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 lea ...

who plays for club

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

. His usual position is as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, but also occasionally plays in

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

. 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 level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

, James followed his brother

Matty Matty is a given name or nickname, frequently of the male given name Matthew. It can also be a surname. People with the given name or nickname Notable people with the given name or nickname include: A–E * Matty Alou (1938–2011), Major League ...

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

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 currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

and

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

, he made a permanent move to

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 ...

in 2015. After three years with Wigan, James joined

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

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 currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

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 ...

, 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, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

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

in the League Cup 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 Manchester United Football Club Under-21s is the most senior of Manchester United's youth teams and the club's former reserve team. They play in the Premier League 2, the highest tier of the Professional Development League. The team is effective ...

award, ultimately losing to

Saidy Janko Saidy Janko (born 22 October 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Swiss club BSC Young Boys. Born in Switzerland, he played international football for Switzerland up to under-21 level before switching to play for the ...

. 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 The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

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 EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

. 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

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 ...

Hillsborough Stadium Hillsborough Stadium is a association football, football stadium in the area of Owlerton, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. With a total capacity of 39,732, it has been the home of Sheffield Wednesday F.C., Sheffield Wednesday Football Club ...

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 in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

at the

John Smith's Stadium Kirklees Stadium, currently known as the John Smith's Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of Huddersfield Town Association Football Club ...

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 sys ...

club

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

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 English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

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

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

. His first goal for the club came against Peterborough United in the second leg of the play-off semi-final.

Permanent move to Sheffield Wednesday

On 30 June 2023, James joined Sheffield Wednesday for an undisclosed fee. He made his permanent debut against

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

on 4 August 2023 coming off the bench. On 17 May 2024, it was confirmed he would be released following the expiration of his contract.

Return to Rotherham United

On 22 May 2024, it was confirmed James would return to Rotherham United on a two-year deal.

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,

, who is also a product of the Manchester United academy, currently plays for

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

in the

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

Career statistics

Honours

Wigan Athletic *

: 2015–16, 2017–18 Sunderland *

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

runner-up: 2018–19 Sheffield Wednesday *

EFL League One play-offs The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise tw ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Reece 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from Bacup Footballers from Lancashire English men's footballers Men's 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 21st-century English sportsmen