Cameron James

Not to be confused with James Cameron.

Cameron James
Personal information
Full name Cameron Lewis James[1]
Date of birth (1998-02-11) 11 February 1998 (age 26)[2]
Place of birth Chelmsford, England
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[3]
Position(s) Defender
Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Chelmsford City
Number 2
Youth career
2007–2015 Colchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2020 Colchester United 25 (0)
2018 → Chelmsford City (loan) 6 (0)
2018 → Braintree Town (loan) 12 (0)
2018–2019 → Braintree Town (loan) 20 (2)
2019 → Maidstone United (loan) 1 (0)
2020 → Welling United (loan) 10 (2)
2020– Chelmsford City 114 (12)
2023 → Coggeshall Town (loan) 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:30, 5 January 2025 (UTC)

Cameron Lewis James (born 11 February 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender or midfielder for Chelmsford City.

James joined Colchester United's Academy at the age of nine, progressing through the age groups to make his professional debut in May 2016. He joined Chelmsford City on loan in January 2018 and later Braintree Town on loan in the 2018–19 season over two spells. He joined Maidstone United on loan in November 2019 and then Welling United on loan in January 2020. He was released by Colchester in July 2020 before joining Chelmsford City.

Career

Born in Chelmsford,[3] James began his playing career with Colchester United where he had been a member of the Academy since the age of nine.[4] James featured for the Colchester under-18 side for the first time in October 2013 in a 3–1 win over Stevenage in the Youth Alliance Cup.[5] This came in the same season that Colchester's under-18 side won both their Football League Youth Alliance South East league and the national cup.[6]

In July 2015, James and fellow academy graduate Tariq Issa committed themselves to the club by signing four-year professional contracts.[4] He was then named on the bench for a first-team game for the first time on 20 October as an unused substitute in Colchester's 2–1 win over Port Vale.[7]

Caretaker manager Steve Ball handed James his professional debut on 8 May 2016 during Colchester's final game of the season. He was introduced as a 64th-minute replacement for Joe Edwards, who had suffered an injury in a 2–1 defeat against Rochdale at the Colchester Community Stadium.[8]

Ahead of the 2016–17 season, James agreed a new four-year contract with the club just one year into his existing four-year deal.[9] He made his first appearance of the new season on 4 October 2016 as a substitute in Colchester's 2–1 defeat to Southampton U23 in the EFL Trophy.[10] He made his first professional start on 21 February in the U's 1–0 win at home to Wycombe Wanderers, playing the full 90-minutes.[11] In the latter stages of the season, James began to establish himself in the first-team following his first start and clean sheet against Wycombe. He revealed that his preferred position is a sweeper role which gives him "more license with the ball".[12] He ended the season having made 15 first-team appearances.[13]

On 2 February 2018, James signed for hometown club Chelmsford City on loan until the end of the season.[14] He made his debut the following day in a 2–0 victory against Chippenham Town.[15]

On 31 August 2018, James signed for National League side Braintree Town on loan until January 2019.[16] He made his debut on 1 September in Braintree's 1–1 draw at Boreham Wood.[17] He was recalled early from his loan spell in November 2018 after 12 league appearances for Braintree.[18]

Just over a month later, James returned to Braintree Town for a further month's loan.[19] He scored his first senior goal on 29 December with a match winning header 22-minutes from time in Braintree's 1–0 victory at Maidenhead United.[20] His loan was extended again for another month on 18 January 2019.[21]

On 8 November 2019, James joined National League South side Maidstone United on loan for a month.[22]

After his Maidstone loan, James joined Welling United alongside Colchester teammate Diaz Wright on loan for one month on 10 January 2020.[23] He made his debut the next day in a 1–0 defeat to Wealdstone.[24] He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–2 victory against Hungerford Town on 18 January.[25] His loan was extended for a further month on 4 March.[26]

James was one of 16 players to be released by Colchester United in summer 2020.[27]

On 6 August 2020, James returned to Chelmsford on a permanent deal following his release from Colchester.[28] On 2 January 2021, James scored his first goal for Chelmsford in a 4–2 win against former club and rivals Braintree Town.[29] In September 2023, James featured for Coggeshall Town after suffering an injury at the end of the 2022–23 season.[30] Ahead of the 2024–25 season, James was announced as Chelmsford's new captain.[31]

