James Chester

James Chester
Chester lining up for Wales in 2016
Personal information
Full name James Grant Chester[1]
Date of birth (1989-01-23) 23 January 1989[2]
Place of birth Warrington, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[3]
Playing position Centre back
Club information
Current team
 Aston Villa
Number 5
Youth career
0000–2007 Manchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2011 Manchester United 0 (0)
2009 → Peterborough United (loan) 5 (0)
2009 → Plymouth Argyle (loan) 3 (0)
2010–2011 → Carlisle United (loan) 18 (2)
2011–2015 Hull City 156 (7)
2015–2016 West Bromwich Albion 13 (0)
2016– Aston Villa 96 (8)
National team‡
2014– Wales 33 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:46, 30 August 2018 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:18, 11 October 2018 (UTC)

James Grant Chester (born 23 January 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Championship club Aston Villa and the Wales national team.

Chester began his career with Manchester United but made only one appearance for the club. He had spells on loan at Peterborough United, Plymouth Argyle and Carlisle United before joining Hull City in January 2011 on a permanent contract. He spent three-and-a-half years there before signing for West Bromwich Albion in 2015. After only one year with West Brom, Chester joined Championship club Aston Villa in the summer of 2016. He made his debut for the Welsh senior team in June 2014 and has gone on to play at UEFA Euro 2016, helping his country to make it to the semi-final of a major international tournament for the first time in its history.

Club career

Manchester United

Chester was born in Warrington, Cheshire.[2] He began his career with his local club, Winwick Athletic, where, at the age of five, he was already playing in the club's under-9s team. At the age of eight, he joined Manchester United, and signed a trainee contract at the age of 16 in July 2005. He went straight into the club's under-18s team, making 17 appearances in the 2005–06 season. He also got his first taste of reserve-team football on 21 February 2006, when he was named as an unused substitute for a 4–1 away win over Everton. He continued in the under-18 side in 2006–07, and scored his first goal in a United shirt on 9 December 2006, scoring the opening goal in a 3–1 away defeat by Manchester City. He made his debut for the reserve team on 15 February 2007, helping to hold Bolton Wanderers to a 0–0 draw. At the end of the season, he played in the teams for both the FA Youth Cup and Manchester Senior Cup finals. However, the teams lost both finals, losing to Liverpool on penalties in the former and to Manchester City in the latter.

In July 2007, Chester signed his first professional contract with United.[2] In 2007–08, he cemented his place as a regular in the reserve team, making 24 appearances in all competitions as the team won both the Manchester Senior Cup and the Lancashire Senior Cup, and finished in third place in the Premier Reserve League North. His consistent performances and on-field leadership earned him the reserve-team captaincy for 2008–09. After being named as a substitute for the first team's 1–0 win over Bolton Wanderers on 17 January 2009,[4] Chester was again selected as a substitute for the League Cup semi-final second leg against Derby County. With United 3–0 up at the time, Chester came on as a 67th-minute substitute for Gary Neville. Although Derby pulled two goals back, United ended up winning the match 4–2, meaning that they won the tie 4–3 on aggregate and qualified for the 2009 League Cup Final.[5]

Loan moves

On 2 February 2009, Chester joined League One club Peterborough United – managed by Alex Ferguson's son, Darren – on a one-month loan.[6] He made five appearances for the Posh before returning to Manchester United on 2 March.[7] Towards the end of the season, along with Tom Cleverley and Corry Evans, Chester was nominated by reserve team manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær for the Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year award.[8]

On 18 September 2009, Chester joined Championship club Plymouth Argyle on a three-month loan along with his Manchester United teammate David Gray.[9] However, in his third appearance for the Pilgrims, Chester suffered cartilage damage that would rule him out of action for 10–12 weeks, beyond the scheduled end of his loan spell. He therefore returned to Manchester United on 13 October 2009.[10]

On 3 August 2010, Chester joined League One club Carlisle United on loan until 3 January 2011, after impressing in a trial match against Hibernian on 1 August.[11] He made his competitive debut on 7 August, starting at centre back in Carlisle's 2–0 home win over Brentford on the opening day of the league season.[12] Over the course of his loan spell, Chester scored four goals for Carlisle in 23 appearances in all competitions, including the winning goal in Carlisle's 3–2 FA Cup second round win over Tamworth.[13]

Hull City

2010–11

Chester playing for Hull City in 2011

On 17 December 2010, Chester expressed an interest in staying at Carlisle beyond the end of his loan contract,[14] but the transfer window brought with it talk of Chester making a transfer to Championship club Hull City, with Hull manager Nigel Pearson going public on 3 January with his interest in the defender.[15] The next day, Hull had a bid believed to be worth around £300,000 accepted by Manchester United, and Chester underwent a medical on 6 January.[16] The transfer was completed on 7 January, with Chester signing a three-and-a-half-year contract.[17] He made his debut in the 2–0 home win against Barnsley on 15 January 2011.[18] Chester scored his first goal for the club in the 2–2 draw against Leeds United at the KC Stadium on 1 February 2011.[19] Chester adjusted well to the Championship, putting in several strong performances at the heart of defence and occasionally in central midfield.

