Josh Meekings (born 2 September 1992) is an English former professional footballer and coach who last played as a central defender for Highland League club Clachnacuddin. Meekings has previously played for Ipswich Town, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Dundee, Wealdstone and Brora Rangers, the latter of whom Meekings was also player-assistant manager for.
Club career Ipswich Town Born in Bury St Edmunds, England, Meekings was raised in Suffolk. He started his football career at Ipswich Town, joining the club at seven years old. Meekings then progressed through Ipswich Town's youth system, including captaining the under-18s side.
However, in the summer of 2011, he was released by the club without having played for the first-team.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Meekings was due to sign a deal with Stevenage but the deal fell through and instead, on 4 July 2011 he agreed to join Inverness Caledonian Thistle on a two-year deal. Shortly after moving to Inverness, Meekings revealed that the prospect of developing under manager Terry Butcher was influential in his decision to sign.
2011–12 season However, Meekings suffered an ankle ligament damage during the friendly match against Yeovil Town on 12 July 2011. After the match, he was out for the start of the 2011–12 season. Meekings appeared in the Inverness Caledonian Thistle's first team for the first time as an unused substitute, in a 2–0 loss against Celtic on 24 September 2011. On 22 October 2011, he finally his professional debut (as well as the club), coming on as 66th-minute substitute for Thomas Piermayr, during a 1–1 draw against Dunfermline Athletic on 22 October 2011. Two weeks later on 5 November 2011, Meekings provided the 'assist' for Grégory Tadé to score – to make 3–1 – against Kilmarnock, the match ending with Inverness Caledonian Thistle winning 6–3. However, he suffered an injury and did not play for two months.
After not playing for two months, Meekings returned to the starting line–up in the centre–back position, in a 1–0 win against Heart of Midlothian on 21 January 2012. He received a handful of first team football for the next six matches for Inverness Caledonian Thistle. On 24 March 2012, Meekings received a red card for the first time in his career after a second bookable offence, in a 1–0 win over Aberdeen. After serving a one match suspension, he returned to the starting line–up, in a 3–2 loss against Hibernian on 2 April 2012. At the end of the 2011–12 season, Meekings made twenty–one appearances in all competitions.
2012–13 season At the start of the 2012–13 season, Meekings became a regular starter for Inverness Caledonian Thistle following an injury of new signing, Simon King. Having started out playing in the right–back position, he ultimately settled into a regular first team, central pairing with Gary Warren. On 31 October 2012, Meekings started the match and helped the club beat Rangers 3–0 away in the quarter-final of the Scottish League Cup. On 24 November 2012, he also started the match and helped Inverness Caledonian Thistle kept a clean sheet, in a 1–0 win away against Celtic. However, on 15 December 2012, Meekings scored an own goal in a 4–4 draw against Dundee United.
His performances at the club led to Meekings began talks over a new contract. On 24 December 2012, he along with Graeme Shinnie, signed two-year contract extensions, keeping them at Inverness Caledonian Thistle until 2015, as manager Terry Butcher demonstrated his desire to keep the squad intact. After missing two matches, Meekings made his return from injury, starting the whole game, in a 3–0 win against Aberdeen on 19 January 2013. However, his return was short–lived when he suffered a back injury that saw him out for one match. But Meekings made his return to the starting line–up against Dundee United on 27 February 2013 and helped the club, in a 0–0 draw.
Meekings' excellent season and consistent form was recognised with the award of SPL Young Player of the Month for March 2013. On 4 May 2013, he provided a double assist for Billy Mckay, who later scored a hat-trick, in a 4–3 win over Motherwell, to keep alive hopes of earning a spot in the UEFA Europa League next season. However, on the last game of the season, Meekings was unable to help Inverness Caledonian Thistle qualify for the UEFA Europa League after losing 1–0 against local rivals, Ross County on the last game of the season. At the end of the 2012–13 season, he made forty–one appearances in all competitions.
2013–14 season Meekings helped Inverness Caledonian Thistle kept a clean sheet in the first three league matches of the season. Since the start of the 2013–14 season, he continued as a regular starter for the club, playing in central defence and occasionally playing as a right-back position. On 14 September 2013, Meekings set up a winning goal for Billy McKay, in a 2–1 win against Kilmarnock. On 29 October 2013, he helped Inverness Caledonian Thistle beat Dundee United 2–1 in the quarter-final of the Scottish League Cup, which proved to be the winner to send the club through to the semi-finals.
Meekings, once again, helped Inverness Caledonian Thistle kept five clean sheets in all competitions between 9 November 2013 and 14 December 2013. However, in a match against Kilmarnock on 25 January 2014, he suffered an injury and substituted in the 68th minute, as the club loss 2–0. But he made his return to the starting line–up against Heart of Midlothian in the semi-final of the Scottish League Cup, only for him to be sent–off in the last minute of the game, as Inverness Caledonian Thistle went on to win 4–2 in the penalty shootout to reach the Scottish League Cup final. After the match, Meekings was cleared to play in the final after a successful appeal. He first learned about his successful appeal, saying: "I was training at the time, and the manager came up to me and told me. At first it didn't really sink in - I was just concentrating on training. Then when we finished I went and asked him again to make sure that I heard right. You're always nervous, but I was fairly confident I would get something because I felt at the time it was a bit harsh. It was one of those things: the referee has made a mistake, and he's put his hands up and accepted that. I can only be thankful now that I'm able to play."
