Reece Lewis James (born 8 December 1999) is an English professional
footballer who plays as a
right-back for club
Chelsea, which he
captains, and the
England national team.
James joined the Chelsea academy as a youth and turned professional in 2017, a season where he
captained the under-18s to victory in the
FA Youth Cup and was named Academy Player of the Season. A productive
loan
In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money.
The document evidencing the deb ...
spell with
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, they have p ...
of the
Championship saw him promoted to the Chelsea first team upon his return in 2019. He won the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
,
UEFA Super Cup and
FIFA Club World Cup with the club in 2021, and was appointed captain in 2023.
After representing
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
at various youth levels, James made his senior debut in 2020, and went on to appear at
UEFA Euro 2020.
Early life
James was born in
Redbridge, Greater London, and attended
Isleworth and Syon School. He is from a family all involved in football. His sister
Lauren is also a professional footballer and signed for
Chelsea Women in July 2021. Their father Nigel is a football coach. He is of Grenadian and Dominican descent through his father, and English descent through his mother.
Club career
Early career

Starting his grassroots playing career at Kew Park Rangers and Epsom Eagles, James signed with
Chelsea at the age of six,
and had a short spell at West London rivals
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...
when he was seven.
He played as a striker idolizing
Didier Drogba
Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian former professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. He is the Top international association football goal scorers by cou ...
in his early teens, but was moved to the midfield, and later to a
right-back position where he struggled at first.
He turned professional with Chelsea in March 2017.
During the 2017–18 season he
captained the under-18s to win the
FA Youth Cup and was named Academy Player of the Season.
He signed a new four-year contract with the club in June 2018.
In June 2018, James joined
Championship club
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, they have p ...
on
loan
In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money.
The document evidencing the deb ...
for the
2018–19 season. He made his first-team debut on 4 August, starting in Wigan's first game of the season, helping his side to a 3–2 home victory over
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Formed in 1867 as an off ...
. He scored his first goal for Wigan on 4 November, scoring the first goal with a
free kick in the sixth minute of a 2–1 home loss to
Leeds United. In March 2019, he was selected to the 2018–19 Championship Team of the Season. He won three awards at Wigan Athletic's end of season awards, including Player of the Year.
2019–2021: First-team breakthrough and UEFA Champions League title
On 25 September 2019, James made his debut for Chelsea after returning from injury. He scored his first goal and assisted two in a 7–1 win over
Grimsby Town in the third round of the
2019–20 EFL Cup. James became Chelsea's youngest ever goalscorer in the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
when he scored the fourth goal of their 4–4 comeback draw with
Ajax on 5 November. He signed a long-term contract extension with Chelsea on 16 January 2020.
On 14 September 2020, James scored his first
Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
goal, in a 3–1 win for Chelsea against
Brighton & Hove Albion. On 5 December, James made his 50th appearance for Chelsea in all competitions in the club's 3–1 league win over Leeds United.
In January 2021, James was subject to
racist abuse online. In March, he deleted his
Instagram
Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
account in response to the abuse he received. On 29 May, James won his first-ever Champions League as Chelsea won 1–0 against
Manchester City in the
final in
Porto
Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...
.
2021–2023: Injury issues

On 28 August 2021, James was sent off at the end of the first half of a 1–1 draw against
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
due to a handball incident. He scored two goals in the second half of a 3–0 win over
Newcastle United at
St James' Park on 30 October. At the end of the season James was nominated for the
PFA Young Player of the Year award.
On 5 September 2022, James signed a new six-year contract with Chelsea, committing to the club until June 2028. His performances were praised in October 2022, although later that month he suffered a knee injury, and had to see a specialist doctor. He was injured on his first game back, on 27 December 2022, being substituted after 53 minutes. he was ruled out of play for a further four weeks. On 25 April 2023, Chelsea announced that James would miss the rest of the season with a hamstring problem.
2023–present: Assuming the captaincy and further injuries
Following the departure of
César Azpilicueta, James was named
club captain of Chelsea on 9 August 2023.
He suffered a hamstring injury early in the season, which re-occurred in November 2023 after he returned to play. In late December 2023, he had surgery to fix the recurring hamstring injury. James returned on 11 May 2024 as a substitute against
Nottingham Forest, providing the game-winning assist to
Nicolas Jackson in the 3–2 victory at
City Ground.
He received a red card in the penultimate match of the 2023–24 season, meaning he would miss the first 3 games of the 2024–25 season.
James began the 2024–25 season with a number of injuries. After returning to play in October 2024, James was criticised by Chelsea manager
Enzo Maresca for a lack of effort. He suffered a further hamstring injury in November 2024. He returned to play in January 2025, scoring a goal on his first Premier League game back. James said his time injured had been "lonely and frustrating".
