Fashion Passion, Looking Up To Drogba & Bond with Hamilton
- Released
This Sports Conversation represents a new series in which leading personalities from sports and entertainment join presenter Kelly Somers for candid and detailed discussions about the beautiful game.
We'll explore mindset and motivation, covering defining moments, career highlights and personal reflections. This series reveals the person behind the athlete.
The Chelsea defender began practicing with Chelsea at six years old and - having progressed through the youth system and into the senior squad - is now team leader.
The defender introduced himself to the Stamford Bridge faithful in style, netting on his debut in a 7-1 victory over the opposition in September 2019.
Now 25, his professional achievements so far include making his international bow against the Welsh team in 2020, winning the Champions League with his club in 2021, and being named team skipper in 2023.
Nevertheless, things have not always gone smoothly, with a series of injuries affecting him over the past four seasons.
James sat down with Kelly Somers to talk about his professional peaks, the Brazilian's impact, and his friendship with seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton.
The defender discusses Thiago Silva's impact on his career
The interviewer: Initial inquiry: identity, where you're from, and your preferred coffee?
Reece James: I am Reece James, I was raised in the area, near Richmond - I expect more people will know that area. My coffee is a flat white.
Kelly: Was it consistently a that particular coffee?
James: No, it started with, like, vanilla lattes and similar drinks.
The presenter: Let's start by discussing soccer. What does football mean to you?
Reece: Essentially, from a little kid, it was practically my entire focus in school. I wasn't the most academic student, and I just loved the sport.
Kelly: Your first recollection of participating? Is this difficult to respond to because it represented a big part of your early years and development?
James: Not particularly, simply due to my memory is so bad. My earliest memory was probably, I don't know, attending matches of my brother play. He's my senior by two years than me, and he also participated as well.
The host: It was significant in your household, correct, because your father was so heavily involved? He's a soccer trainer too, right? Share with me a bit about that.
The athlete: So we were three children growing up. We were all football mad, and he obviously was a coach as well, and we used to train extensively with him.
The presenter: Do you remember a lot of those sessions? Because I learned that starting from the age of four, you practiced outdoors and he was doing drills with you in the back garden.
Reece: Yeah, I remember - the training began early. Fortunately, they proved beneficial for myself and my sister [the club and national team forward his sister].
The interviewer: Tell me about your first ever team that you played for as a child, its name, and what can you remember?
Reece: I don't remember much, to be honest. It was the local team in Kew. I believe I was there for about twelve months. From that point that I was scouted for the professional club.
Kelly: And you weren't a backline player at initially, correct? Talk to me about your positional journey and its development...
Reece: I started off as a striker, and then eventually moved to the wing, left wing, right side, and eventually to midfield, and then eventually at right-back, and I hated it at the time.
The presenter: What caused your dislike for it?
The athlete: Since I consistently desired to play midfield. There was less involvement with the ball as frequently but one day everything fell into place and I became a defender since.
Reece James won the Champions League in that year when Chelsea defeated Manchester City by one goal in the final in Porto
The interviewer: You said you began as an attacker - who served as your idol?
James: My idol was [the legendary] Drogba. I grew up as a supporter growing up and he was the athlete I admired.
Kelly: Can you think of a pivotal moment in your career - an experience that has influenced your development and the player you have become?
Reece: I'd likely identify the loan spell. Transitioning between academy and first-team football is most challenging and that is likely what many athletes transitioning upwards find challenging.
Kelly: You're talking about Wigan, naturally. Why was Wigan the ideal team for you at that period? It was distant from everything you knew in London - why did it work so well?
Reece: The first thing is that I featured week in week out, which helps. I acquired a lot of experiences - I moved away from my companions and family and had to grow up fast. Playing on a consistent basis assisted a lot.
The interviewer: Which individual exerted the greatest influence on your career?
Reece: I would say [the experienced Brazilian] Thiago Silva. He is nearly sufficiently experienced to be my father and has competed at the highest level for so long. He always tried to assist me from the minute he arrived and still does, presently he is departed [having left Chelsea in that year].
The host: How specifically would he assist you?
Reece: These were small pieces of advice away from games. On the pitch, he occasionally see things that I perceived alternatively and try and paint a different picture.
Kelly: It was undoubtedly pleasant to meet him recently [at the Club World Cup]?
Reece: It was wonderful to reconnect with him. I'm pleased that his club did well in the tournament [they lost in the semi-finals to the champions his team]. It is consistently positive to see him.
Kelly: If you could go back and experience again one match in your professional history, what would you choose?
Reece: If the outcome is going to be the same - it would be the Champions League [final].
The host: Other than victory, what made it exceptional about the occasion
