Reece James (born 7 November 1993) 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 ...

who plays for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

on loan from

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

. His usual position is as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, but also occasionally plays in

midfield Midfield is the part of a sports field that lies approximately in the center. In American football, association football (soccer) and field hockey, it is the area in and around the center circle, as well as the players who occupy that region. In ...

. After spending time as a youth player with Rossendale United,

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

and

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

, James followed his brother Matty 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 ...

in 2012; however, he failed to break into the first team, and after loan spells with

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

and

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

, he made a permanent move to

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

in 2015. After three years with Wigan, James joined

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

on a free transfer at the end of the 2017–18 season. He then spent two years 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 ...

Career

Born in

Bacup Bacup ( , ) is a town in the Rossendale Borough in Lancashire, England, in the South Pennines close to Lancashire's boundaries with West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. The town is in the Rossendale Valley and the upper Irwell Valley, east of ...

, Lancashire, James began his football career as a youth player with local club Rossendale United, and spent time with

and

before signing for Manchester United in July 2012.

Manchester United

He signed for Carlisle on a half-season loan contract in July 2013, and made his professional debut on the opening day of the 2013–14 season in Carlisle's 5–1 home defeat to

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

. However, he suffered an injury shortly before half time in Carlisle's penalty shoot-out victory against

in 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 ...

on 7 August, and returned to Manchester United on 24 September 2013. After returning to Manchester United, James was ever-present in the club's reserve team for the remainder of the season, and his performances led to a nomination for the Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year award, ultimately losing to

Saidy Janko Saidy Janko (born 22 October 1995) is a professional footballer who plays for Swiss club BSC Young Boys. Although Janko primarily recognised as a right-back, he is equally capable of playing on the right wing. Born in Switzerland, he played inte ...

. He made his first-team debut in the opening match of the club's pre-season tour of the United States on 23 July 2014, and scored twice from a left-wing-back role as Manchester United beat the

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...

7–0. On 26 August 2014, he made his only United first-team appearance in the League Cup defeat to

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

. On 26 November 2014, James was sent on loan to

for two months. After eight appearances, including one in the FA Cup, he returned to Manchester United on 26 January 2015. On 26 March, he joined

on loan until the end of the 2014–15 season. He made his debut in the 1–1 draw against

Hillsborough Stadium Hillsborough Stadium is a 39,732-capacity association football stadium located in Owlerton, a north-western suburb of Sheffield, Yorkshire, England. It has been the home of Sheffield Wednesday since its opening in 1899. The ground has been sub ...

on 4 April 2015. His first goal for the club came in the 4–4 draw with

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

at the

John Smith's Stadium Kirklees Stadium (currently known due to sponsorship as the John Smith's Stadium) is a multi-use stadium in Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of football club Huddersfield Town and rugby league si ...

on 18 April 2015, when he scored directly from a corner to give Town a 3–1 lead.

Wigan Athletic

On 21 July 2015, James joined

on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee. After being largely ever-present for the first half of the season, an injury suffered in a 3–1 victory over Chesterfield, in which James scored his first goal for the club, led to him missing the remainder of the 2015–16 season and the majority of the following season. He was released by Wigan at the end of the 2017–18 season.

Sunderland

He subsequently signed a one-year deal with

on 2 July 2018.

Doncaster Rovers

James signed for

on a two-year deal on 19 June 2019 for an undisclosed fee. On 5 October, he scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 defeat against Portsmouth.

Blackpool

After two years at Doncaster, James joined

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 ...

club

on 1 July 2021 on a three-year deal.

Sheffield Wednesday (loan)

On 7 July 2022, James joined

on loan for the duration of the season. He made his debut against Sunderland in the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

on 10 August 2022. James was shown a red-card on his first start for the club against

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

Personal life

James' father, Linton, played non-league football for Bacup Borough and later worked as assistant manager of the club. He attended Fearns Community Sports College. His brother, Matty, who is also a product of the Manchester United academy, currently plays for

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

in the

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Wigan Athletic *

EFL 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 ...

: 2015–16, 2017–18 Sunderland *

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

runner-up: 2018–19

References

External links

*
Profile
at ManUtd.com {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Reece 1993 births Living people People from Bacup Sportspeople from Lancashire English footballers Association football defenders Rossendale United F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players English Football League players