James Chester
|
Chester lining up for Wales in 2016 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Grant Chester | ||
| Date of birth | 23 January 1989 | ||
| Place of birth | Warrington, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2007 | Manchester United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2007–2011 | Manchester United | 1 | (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) |
| 2016–2020 | Aston Villa | 119 | (12) |
| 2020 | → Stoke City (loan) | 16 | (0) |
| 2020–2022 | Stoke City | 49 | (0) |
| 2022–2023 | Derby County | 7 | (0) |
| 2023–2024 | Barrow | 38 | (2) |
| 2024–2025 | Salford City | 0 | (0) |
| Total | 424 | (23) | |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2014–2018 | Wales | 35 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:27, 17 July 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:20, 18 November 2018 (UTC) | |||
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James Grant Chester (born 23 January 1989) is a former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Starting at Manchester United, he later went on to play for the likes of Hull City, West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa and Derby County. He also won 35 caps for the Wales national football 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. Chester helped Villa gain promotion to the Premier League after winning the 2019 EFL Championship play-off final. He joined Stoke City on loan in January 2020 before making it permanent in August 2020. He would leave Stoke in July 2022 and joined League One Derby County, however left in 2023 after an injury hit spell. In September 2023, he signed a deal with League Two Barrow. At the start of the 2024–25 season, Chester signed for League Two Salford City, but retired in February 2025 after difficulties with injuries.
He made his international debut for the Wales in June 2014. Chester played at UEFA Euro 2016 where Wales progressed to the semi-final of a major international tournament for the first time in the team's history.