International career
Youth
James has represented England at youth level from
under-18 up to
under-21. In May 2017, James was included in the
under-20 squad for the
2017 Toulon Tournament. He started in the final as England beat the
Ivory Coast
Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...
to retain their title. In July, James was part of the
under-19 squad that won the
2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship.
He started in the semi-final against the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
.
James was a member of the under-20 squad that travelled to the
2019 Toulon Tournament and was carried off on a stretcher with ankle ligament damage during the first half of the final group game defeat to Chile on 7 June 2019. On 4 October, James was included in the under-21 squad for the first time. He made his under-21 debut during the 3–0
2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification
The 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition was a men's under-21 association football, football tournament that determined the 14 teams that would be joining the automatically qualified co-hosts Hungary national under-21 fo ...
victory away to
Albania
Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...
on 15 November.
Senior
On 5 October 2020, James was called up for the first time to the
senior team by manager
Gareth Southgate following an injury to
Raheem Sterling. He made his debut on 8 October at
Wembley Stadium, coming on as a 58th-minute substitute for
Kieran Trippier in a 3–0 win over
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
. He was sent off for dissent after the final whistle in his second start, against
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
. James was named in the 26-man England squad for
Euro 2020. At Euro 2020, James started in the 0–0 draw against
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
.
In November 2021, he said that he was in the best form of his career, and that he hoped to become England's first-choice right-back.
In October 2022, following a knee injury sustained playing for Chelsea in the Champions League against
AC Milan, James was ruled out of the
2022 FIFA World Cup
The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
. He later stated he was "devastated" to be excluded from the England squad.
In November 2023, following injury, he said he wanted to return to the England squad, after England manager
Gareth Southgate said James's Euro 2024 squad position was at risk.
On 24 March 2025, James scored his first ever senior international goal in a 3–0 victory over
Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
during
2026 FIFA World Cup qualification.
Personal life
In August 2020, James made a personal donation and posted a link on his social media accounts to a Crowdfunder site which was looking to boost Wigan's funds; in a bid to save his former loan club. He wrote in the post 'Come on let's help @laticsofficial out' in a bid to encourage others to follow.
In January 2021,
Marcus Rashford praised James, along with his teammate
Mason Mount, for their "amazing" charitable work. James had spent the past 18 months volunteering with a London-based charity,
The Felix Project.
James credits his father, Nigel James, Chelsea youth team coaches Frank O'Brien,
Joe Edwards, and
Jody Morris as having major influence on his career. Reece and his sister
Lauren are the first brother and sister to represent England at senior level in the modern era.
Style of play
His former manager at Chelsea,
Thomas Tuchel, described him as "strong and influential". For part of his career he had a
wing-back partnership with
Ben Chilwell at both club and international level.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''England score listed first, score column indicates score after each James goal''
Honours
Chelsea U18
*
U18 Premier League:
2016–17,
2017–18[
* FA Youth Cup: 2016–17, 2017–18][
Chelsea
*]UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
: 2020–21
*UEFA Conference League
The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual football competition organised since 2021 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the thir ...
: 2024–25
* UEFA Super Cup: 2021
* FIFA Club World Cup: 2021
*FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
runner-up: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22
* EFL Cup runner-up: 2021–22
England U19
* UEFA European Under-19 Championship: 2017[
England U20
* Toulon Tournament: 2017
England
* UEFA European Championship runner-up: 2020
Individual
* Toulon Tournament Best XI: 2017
* Chelsea Academy Player of the Year: 2017–18][
* Wigan Athletic Player of the Year: 2018–19][
*Wigan Athletic Player's Player of the Year: 2018–19][
*Wigan Athletic Goal of the Season: 2018–19][
*FA Cup Team of the Year: 2020–21
*PFA Community Champion Award: 2020–21]
References
External links
Profile
at the Chelsea F.C. website
Profile
at the Football Association website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Reece
1999 births
Living people
People from Redbridge, London
Footballers from the London Borough of Redbridge
English men's footballers
Men's association football defenders
Fulham F.C. players
Chelsea F.C. players
Wigan Athletic F.C. players
English Football League players
Premier League players
UEFA Champions League–winning players
UEFA Conference League–winning players
England men's youth international footballers
England men's under-21 international footballers
England men's international footballers
UEFA Euro 2020 players
Black British sportsmen
21st-century Black British people
English people of Grenadian descent
English people of Dominica descent
Sportspeople of Grenadian descent
21st-century English sportsmen