four years in England having not broken into the first team, he was released by Rovers at the end of the 2012–13 season.

Perth Glory

Seeking first-team game time, Maclaren elected to return to Australia and signed a three-year contract with A-League club Perth Glory at the beginning of the 2013–14 season. Maclaren made his Perth Glory debut, where he played 90 minutes, in a 3-1 loss against Adelaide United. Maclaren then scored his first goal for Perth Glory weeks later, on 27 October 2013, in a 1-0 win over Melbourne City and scored his second Perth Glory goal on 23 November 2013

The 2014–15 season was his breakout year, scoring 10 goals in 23 appearances across all competitions, and earning the April nomination for the league's young player of the year award. He also made a number of appearances in the National Premier Leagues side scoring 11 goals in just five games. Maclaren scored his first senior club hat-trick, scoring all three of Glory's goals in a 3–1 win against Melbourne City on 19 April 2015.

At the end of the 2014–15 season, in the fallout from the Perth Glory salary cap scandal, Glory agreed to release all contracted players who wished to leave the club, with the sole exception of Maclaren. In response, he lodged a formal breach-of-contract notice against Perth Glory to the players' Union, Professional Footballers Australia. Maclaren was subsequently released by Glory on 29 June 2015.

Brisbane Roar

During the A-League off-season, on 5 July 2015, Brisbane Roar signed Maclaren to a two-year deal.

Maclaren made his debut with the Roar against the Western Sydney Wanderers on 8 October 2015. In the same game, he scored a brace for the Roar, with goals in the 9th and 34th minutes of the match. Later that season Maclaren reached his 50th senior A-League appearance, scoring a goal and assisting another against his former club, Perth Glory. He scored his second senior club hat-trick in a win against Melbourne Victory on 12 March 2016.

Maclaren finished the A-League regular season with 18 goals, second in the Golden Boot race to Melbourne City's Uruguayan striker Bruno Fornaroli, however his season tally was enough to become the all-time A-League record for an Australian player. Maclaren scored two more goals in the finals series to make his final club goal count 20 from 25 games. At the end of the 2015–16 season, he was awarded as the Young Player of the Year by the FFA.

Maclaren scored 19 goals for the Roar in the 2016-17 A-League regular season, tying with Besart Berisha for the Golden Boot.

SV Darmstadt 98

In May 2017, Maclaren joined German 2. Bundesliga club Darmstadt 98 signing a three-year deal. He made his debut in the second round of the season as a 63rd minute substitution in a 1-1 draw away to FC Kaiserslautern on 4 August.

International career

His International career first started when he was called up for Scotland under-19 because of dual citizenship, his father Donald having been born in Scotland. He received two caps playing against Denmark and Norway. Jamie Maclaren was also a part of the Australian under-20 squad, and scored a goal against the hosts Turkey in the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Maclaren joined the Australian under-23 team, the Olyroos, for the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship qualification Group F games held in Taiwan in March 2015, which doubled as Olympic qualification. He played in two of the Olyroos' three games, scoring a hat-trick against Hong Kong and another two goals against Myanmar, achieving the second highest tally for the qualification stage out of the entire AFC. Maclaren was named in the Australian squad for the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship, where he played every minute of Australia's campaign in three games against the UAE, Vietnam and Jordan, scoring against Vietnam.

In February 2016, Maclaren announced that he pledged to play for Socceroos, rather than play for Scotland. In May 2016, Maclaren was called up to the Socceroos for the first time for a friendly match away to England, in which he started. After a solid start to the 2016–17 A-League season, Maclaren was called up again to the Socceroos squad in November 2016 for Australia's 2018 World Cup Qualifying Third Round match against Thailand in Bangkok. He started the match, playing 57 minutes in the eventual 2-2 draw before being substituted for Nathan Burns. He was again called up for the final two Round 3 matches in August and September 2017, coming on in the 71st minute of the crucial final match at home to Thailand, which the Socceroos won 2-1.

Personal life

Maclaren holds a British passport, and is half-Maltese through his mother. This partial Maltese heritage led to Malta approaching Maclaren to play for them, however, he turned down the request.

Individual