Matty James

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 defense. 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. James signed his first professional contract with Manchester United in July 2009, before playing in the 1–0 win over Bolton Wanderers in the final of the 2008–09 Lancashire Senior Cup. 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…

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. He was named captain and in his first game as skipper, England recorded a 3–2 victory in their opening game against Austria.

As of match played 7 August 2026

James' father, Linton James, played non-league football for Bacup Borough and later worked as assistant manager of the club. His younger brother, Reece James, currently plays for Rotherham United in the EFL League One. He was educated at Fearns Community Sports College. He donated two therapy tilt-in space chairs, worth about £2000, to Fairfield General Hospital where his mother Maxine works as a nurse, in 2020.