There was one ruse in particular of which Nigel James was fond when he was trying to teach his children – budding footballers all in Reece, Joshua and Lauren – how to behave.
He would be driving from their family home in Mortlake near Richmond, south-west London, to wherever they were training or playing that day, with the siblings squeezed together in the back. Then the call would come through once he had his captive audience right where he wanted them.
‘If I really wanted to get a message across without being overpowering, I would sometimes set up a conversation with a friend, to have him call me while we were in the car,’ Nigel tells Daily Mail Sport. ‘We’d be talking about a player, and he’d tell me about that player, saying something like: “He’s signed with a club but he’s got no future. The gaffer doesn’t fancy him because he’s lazy and he’s not sociable and he’s like this and like that…”’
Except, this player did not exist. It was all subtly staged; a theatrical tactic so his children knew how they had to be if they wanted to forge a career in professional football. It worked. Reece is now Chelsea captain with 26 England caps. Lauren, 24, has played for Arsenal, Manchester United and now Chelsea, has 40 England caps of her own and won the Euros in 2025.
‘They’re little things that they picked up over the years,’ Nigel continues. ‘They heard the success which works and they heard the failures which don’t work. Then it’s down to choices. Choices that they had to make. Which path they wanted to go down.
‘Every manager that Reece and Lauren have played under, they’ve got really close to the manager, for that manager to feel they’re one of their special players. You’re showing your ability, but you’ve also got to have that something where someone likes you and your personality.’
‘You make lots of decisions to get your kids where they are,’ Nigel James, dad of Reece, says. ‘Thank God, I got those decisions right’
Reece is pushing to be fit for England’s World Cup quarter-final against Norway on Saturday
Reece, Nigel and Lauren together at Stamford Bridge – both children now play for Chelsea
Thomas Tuchel is a fan of Reece’s, we know that. After working together at Chelsea, Tuchel called him up for his first World Cup with England, remaining in touch with the 26-year-old towards the end of last season when he was nursing his 10th hamstring injury since December 2020.
‘My fingers were crossed, hoping he was going to get through that,’ Nigel says of that issue between March and May, and now, a nation is crossing its fingers, too.
James Jnr is pushing to prove he is fit enough to feature in this Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final against Norway, with the right back position having proven problematic for Tuchel.
He started the first two group games versus Croatia (a 4-2 win) and Ghana (a 0-0 draw), only to report tightness in his hamstring to England’s medical team and for a scan to show he would miss their next two matches ‘at least’. It sparked immediate scrutiny of Tuchel’s decision to replace the injured Tino Livramento with a central defender in Trevoh Chalobah rather than a natural full back, such as Real Madrid’s Trent Alexander-Arnold.
In James’ absence, Tuchel started Jarell Quansah at right back against Panama (a 2-0 win), then Djed Spence with a cameo from Declan Rice against DR Congo (a 2-1 win). For Mexico (a 3-2 win, as if anyone needed reminding), Tuchel reverted to Quansah, though his red card means he will miss Norway, unless the FA try to use their Trump card.
James made the bench for that Mexico victory, and maybe it was the adrenaline, but the England right back appeared surprisingly spry amid the celebrations at the Azteca in his sprinting and jigging.
If brought back in to the starting lineup for Norway, Nigel will have full faith that his son’s mind is in the proper place. It is considered one of Reece’s biggest attributes – the ability to bounce back after a blip. You are not named Chelsea captain by luck. It takes an elite mentality. Nigel helped mould that, and not only through fake calls in the car.
‘You make lots of decisions to get them where they are,’ Nigel says. ‘When they’re young, they’re looking to you to guide them, so as a parent, you make the decisions. Thank God, I got those decisions right. There have been many talented players where maybe some parents – or some agents – haven’t got it right. There’s talent, but talent doesn’t take you all the way through.
Thomas Tuchel is a huge fan of James’, having worked with him at Chelsea when he was manager there
James started England’s first two group games versus Croatia and Ghana, only to report tightness in his hamstring to the medical team
James has suffered 10 hamstring injuries in the last five and a half years
‘Growing up, they were always surrounded. There was a variety of ages of friends in and out of the house, and we had a good-sized garden, but the most impressive thing in Mortlake was you had the fields which were literally at the back of our house, the size of two football pitches.’
Nigel’s coaching background was beneficial as they had all the equipment they needed. His children could head to that field with a bag of 25 balls, with Reece crossing for Joshua to head or volley, one after another.
There was a little tough love from Nigel, though he never wanted to be seen as a pushy parent, as he adds: ‘Instead of me being too demanding, and there was a demand, there were times that I pulled myself away and set a challenge to them all – and the winner got 20p.’
Keepie-uppies, around-the-worlds, crossbar challenges, one-v-ones, whatever it was. It was fun, but competitive, neither of the two brothers ever letting their little sister win. Lauren had to work if she wanted her reward, with Nigel regularly having to nip out to change a £20 note into 20p coins, just to stay on top of paying up.
‘Reece was the one out of the three of them that, from a very young age, loved money,’ Nigel remembers, chuckling. ‘He loved to save. He loved new boots. In his spare time, he used to go in goal, and he used to want to buy the best goalie gloves.
‘He loved cricket. His passion, when he saved his money, was to get new goalie gloves and cricket bats. So from a very young age, he knew how to own a contract!’
Nigel is a trusted mentor within football – Chelsea have asked him to help with Dastan Satpayev, their exciting new arrival from Kazakhstan who turns 18 next month, for example – and he had to overcome his own challenges in his younger years. If nothing else, he has been able to pass down those experiences to the fledglings he now works with, and also Reece, Joshua and Lauren.
‘I gave up playing,’ he explains. ‘I had a motorbike accident, came back, had a manager at Aldershot, and he wasn’t particularly nice. With the setbacks I’d had, and when your mind is fragile, he sort of broke me.’
Nigel now has his own academy, Nigel James Elite Coaching. While he insists enjoyment is essential, standards also need setting
Sadly, James, 24, is no stranger to the medical department having suffered various injuries during his career
But he seemed in good shape when he joined in the celebrations after England’s victory over Mexico
That was a catalyst for Nigel moving into coaching. He now has his own academy – Nigel James Elite Coaching – and is supporting a national campaign called Play Their Way. While he insists enjoyment is essential, standards also need setting.
‘I want to set a discipline with it, because without having strong discipline, you’re going to create problems for yourself,’ Nigel says, giving an example: ‘If we start training at 6 o’clock, it’s not “turn up at 6 o’clock”.’
Reece was heartbroken to miss the last World Cup in Qatar. He believed he had overcome his knee issue in time, but Gareth Southgate did not want to take the risk. Tuchel has done, and there has been a setback, yet his return could solve England’s right back conundrum. If England are to reach the final, they would play Saturday, Wednesday, Sunday. That could be a testing schedule on the hamstring, but it is suspected Reece would be willing to take the risk if allowed.
‘He’s waited a long time for it,’ Nigel says of Reece and this first World Cup. Let’s hope he’s able to resume it on Saturday.
Nigel James is supporting Play Their Way, a national campaign funded by Sport England, which is calling on coaches to adopt child-first coaching to give children more positive and enjoyable experiences of sport.
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