Extremely gifted central midfielder who is also one of the fittest players at the club.

Joined the Royals from Arsenal in early 2001 for an undisclosed fee that was widely reported to be around £400,000, and was named the official player of the season in 2002/3 following some dominant performances in the team's march to the play-off semi-finals.

James chose Arsenal over West Ham at a very early age, and stayed at Highbury for almost 10 years.  He was loaned to Cardiff for a month in December 2000, and then turned down the offer of two further years at Highbury to move to Reading on a permanent basis, and scored on his home debut against Rotherham.

The 2005/6 season saw him go on a brilliant run of form. He played in 44 of the Royals' league fixtures, hitting the target on seven occasions.

Continued to be an integral part of our team in both years in the Premiership, and scored a great goal in arguably our best Premier League result, the 3-1 home win over Livepool. Signed a new contract in summer 2007 that ties him to the Club until 2010.