Meekings, once again, helped the club kept four clean sheets in all competitions between 15 February 2014 and 25 February 2014. He started the whole game in the Scottish League Cup Final against Aberdeen, as Inverness Caledonian Thistle lost 4–2 on penalties after a 0–0 draw. However, on 29 March 2014, Meekings was sent-off in the 68th minute for a foul on Josh Magennis, in a 2–2 draw against St Mirren. After serving a one match suspension, he returned to the starting line–up, in a 2–1 win against local rivals, Ross County on 4 April 2014. However, his return was short–lived when Meekings suffered a knee injury that saw him sidelined for the rest of the 2013–14 season. At the end of the 2013–14 season, he went on to make forty–two appearances in all competitions.
2014–15 season At the start of the 2014–15 season, Meekings started the season well when he helped Inverness Caledonian Thistle kept five clean sheets in the first five league matches of the season and earned the club 13 points in the first six matches. Meekings’ performance attracted interest from Peterborough United, but he ended up staying at Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Meekings continued to regain his first team place, forming a centre–back partnership with Warren and Ross Draper.
On 27 September 2014, he scored the first goal of his professional football career, which was the opening goal of the game, in an eventual 3–2 loss against Aberdeen. After the match, Meekings said he want to score more goals to his games. On 8 November 2014, Meekings made his 100th league appearance for the club in a 4–2 win over Hamilton Accies. He scored against Motherwell and St Mirren on 22 November 2014 and 29 November 2014. His performance at Inverness Caledonian Thistle reignited interest from Peterborough United, but Meekings stayed at the club for the second time this season. This prompted Inverness Caledonian Thistle to open talks with the player over a new contract. On 12 February 2015, he signed a contract extension with the club, keeping him until the summer of 2017.
Meekings became the subject of much national and international interest in the aftermath of Inverness Caledonian Thistle's Scottish Cup semi-final win against Celtic to reach the final. During the game, television pictures and replays clearly showed that he 'handled' the ball in the penalty area, preventing a certain goal – however, the incident was 'missed' by the match officials. In an unprecedented move, Meekings was retrospectively cited by the SFA's Compliance Officer to face a charge of 'preventing a goal-scoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball'. He was offered a one-match-ban, but Inverness CaledonianThistle contested this and a date was set for the case to be heard. On the day of the hearing, it transpired that Meekings should not actually have been cited, as the referee had subsequently confirmed that he had indeed seen the 'incident' but not the alleged 'offence'. As a result, the case did not proceed and the charge against Meekings was dropped, with the SFA confirming that he would be eligible to play in the cup final. Following this, Celtic manager Ronny Deila believed Meekings deserved to play in the final. Meekings, himself, spoke about the aftermath of the hearing, saying he was lucky to avoid suspension and credited Manager John Hughes for helping him sane by avoiding global headlines.
In the build up to the Scottish Cup final, Meekings played in the right–back position for the first time, in a 2–1 win against Dundee United on 5 May 2015. Two weeks later on 16 May 2015, he scored his fourth goal of the season and set up the second goal of the game, in a 3–0 win over Dundee United. Having played in every league matches throughout the 2014–15 season, Meekings sat out for the match against Celtic on the last game of the season by manager John Hughes. In the Scottish Cup Final, he started the match with Danny Devine and helped the club beat Falkirk a 2–1 to win their first ever Scottish Cup Final. After the match, Meekings said: "That is what football is all about. You get the ups and downs but you just have to take those lows on the chin. It was obviously a difficult few days when I didn't know if I was playing or not but it makes this even more special to have come through it all and end up with a winner's medal. I'm just delighted. What we have done this season has been huge. If you had told me at the beginning of the season that we would end in Europe and win a cup, I'd have bitten your arm off for it. It's incredible - I still cannot describe how I'm feeling. It's unbelievable what we have done." At the end of the 2014–15 season, he made forty–four appearances and scoring four times in all competitions.
2015–16 season At the start of the 2015–16 season, Meekings made his European football debut, playing in both legs against FC Astra Giurgiu in the UEFA Europa League second qualifying round, losing 1–0 on aggregate and Inverness Caledonian Thistle was eliminated in the tournament. However, he suffered a hip injury in the opening game of the season against Motherwell and was substituted at half time, as the club loss 1–0. After the match, Meekings was out for a month with hip, groin and thigh injuries. On 11 September 2015, he returned to the starting line–up, forming a centre–back partnership with Devine, in a 2–0 win against Heart of Midlothian. In a follow–up match, Meekings scored his first goal of the season, scoring an equalising goal, in a 1–1 draw against Dundee United.