2011–12

Chester enjoyed a strong year in his second season at Hull, playing almost every game under managers Nigel Pearson and Nick Barmby in central defence, forming a successful partnership with Jack Hobbs. This partnership was for a long period the basis of the tightest defence in the league. Chester finished the season as runner-up in the club's player of the year awards.[20]

2012–13

Under new manager Steve Bruce, Chester quickly became accustomed to playing as part of a three-man defence in the team's new system, alongside a combination of Abdoulaye Faye, manager's son Alex Bruce, Paul McShane, and Jack Hobbs. Chester scored his first goal of the season in a 3–2 victory away to Birmingham City.[21] On 26 June 2013, Chester signed a new three-year contract with Hull.[22]

2013–14

Chester made his Premier League debut on 18 August 2013 at Stamford Bridge in a 2–0 away defeat to Chelsea. Five games into his debut season as a first-team player in the Premier League, Chester was ruled out for an initial six-to-eight weeks after pulling his hamstring against Newcastle United on 21 September 2013.[23] After two months out injured,[24] he made his return in Hull's 2–0 defeat away to Arsenal on 4 December.[25] Chester scored his first goal of the 2013–14 season in the fourth minute of Hull City's Boxing Day match against Manchester United; however, he later scored a second-half own goal to give Manchester United a 3–2 victory.[26] On 17 May 2014, he started in the 2014 FA Cup Final against Arsenal and scored to put his side 1–0 up, although Hull went on to lose 3–2.[27]

West Bromwich Albion

On 29 July 2015, Chester joined Premier League club West Bromwich Albion on a four-year contract for a reported fee of £8 million.[28][29] Chester made his West Brom debut on 10 August appearing in a 3–0 defeat to Manchester City. On 25 August, Chester started for West Brom in a League Cup match against Port Vale, both sides failed to score and the game went to penalties, Chester scored the decisive penalty enabling West Brom to progress to the next round of the competition.[30]

Aston Villa

On 12 August 2016, Chester signed a four-year contract with newly relegated Championship club Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee, believed to have been more than the £8 million West Brom paid Hull.[31]

International career

Chester playing for Wales in 2016

Born in England, Chester qualifies to play for Wales as his mother was born in Rhyl.[32] He made his debut for Wales on 4 June 2014, starting in a friendly against the Netherlands.[33][34]

Chester played all six games in Wales's journey to the semi-final of Euro 2016, playing on the right-hand side of the team's central defensive three.[35][36]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 25 August 2018
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Manchester United 2008–09[37] Premier League 000010000010
2009–10[38] Premier League 000000000000
2010–11[39] Premier League 00————00
Total 000010000010
Peterborough United (loan) 2008–09[37] League One 50————50
Plymouth Argyle (loan) 2009–10[38] Championship 30————30
Carlisle United (loan) 2010–11[39] League One 1822110—3[lower-alpha 1]1244
Hull City 2010–11[39] Championship 211————211
2011–12[40] Championship 4420010——452
2012–13[41] Championship 4412020——481
2013–14[42] Premier League 2415100——292
2014–15[43] Premier League 23200104[lower-alpha 2]0—282
Total 1569714040—1718
West Bromwich Albion 2015–16[44] Premier League 1304020——190
Total 13 0 4 0 2 0 — — 19 0
Aston Villa 2016–17[45] Championship 4531000——463
2017–18[46] Championship 4640010—3[lower-alpha 3] 0504
2018–19[47] Championship 5 1 0 0 0 0 — — 5 1
Total 9681010003 01018
Career total 2911614290406132419
  1. ↑ Appearances in EFL Trophy
  2. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. ↑ Appearances in EFL Championship play-offs

International

As of match played 14 November 2017[48]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Wales 201450
201530
2016130
201780
Total290

