James Ashley Chambers (born 20 November 1980) is an English professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
. Chambers played predominantly as a right-back, although he also played at centre-back, left-back and right-wing during his career. He last played for
Worcester City
Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane.
Worcester City's ...
.
Career
Chambers' early career mirrored that of his twin brother
Adam Chambers. Both played for school football teams - Grove Vale Primary School and Dartmouth High School, West Bromwich District and Sunday league team - Holy Name F.C. before joining West Bromwich Albion in 1996, and signing for
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...
as apprentices in July 1997.
West Bromwich Albion
After progressing through Albion's youth system, both twins turned professional in January 1999.
James made his debut in a 0–0 draw with
Port Vale
Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...
on 15 January 2000. He made 78 appearances in total for the Baggies, with a significant number coming in the
2000–01 season. In the 1998–99 season he and his brother Adam became the first twins to represent England at any level when they appeared together during the
World Youth Tournament in Nigeria.
They were also the first twins to play for the Albion, and the first to play in same side for any club in the Premier League.
Watford
With few chances available at the newly promoted
Premiership side, he was allowed to move to
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
side
Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
on loan in August 2004.
Chambers impressed manager
Ray Lewington
Raymond Lewington (born 7 September 1956) is an English retired footballer. He was most recently assistant manager of Watford.
Born in London, he started his playing career in the city at Chelsea. He went on to play for Vancouver Whitecaps, W ...
enough to sign him on a permanent three-year contract in a deal worth up to £250,000. Chambers started regularly in his first season at the club and also featured in the club's run to the
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
semi-finals that year. He scored his only two career goals to date (as of December 2010) in the 4th round 5–2 victory over Premiership side
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
. He also played in the quarter-final victory over
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
and semi-final defeat to
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
.
Chambers competed with
Lloyd Doyley
Lloyd Colin Doyley (born 1 December 1982) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender. He is assistant manager at Boreham Wood, arriving in June 2021.
Doyley came through the Watford Academy and went on to make 443 first-team ...
for the right-back spot in
2005–06, as well as spending some time playing at left-back. Watford reached the play-offs, finishing third, and Chambers started on the right-wing in the semi-final first leg against
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
, putting in an impressive display. He kept his place for the second leg and the final, against
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
, where his deflected strike led to an own goal by Leeds goalkeeper
Neil Sullivan
Neil Sullivan (born 24 February 1970) is a professional football player and coach. He played as a goalkeeper from 1988 until 2013, playing in the Premier League for Wimbledon, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and represented Scotland internat ...
. Watford won 3–0, and were promoted to the Premiership. In the post-match dressing room celebrations, Sky cameras inadvertently showed Chambers fully naked – exposing his
private parts on national television – whilst jumping around and spraying manager
Aidy Boothroyd
Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who is currently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur.
At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he was r ...
with champagne.
Chambers started Watford's first game in the top-flight, a 2–1 loss to
Everton where he was substituted at half-time. Aside from a League Cup appearance against
Accrington Stanley
Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...
, he did not play another first team match until he joined Cardiff on a month's loan in October 2006. Playing as a left back for the early
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
leaders, he started all seven games in his time at
Ninian Park
Ninian Park was a football stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovations during its lifespan and hosted fixture ...
. Watford then rejected Cardiff's request to extend the loan.
He returned to the Watford side at right-back, but sustained an injury against
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
that kept him out of the team until March. He featured sporadically after that, as Watford were relegated from the Premiership, but did play in the side's
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
quarter-final victory over
Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...
and semi-final loss to
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
.
Leicester City
In June 2007 Chambers turned down a new contract at Watford to sign a three-year contract with fellow Championship side
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
.
Doncaster Rovers
On 4 August 2008, Chambers signed a three-year-deal with
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
. Chambers had a clause in his contract at Leicester allowing him to move on a free transfer should the club be relegated. This clause was activated following the Foxes' relegation into League One.
He became Rovers' seventh signing of the summer, leading up to their first season back in the second tier of English football after fifty years in the lower leagues.
Chambers was a regular for Rovers throughout the 2008–09 and 2009–10 seasons, with his ability to play on either side of the back four adding some much needed versatility to the Rovers ranks. Rehabilitation from a knee operation caused him to miss the beginning of the 2010–11 season.
Walsall
After a period on trial at the club, Chambers joined
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
side
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...
on 18 August 2012, again linking up with his brother Adam. Chambers emerged as a key part of the Saddlers squad over the following three seasons, making one hundred and eight appearances for Walsall and featuring in the
2015 Football League Trophy Final.
He announced his retirement from football on 17 July 2015 to focus on his business interests.
Worcester City
In September 2016 he came out of retirement to sign for
Worcester City
Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane.
Worcester City's ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chambers, James
1980 births
Footballers from West Bromwich
Living people
Men's association football defenders
Men's association football utility players
English men's footballers
West Bromwich Albion F.C. players
Watford F.C. players
Cardiff City F.C. players
Leicester City F.C. players
Doncaster Rovers F.C. players
Hereford United F.C. players
Walsall F.C. players
English Football League players
Premier League players
England men's youth international footballers
Worcester City F.C. players
Twin sportspeople
English twins