Career statistics

As of match played 22 February 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Colchester United 2015–16[32] League One 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2016–17[13] League Two 14 0 0 0 0 0 1[a] 0 15 0
2017–18[33] League Two 7 0 0 0 1 0 3[a] 0 11 0
2018–19[34] League Two 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2019–20[35] League Two 3 0 0 0 0 0 1[a] 0 4 0
Total 25 0 0 0 1 0 5 0 31 0
Chelmsford City (loan) 2017–18[36] National League South 6 0 – – 0 0 6 0
Braintree Town (loan) 2018–19[34][36] National League 32 2 1 0 – 0 0 33 2
Maidstone United (loan) 2019–20[36] National League South 1 0 2 0 – 0 0 3 0
Welling United (loan) 2019–20[36] National League South 8 2 – – 0 0 8 2
Career total 72 4 3 0 1 0 5 0 81 4
  1. ^ a b c Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy

Honours

Colchester United U18

References

  1. ^ "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/07/2015 and 31/07/2015" (PDF). The Football Association. 31 July 2015. p. 18. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  2. ^ Cameron James at Soccerbase
  3. ^ a b "Colchester United". FootballSquads. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Cameron James & Tariq Issa sign Colchester United deals". BBC Sport. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  5. ^ Waldron, Jonathan (9 October 2013). "In-form U's youngsters maintain their perfect start". Daily Gazette. Colchester. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  6. ^ a b "Newsletter 34" (PDF). The Football League. 14 April 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  7. ^ "Colchester United 2–1 Port Vale". BBC Sport. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  8. ^ "Colchester United 1–2 Rochdale". BBC Sport. 8 May 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  9. ^ "Colchester United: Cameron James & Tariq Issa extend Colchester deals". BBC Sport. 4 July 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
  10. ^ "Colchester United 1–2 Southampton U23". Sky Sports. 4 October 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2016.
  11. ^ "Colchester United 1–0 Wycombe Wanderers". BBC Sport. 21 February 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  12. ^ Marston, Carl (12 April 2017). "Cameron James believes that Colchester United can beat Doncaster and also make the play-offs". Green'Un. Ipswich. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  13. ^ a b "Games played by Cameron James in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  14. ^ "Clarets sign U's defender on-loan". Chelmsford City F.C. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  15. ^ Lee, Matt (3 February 2018). "Chelmsford City 2–0 Chippenham Town". The National League. Archived from the original on 5 February 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  16. ^ Marston, Carl (31 August 2018). "U's defender signs on loan for Braintree Town". Green'Un. Ipswich. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  17. ^ "Boreham Wood 1–1 Braintree Town". BBC Sport. 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  18. ^ Plummer, Matt (20 November 2018). ""That's the beauty of Cam. He can play in a variety of roles" - Colchester United boss John McGreal hails versatile Cameron James". Daily Gazette. Colchester. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  19. ^ Hudson, Matt (21 December 2018). "Cameron Returns To Braintree". Colchester United FC. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  20. ^ "Maidenhead United 0–1 Braintree Town". BBC Sport. 29 December 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  21. ^ Hudson, Matt (18 January 2019). "Cameron Extends Braintree Loan". Colchester United FC. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  22. ^ Gregory, David (8 November 2019). "James Heads Out On Loan". Colchester United FC. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  23. ^ Gregory, David (13 January 2020). "Duo Head to Welling". Colchester United FC. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  24. ^ "WEALDSTONE VS. WELLING UNITED 1 - 0". Soccerway. 11 January 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  25. ^ "WELLING UNITED VS. HUNGERFORD TOWN 3 - 2". Soccerway. 18 January 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  26. ^ Gregory, David (4 March 2020). "Young Duo Extend Loan Spells". Colchester United F.C. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  27. ^ Gregory, David (28 April 2020). "Young U's Set To Depart". Colchester United F.C. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  28. ^ Berry, Chris (6 August 2020). "Cameron James Agrees Terms". Chelmsford City F.C. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  29. ^ "Chelmsford City 4–2 Braintree Town". Chelmsford City F.C. 2 January 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  30. ^ Coggeshall Town F.C. [@CoggeshallTown] (9 September 2023). "Our first change of the afternoon: ON: Cameron James OFF: Jude Spearing" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  31. ^ "New captain and vice captain announced". Chelmsford City F.C. 18 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  32. ^ "Games played by Cameron James in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  33. ^ "Games played by Cameron James in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  34. ^ a b "Games played by Cameron James in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  35. ^ "Games played by Cameron James in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  36. ^ a b c d "C. James". Soccerway. Retrieved 22 October 2018.