Honours

Hull City

References

  1. ↑ "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Aston Villa" (PDF). English Football League. p. 2. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
  3. ↑ "James Chester Premier League Player Profile". Premier League. Archived from the original on 18 March 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  4. ↑ Hassan, Nabil (17 January 2009). "Bolton 0–1 Man Utd". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
  5. ↑ Bevan, Chris (20 January 2009). "Man Utd 4–2 Derby (4–3 agg)". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
  6. ↑ "Man Utd's Chester moves to Posh". BBC Sport. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  7. ↑ "Chester returns to Old Trafford". Peterborough United F.C. 2 March 2009. Archived from the original on 6 March 2009. Retrieved 2 March 2009.
  8. ↑ Bostock, Adam (1 April 2009). "Reserve Player of the Year". Manchester United F.C. Archived from the original on 4 April 2009. Retrieved 1 April 2009.
  9. ↑ "Graychester". Plymouth Argyle F.C. 18 September 2009. Archived from the original on 22 September 2009. Retrieved 18 September 2009.
  10. ↑ "Chester returns". Plymouth Argyle F.C. 13 October 2009. Archived from the original on 17 October 2009. Retrieved 13 October 2009.
  11. ↑ "Carlisle United sign Manchester United's James Chester". BBC Sport. 3 August 2010. Retrieved 3 August 2010.
  12. ↑ "Carlisle 2–0 Brentford". BBC Sport. 7 August 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  13. ↑ "Carlisle 3–2 Tamworth". BBC Sport. 27 November 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  14. ↑ "James Chester keen on Carlisle United stay". BBC Sport. 17 December 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  15. ↑ "Defender Andy Dawson agrees new Hull City extension". BBC Sport. 3 January 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  16. ↑ "Manchester United accept Hull City's James Chester bid". BBC Sport. 4 January 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  17. ↑ "Hull City sign Manchester United defender James Chester". BBC Sport. 7 January 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  18. ↑ "Hull 2–0 Barnsley". BBC Sport. 15 January 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
  19. ↑ "Hull 2–2 Leeds". BBC Sport. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  20. ↑ "Hull City: Player of the year Robert Koren says foundations have been laid". Hull Daily Mail. 24 April 2012. Archived from the original on 19 June 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  21. ↑ "Birmingham 2–3 Hull City". BBC Sport. 17 November 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  22. ↑ "Chester signs new contract". Hull City A.F.C. 26 June 2013. Archived from the original on 27 December 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  23. ↑ "Hamstring fears confirmed". Hull City A.F.C. 25 September 2013. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  24. ↑ Richards, Alex (3 December 2013). "Hull City defender James Chester could return for suspended Curtis Davies as Tigers head to Arsenal". Daily Mirror. London. Retrieved 26 December 2013.
  25. ↑ Magowan, Alistair (4 December 2013). "Arsenal 2–0 Hull City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  26. ↑ Chase, Graham (26 December 2013). "Hull City 2–3 Manchester United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  27. ↑ McNulty, Phil (17 May 2014). "Arsenal 3–2 Hull City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  28. ↑ "Defender pens four-year deal". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 29 July 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  29. ↑ "James Chester: West Bromwich Albion sign £8m Hull defender". BBC Sport. 29 July 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  30. ↑ "West Bromwich Albion 0–0 Port Vale". BBC Sport. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  31. ↑ "James Chester: West Brom defender signs for Aston Villa". BBC Sport. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  32. ↑ "Wales: Hull City defender James Chester pledges future to Wales". BBC Sport. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  33. ↑ "Wales: Chester called up for Wales". BBC Sport. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  34. ↑ Pope, Bruce (4 June 2014). "Netherlands 2–0 Wales". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  35. ↑ uefa.com. "UEFA EURO 2016 - History - Wales – UEFA.com". UEFA.com. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  36. ↑ Wathan, Chris (26 June 2016). "James Chester: Wales' unheralded hero having a Euro 2016 to be proud of". northwales. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
  37. 1 2 "Games played by James Chester in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  38. 1 2 "Games played by James Chester in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  39. 1 2 3 "Games played by James Chester in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  40. ↑ "Games played by James Chester in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  41. ↑ "Games played by James Chester in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  42. ↑ "Games played by James Chester in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  43. ↑ "Games played by James Chester in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  44. ↑ "Games played by James Chester in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  45. ↑ "Games played by James Chester in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  46. ↑ "Games played by James Chester in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  47. ↑ "Games played by James Chester in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  48. ↑ "Chester, James". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  49. ↑ "J. Chester". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
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