• Football
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • Home
  • Football
    • England
    • Transfer News
    • Premier League
    • Champions League
    • Lionel Messi
    • Cristiano Ronaldo
    • EA FC 25
    • Wrexham
  • Boxing
    • Tyson Fury
    • Anthony Joshua
    • Oleksandr Usyk
    • Mike Tyson
    • Jake Paul
    • Logan Paul
  • UFC
    • Dana White
    • Conor McGregor
    • Khabib Nurmagomedov
    • Jon Jones
    • Paddy Pimblett
    • Joe Rogan
  • Other Sport
    • Athletics
    • Formula 1
    • MMA
    • Motorsport
    • NBA
    • Darts
    • NFL
    • Snooker
    • Wrestling
    • Tennis
    • Cricket
    • Golf
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
David James once played up front for Manchester City and it was utter chaos

Home> Football

Updated 17:55 28 Dec 2022 GMTPublished 15:45 28 Dec 2022 GMT

David James once played up front for Manchester City and it was utter chaos

Stuart Pearce put David James upfront for Manchester City in a crunch clash against Middlesbrough.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

David James played his entire career as a goalkeeper but on 17 May 2005 he turned into a target man striker in a quite ridiculous cameo.

James was capped 53 times for England and turned out for the likes of Liverpool, Aston Villa, West Ham, Manchester City and Portsmouth in the Premier League.

But it was only with City where he showed his outfield qualities. On the final day of the 2004/05 Premier League season, Stuart Pearce deployed James as a striker in an attempt to secure qualification for the UEFA Cup.

With just two minutes of normal time remaining and City losing by one goal, 'Psycho' lived up to his name by replacing midfielder Claudio Reyna with second-choice 'keeper Nicky Weaver and throwing England's No.1 up top to "unsettle" the Middlesbrough backline.

£5 million striker Jon Macken was sat on the bench but there was James, with an outfield 'No.1' shirt already printed, taking his gloves off and heading up to the opposite end of the pitch.

Advert

Image: Alamy
Image: Alamy

It nearly paid off after City as James played his part in City being awarded a last-gasp penalty, only for Robbie Fowler to see his spot-kick saved by Mark Schwarzer.

Having only really found out at half-time that it was a possibility, before being thrust into the opposition box in the dying embers, James had no time to prepare whatsoever.

"Put it this way, the kit man mentioned at half-time that he had printed a shirt up for me, and I was like, 'What do you mean?', and he hinted that there may be a chance that I would go up front," James recalled in an interview with The Athletic.

Advert

"So the first I knew about it was half-time and that was from the kit man, so when the board went up, I think it was 15 minutes to go, I saw Nicky Weaver coming on and I wasn't sure if it was me coming off. I didn't know anything about it.

"I've spoken to Pearcey about it a few times since, and he's said that he anticipated that I would play as a target man, so we could put it in the mixer, but I think I played more as a No 10; I didn't know where I was supposed to be.

"Had I been told the day before that there was any chance, I would have stayed around for an extra hour at the end of training and just practised everything that I would have needed to do as an outfield player."

Image: Alamy
Image: Alamy

Advert

Pearce's tactical mastery was outdone in 2019 when Chinese Super League outfit Beijing Renhe played with THREE goalkeepers.

Mou Pengfei was deployed in his usual role between the sticks, with Renhe finishing the 5-0 defeat with a dream strike partnership of 'keepers Peng Liu and Chen Li.

On 28th December, watch Leeds United vs Manchester City in the Premier League live. Watch for free with a 30-day trial to Prime!

Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports

Topics: Manchester City, Middlesbrough, Premier League

Josh Lawless
Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and WWE. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has covered two WrestleMania events for SPORTbible.

X

@joshlawless_

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

9 hours ago
12 hours ago
13 hours ago
  • 9 hours ago

    FIFA has banned five football kits for life that you'll never see again

    Club World Cup finalists Chelsea and PSG have been hit by FIFA’s ban on sleeve advertising rule

    Football
  • 12 hours ago

    Xabi Alonso has found the next Florian Wirtz for Real Madrid without spending anything

    The new Real Madrid boss may have uncovered a gem in the squad who could be the next Florian Wirtz.

    Football
  • 12 hours ago

    Chelsea set their asking price for Nicolas Jackson as shock club register interest and it looks like a typo

    Enzo Maresca has named his price to sell Nicolas Jackson this summer, amid links to a European giant.

    Football
  • 13 hours ago

    Rodrygo has already told Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea which club he wants to play for next season

    The Brazilian star has been linked with a move away from Real Madrid this summer.

    Football
  • Experts give thoughts on whether Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal will be given trophies if Man City lose 115 charges case
  • Premier League could be 'thrown into chaos' as bombshell verdict reveals Man City have 'won legal battle'
  • Man City 115 charges update given as 'concerns' claim made about Premier League club and final verdict
  • Cole Palmer reveals blunt WhatsApp message he sent Man City teammates once Chelsea move was confirmed