‘Out the window’ - Reece James’ family affair after battling brother in Sheffield Wednesday v Bristol City

The James brothers both took to the field at Ashton Gate on Saturday as the Owls fell to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Robins, but it was the older one – by two and a half years – who came out on top thanks to a goal from Rob Dickie.

Down on the touchline after the game the pair could be seen talking to their dad, who played semi-professionally, and though Wednesday’s James was disappointed not to come away from it with anything, the 29-year-old says there is never any strain on their relationship.

“We do talk to each other in the build-up, but we make sure we keep it on personal terms!” he told the local media. “There’s no talk about tactics or anything like that. It’s brilliant though, brilliant for my family to be here and see it - it’s great to play against each other, but last time I actually played in midfield against him so we were both clattering each other…

“That time I think in the first minute there was a 50/50 challenge and I think my dad had his heart in his mouth there… Obviously we’re brothers, but we’re representing different clubs so we put that aside for the game and the relationship goes out of the window.

“We touch base afterwards, and encourage each other to do the best that we can in our careers - so whoever wins it’s more about helping each other rather than anybody bragging. As soon as the whistle goes we’re back to being brothers, and we’ll look at each other’s game. Like I say, we’re brothers but that does get put aside for the 90 minutes plus…

“We’re both really supportive, we speak every day, and we’re best friends. There was a time when we were both out with injury - he was out with an ACL injury, I was out with an ankle one - and at that time I lived with him as well.

"It was his wife and my wife helping us both as we were basically stuck to the sofa. It was good to go through it together though, and help each other on.”

It’s not that long until the two potentially meet again, on February 24^th, and after a draw in their first meeting in 2021 and a victory for Matty over the weekend, Reece will be hoping that things get levelled out at Hillsborough once the James family gets together once again to watch the pair in action.