James Wesolowski

James Peter Wesolowski (born 25 August 1987 in Sydney) is an Australian Association football player currently playing as a midfielder for Leicester City F.C..

Leicester City

Wesolowski played for Australian side Northern Spirit FC before signing for Leicester City in 2002. After showing a lot of potential in the reserves, James played for Leicester in a pre-season friendly against Celtic F.C. in 2005, but suffered a broken leg due to a challenge from Bobo Balde. He underwent surgery on the leg but the injury sidelined him until the start of 2006. Wesolowski returned and impressed for the Leicester first team, making his debut at home to Cardiff City F.C. in January 2006. However, after only five appearances, he broke his same leg against Brighton in a freak incident. He recovered in time for the start of the 2006–07 season, although a thigh injury kept him out of the side for the first month.

The departure of Jóhannes Karl Guðjónsson gave Wesolowski the opportunity to become a first team regular at Leicester, although he still faced stiff competition from then-teammates Stephen Hughes (Scottish footballer) and Andy Johnson (Welsh footballer) for the central midfield spot. He scored his first senior goal against Fulham F.C. in the FA Cup 3rd round replay on 17 January 2007. Wesolowski played a total of 19 league games, helping Leicester survive relegation at the end of the 2006-07 in English football.

In July 2007, during the 2007-08 in English football, Wesolowski agreed to a contract extension with Leicester that would see him remain at the Walkers Stadium until 2011. Wesolowski scored his second goal of his career against Accrington Stanley F.C. in a Football League Cup match on August 14. He suffered a hamstring injury on September 18 in a 3–2 win over Nottingham Forest F.C. and was taken off after 19 minutes, sidelining him for six weeks. Wesolowski started to have more hamstring problems since recovering, and he was injured again on December 8 in the fifth minute as Leicester lost 2–1 to West Bromwich Albion F.C., sidelining him until Christmas. Despite accumulating a total of 22 league appearances, Wesolowski could not prevent the 2008 season from ending in relegation.

On October 2, 2008, James joined Cheltenham Town F.C., linking up with former Leicester manager Martin Allen and fellow Leicester loanee Barry Hayles, on a 3 month loan deal but can be recalled after the 1st month. However he only played four times as the loan was ended early after he fractured his ankle in a game against Tranmere Rovers F.C..

International

Wesolowski received international acclaim at the end of the 2004-05 in English football season after competing for Australia in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship and was labelled "a star in the making" by the Australian Football Federation. James was called up to the Australia national football (soccer) team on his 19th birthday for the 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Kuwait national football team, but was withdrawn from the squad days later after consultation with medical staff from both parties 'on precautionary grounds'. On November 06, 2007, he was called up to the national team for a friendly match against Nigeria national football team on 17 November, but was an unused substitute as Australia won 1–0.