Striker back home following betting scandal
JAMES Demetriou, remember him?
It is okay if you don’t because the now 23-year-old didn’t feature once for Swansea City’s first team.
You may recall him for his off-field misdemeanour, though.
He was the promising youngster signed from this weekend’s opponents Nottingham Forest who was hit by an FA fine for breaching betting rules while at the Liberty.
After a colourful footballing journey that’s stretched across the globe via the Welsh League – he’s now rebuilding his career in his homeland.
Demetriou joined Forest from Sydney Olympic in September 2013 after he impressed on trial.
The 18-year-old signed a two-year deal when he joined the City Ground club and impressed for the Under-21 side, scoring five goals in six appearances.
In April 2014 Forest tried to tie him down to a new deal – the Cyprus Under-21 striker was highly regarded amid interest from the Premier League – and did all they could to persuade him to stay near the Trent. But they couldn’t.
The Australian-born Cypriot signed for Swansea in the summer of 2014 .
He went into the under-21 set-up, helping them to win the age-grade development title in 2015 alongside the likes of Connor Roberts, Matt Grimes, Kenji Gorre, Joe Rodon and Jay Fulton.
But it was during his time with Swansea that scandal struck; the striker was charged with alleged “multiple breaches” of betting rules.
A statement from the Football Association said: “Swansea City’s James Demetriou has been charged for alleged multiple breaches of FA Rule E8 in relation to betting. The player has until 1 June 2015 to respond to the charge.”
He was fined £700 and warned about his future conduct.
An FA spokesman said the punishment related to 13 bets placed on football matches between December 3, 2013, and January 21, 2015.
A brief loan to Wealdstone FC followed but Demetriou then left permanently for Cypriot First Division side Karmiotissa, followed by a move to Bangor City and then Barry Town in January 2018.But this summer he returned home to Sydney Olympic, his boyhood team.
Sydney Olympic coach Abbas Saad welcomed him home: “James is an attacking player, who will bring strong overseas experience with some excellent clubs and a passion for Sydney Olympic having made his senior debut here many years ago as a youngster.”
Demetriou has spoken of his admiration of players he worked with during his spells at the City Ground and the Liberty, citing one Swansea star in particular as “incredible”.
“At Forest, Henri Lansbury was quality, although it was only in training that he was always on it,” Demetriou added.
“Jonjo Shelvey is another one who has an incredible amount of talent and definitely one of the best that I’ve shared a pitch with.”