Matty James

Matty James

James playing for Leicester City in 2015
Personal information
Full name Matthew Lee James[1]
Date of birth (1991-07-22) 22 July 1991
Place of birth Bacup, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2]
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
Leicester City
Number 8
Youth career
2007–2010 Manchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2012 Manchester United 0 (0)
2010Preston North End (loan) 18 (2)
2010–2011Preston North End (loan) 10 (0)
2012– Leicester City 86 (4)
National team
2007 England U16 5 (0)
2007–2008 England U17 10 (0)
2009–2010 England U19 13 (0)
2009 England U20 6 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:07, 13 May 2015 (UTC).


Matthew Lee "Matty" James (born 22 July 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays for Leicester City. His regular position is in midfield, but he can play in defence when required. James began his career with Manchester United, where his brother Reece also came through the youth ranks, but left the club for a spell on loan at Preston North End before joining Leicester on a permanent basis in 2012.

Club career

Manchester United

Born in Bacup, Lancashire, James joined the Manchester United Academy at an early age, and made his first appearance for the under-18 side in October 2005, at the age of 14. His next appearance for the under-18s came just over a year later, when he came on as a substitute for Magnus Eikrem in a Premier Academy League fixture against Manchester City. He made a further eight appearances for the under-18s during the 2006–07 season, before establishing himself as a regular in the team in 2007–08, although he began the season filling in in defence. James scored his first goals in a Manchester United shirt during the 2007–08 season, both of them in the league. After making his first appearance for the reserve team in November 2007, James became a regular for the reserves during the 2008–09 season, while remaining a relative mainstay in the under-18 side. At the end of a season in which he had made 22 appearances for the reserves and 14 for the under-18s, James received his first call-up to the Manchester United senior team on 24 May 2009. Given the number 47 jersey, James was named on the bench for the match, but did not take to the field.[3]

James signed his first professional contract with Manchester United in July 2009,[4] before playing in the 1–0 win over Bolton Wanderers in the final of the 2008–09 Lancashire Senior Cup.[5] Prior to the first team's match against Barnsley in the Fourth Round of the League Cup on 27 October 2009, James was given a new squad number (43),[6] and was named as an unused substitute.[7]

Preston North End (loan)

In February 2010, James followed in the footsteps of Manchester United team-mate Danny Welbeck by signing on loan with Preston North End until the end of the 2009–10 season.[8] He went straight into the Preston first-team for their match against Sheffield United on 9 February 2010, and scored within 10 minutes as his deflected shot from outside the penalty area beat Sheffield United goalkeeper Ian Bennett.[9] James returned to Manchester United at the end of the 2009–10 season, but rejoined Preston on a season-long loan on 2 July 2010.[10]

On 30 December 2010, Sir Alex Ferguson chose to recall Ritchie De Laet, Joshua King and James from their loans at Preston after the sacking of his son. De Laet and King returned immediately, but due to the terms of James' loan, he did not return to Manchester United until 4 January 2011.[11]

Leicester City

2012–13 season

On 15 May 2012, Matty James and his Manchester United team mate Richie De Laet moved to Leicester City in a double transfer, for which the fee was undisclosed. The pair each signed three-year contracts.[12] James, along with De Laet and Jamie Vardy, made his competitive debut for Leicester against Torquay United, scoring his first goal for the club (and Leicester's third of the night) as the Foxes ran out 4–0 winners in the League Cup tie.[13] James added another 3 goals (all in the league) over the course of the season, including one in the 3-2 win against Nottingham Forest on the final day of the season, helping Leicester to the final play-off position.[14] James started both legs of the eventual 3-2 aggregate defeat to Watford in the Championship play-off semi final.

2013–14 season

James found himself starting more games during the 2013–14 season, being in the line-up for Leicester's first 5 league games before being shown the first red card of his career in the 1-2 defeat to Charlton Athletic, after being shown two yellow cards, a decision that left many perplexed.[15] On 8 February 2014, James scored his only goal of the season, helping Leicester come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Watford. James played 35 times in the league as Leicester won promotion to the Premier League, collecting the Championship trophy along the way.

2014–15 season

Having missed the start of the season through injury, James made his first Premier League appearance on 21 September 2014, as a second half substitute in a 5-3 victory against his former club, Manchester United.[16] On 10 January 2015, James picked up the second red card of his career in the 1-0 victory over Aston Villa, he was given a straight red following a strong challenge on Jores Okore and an ensuing altercation with Ciaran Clark that resulted in Clark receiving a second yellow card himself.[17] In a 2–0 win over Southampton on 9 May, James ruptured his anterior ligaments and was ruled out for between six and nine months.[18]

International career

James has played regularly for the England Under-16s and Under-17s sides, and in 2009 he was called up to the Under-19s for the 2009 UEFA European Under-19 Championship.[19] He was named captain and in his first game as skipper, England recorded a 3–2 victory in their opening game against Austria.

Career statistics

As of matches played on 15 May 2016.
Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Other[nb 1] Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Manchester United 2009–10 000000000000
2010–11 000000000000
2011–12 000000000000
Total 000000000000
Preston North End (loan) 2009–10 1820000182
2010–11 1000021121
Total 28200210000303
Leicester City 2012–13 243202120304
2013–14 351104000401
2014–15 270200000290
2015–16 0000000000
Total 86450610000995
Career total 1146508200201299

Notes

  1. Includes other competitive competitions, including the FA Community Shield and the Football League play-offs

Honours

Leicester City

Individual

References

  1. "Premier League clubs submit squad lists" (PDF). PremierLeague.com. Premier League. 2 February 2012. p. 24. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  2. "Matthew James Profile". Preston North End. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  3. Hughes, Ian (24 May 2009). "Hull 0–1 Man Utd". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  4. Coppack, Nick (2 July 2009). "Teen trio turn pro". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  5. Bartram, Steve (17 August 2009). "Reserves: Bolton 0 Utd 1". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
  6. Hibbs, Ben (27 October 2009). "Today at Old Trafford – Tuesday 27 October – 09:01". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
  7. Stevenson, Jonathan (27 October 2009). "Barnsley 0–2 Man Utd". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
  8. "Preston North End set to sign Man Utd's Matthew James". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 8 February 2010. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
  9. "Preston 2–1 Sheff Utd". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 9 February 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
  10. "Manchester United's Matthew James rejoins Preston". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 2 July 2010. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  11. "James Returns To United". pnefc.net. Preston North End FC. 4 January 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
  12. "Agreement reached for United Duo". LCFC.co.uk. Leicester City FC. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  13. "Torquay 0–4 Leicester". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  14. "Nott'm Forest 2–3 Leicester". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 4 May 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  15. "Charlton 2 Leicester 1: Why did the ref send Matty James off?". Leicester Mercury. 2 September 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  16. "Leicester City 5–3 Manchester United". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 21 September 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  17. "Report: Leicester City 1 Aston Villa 0". Leicester City. 10 January 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  18. "Matty James: Leicester City midfielder out for up to nine months". BBC Sport. 14 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  19. "England U19 Players". TheFA.com. The Football Association. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
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