Jamal Lewis (footballer)
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.jpg) Lewis with Norwich City in 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jamal Piaras Lewis[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 25 January 1998[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Luton, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Left-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Preston North End | ||
| Number | 18 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2009–2013 | Luton Town | ||
| 2014–2016 | Norwich City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2016–2020 | Norwich City | 92 | (1) |
| 2020–2025 | Newcastle United | 31 | (0) |
| 2023–2024 | → Watford (loan) | 36 | (0) |
| 2024–2025 | → São Paulo (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 2025– | Preston North End | 13 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2016 | Northern Ireland U19 | 3 | (0) |
| 2017 | Northern Ireland U21 | 1 | (0) |
| 2018– | Northern Ireland | 40 | (0) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 21:27, 24 January 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 22:13, 17 November 2025 (UTC) | |||
Jamal Piaras Lewis (born 25 January 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a left-back for EFL Championship club Preston North End. Born in England, he represents the Northern Ireland national team.
Jamal Piaras Lewis was born on 25 January 1998, in Luton, England. He is of Northern Irish citizenship through his mother. When younger, Lewis was a talented athlete competing at national level for his age-group over 800m and 1500m.[3] He represented England Schools in athletics[3][4] and finished second in the English Schools' U17 cross-country in 2014.[5]
Club career
Luton Town
Lewis started his professional football career as a youth player with his home-town club Luton Town,[5] with whom he won the Aarau Masters, a European 5-a-side Under-11 Championship in 2009.[6] He left Luton Town in 2013 to focus on his prospects as a national-level 800-metre runner.[7]
Norwich City
Lewis returned to professional football in 2014, signing for Norwich City.[5]
During the 2016–17 season, he played for the Norwich U23 team.[8] At the end of the 2016–17 season, Lewis signed a new contract until 2021.[8] In December 2017, Lewis made his senior debut for Norwich City against Brentford, coming on as a substitute for Marco Stiepermann.[9] On Boxing Day 2017, he made his first start for Norwich against Birmingham City.[10] He scored his first senior goal in the 93rd minute of an FA Cup third round replay against Chelsea in January 2018.[11]
Lewis was named the EFL Young Player of the Month for September 2018,[3] and in October 2018, he was rewarded with a new long-term contract which ran until June 2023.[12]
In March 2019 he was named in the 2018–19 PFA Championship Team of the Year, alongside team-mates Max Aarons and Teemu Pukki.[13] Lewis made 28 appearances for Norwich City in the 2019–20 Premier League.[14] In August 2020, Norwich rejected a £10 million bid from Liverpool for Lewis.[15]
Newcastle United
On 8 September 2020, Lewis signed a five-year contract with Premier League side Newcastle United.[16] His performances with the club were often unconvincing and he quickly fell out of favour, resulting in his exclusion from the 25-player squad list for the remainder of the season in January 2022.[17]
Loan to Watford
On 27 July 2023, Championship side Watford announced the signing of Lewis on a season-long loan from Newcastle, with a future option to make the move permanent if obligations were met.[18]
Loan to São Paulo and return to Newcastle
On 1 September 2024, Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill revealed that Lewis had travelled to Brazil to complete a shock move to Campeonato Brasileiro Série A side São Paulo.[19] Two days later, Newcastle announced Lewis' move to São Paulo on a loan deal until the end of the season, with an option to make the move permanent.[20]
After an ankle injury that occurred during a training session on international duty, on 15 November 2024, Newcastle United and São Paulo mutually agreed to terminate his loan contract in January 2025, and he returned to Newcastle.[21]
On 9 June 2025, it was announced that Newcastle would release Lewis at the end of the season when his contract would expire on 30 June.[22]
Preston North End
On 31 October 2025, Lewis joined Championship club Preston North End on a free transfer, signing a short-term contract until 30 December 2025.[23] On 31 December, he signed a new contract until the end of the season.[24]
International career
Born and raised in England, Lewis was eligible to play for Northern Ireland through his mother, who was born in Belfast.[1] He first represented the national team in 2016, making three appearances for the U19 team.[1] In June 2017, he was called up to the U21 team and made his U21 debut against Estonia.[25]
In March 2018, he was called up to the Northern Irish senior squad for the first time.[26] He made his senior international debut in a 2–1 friendly win over South Korea on 24 March 2018.[27]
On 9 October 2021, Lewis was sent off in the first half in an eventual 2–0 loss to Switzerland. His first yellow was for a rash challenge on Breel Embolo, but his second was for time-wasting after he struggled to find a teammate from a throw-in. Manager Ian Baraclough said that the decision to send Lewis off was "diabolical" and it changed the course of the game.[28][29]
