Joshua Mark McEachran (born 1 March 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL Championship club Oxford United.

He moved on to Brentford in 2015, playing 90 league matches over four seasons, and spent 16 months with Birmingham City; both spells were disrupted by injury.

[3] A midfielder, McEachran began playing football for Garden City in the Oxford Mail Boys League, where he was spotted by a Chelsea scout.

[8] McEachran's regular inclusion in the squad was viewed by pundits as a suggestion that the Chelsea administration recognised the importance of younger players in an otherwise ageing team.

[18] On 15 July 2011, McEachran signed a new five-year contract and scored his first senior goal for the club in the friendly 2011 Premier League Asia Trophy final versus Aston Villa two weeks later.

[21][22] From January 2012 onwards, he spent much of his subsequent Chelsea career away on loan and was not called into a squad before departing from Stamford Bridge on 10 July 2015.

[21] McEachran made his first start for the Swans in a FA Cup fourth round match against Bolton Wanderers, playing the full 90 minutes of the 2–1 defeat.

[21] Looking back in January 2013, McEachran revealed that the move was "one of those things in life which just didn't work out" and that he learned "nothing" during his spell.

[35] His debut came four days later with a start in the League Cup third round versus Norwich City,[36] but he was substituted for Connor Smith on 38 minutes after suffering a back spasm.

[42] After a fifth-place finish in the Championship saw the Latics qualify for the playoffs, he was left out of the squad for both legs of the semi-finals versus Queens Park Rangers, which resulted in a 2–1 aggregate defeat.

[25] Either side of an ankle injury suffered in October,[45] McEachran made sporadic appearances and spent time in the reserves, before breaking into the starting lineup in April 2015.

[25] Suspensions to Marko Vejinović and Davy Pröpper opened up a spot in midfield and McEachran made eight starts through to the end of the season.

[52] By mid-January 2016, McEachran was an ever-present starter and made 15 further appearances before his season was ended through a re-fracture of his foot during a training session on 24 March 2016.

[55][56][57] By January 2017, McEachran had broken into the starting lineup and was showing his best form since joining the club,[58] but he was ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering an ankle ligament injury during a 2–1 win over Sheffield Wednesday on 21 February.

[59] McEachran returned fit for the 2017–18 pre-season,[60] but managed just four appearances early in the regular season before suffering a leg injury during a 2–2 draw with Bristol City on 15 August 2017.

[63] McEachran began the 2018–19 season as an ever-present starter in league matches and scored the first professional goal of his career with the equaliser in a 1–1 draw with Birmingham City on 2 October 2018.

[83] McEachran made his debut for the England U16 team aged just 14,[84] with a start in a 2–2 Victory Shield draw with Northern Ireland on 11 October 2007.

[89] Fresh off the back of his success in the 2010 European U17 Championship, McEachran made his debut for the England under-19 team at the age of 17, in a 2–0 friendly victory over Slovakia on 2 September 2010.

[91][92] While still a regular for the U17s, McEachran won his first cap for the England under-21 team in a 2–0 friendly defeat to Germany on 16 November 2010, when he came on as a substitute for Nathan Delfouneso.

[102] Ray Wilkins and Stuart Pearce have commended on McEachran's incisive passing,[103] while André Villas-Boas and Brendan Rodgers have lauded his vision on the pitch and technical abilities, comparing him to Luka Modrić, Jack Wilshere and Samir Nasri.