A-Z of Football with James Bree

A is for… Atmosphere

Best atmosphere you’ve played in?

Arsenal at home in the cup last year was top. I think that one. Obviously Wembley as well, but I’ll go with Arsenal.

Saints celebrate victory over Arsenal in last season's FA Cup quarter-final at St Mary's

B is for… Banter

Funniest player you’ve shared a dressing room with?

Harry Cornick at Luton. He’s the best character in the world – I can’t say more than that. He’s a legend!

C is for… Celebration

Favourite goal celebration in football history?

I used to like Robbie Keane’s when I was younger – not that I used to do it, but I used to like his with the little roly-poly.

Robbie Keane's cartwheel, roll and gun celebration became iconic in the 2000s

D is for… Dream

What would be your ultimate football dream?

Win the World Cup with England. That would be top, wouldn’t it?

E is for… Embarrassed

Most humiliating moment?

Getting sent off at Ipswich [for Saints in the 2023/24 promotion-winning season]. That’s the only time I’ve ever been sent off. It was 2-2 at the time, with only a few minutes left, but we ended up losing the game 3-2. It wasn’t great.

Bree (far right) sees red at Portman Road in a painful late defeat in the 2023/24 promotion run-in

F is for… Friend

Best mate in football?

Lloyd Jones at Charlton. I lived with him for about three years when I was with him at Luton, and then we played together again at Charlton, so I’ll go with Lloydy.

G is for… Goal

Best goal you have ever scored?

Cardiff in the cup. The little shinner in the top bins!

H is for… Hardman

Toughest player you have come across?

That’s a tough one. These are the ones you need to think about! The one that comes to mind is Andy Carroll – I remember playing against him when he played for Reading. He was playing centre-half for goal kicks and he must have won about 80 headers. He was a beast.

I is for… Idol

Player you looked up to as a boy?

Steven Gerrard was my favourite player when I was younger. I wanted to be a centre mid and he could just do everything.

J is for… Job

What would you do if you weren’t a footballer?

Probably a fireman. My dad was a fireman, so either that or something to do with sports. My mum was a PE teacher, so maybe one of those.

K is for… Kit

Favourite ever football shirt?

I had an England top when I was younger that I never used to take off. The one with the red cross on the shoulder. That was the one for me.

Steven Gerrard (left) celebrates scoring for England at the 2006 World Cup

L is for… Losing

What’s been the toughest loss of your career?

I lost with Luton in the play-offs. The season before they went up [to the Premier League] we lost in the semis, 1-0 away at Huddersfield in the second leg after we drew 1-1 at home. That was probably the hardest one to take.

M is for… Match

Best match you’ve played in?

I’ve not played in any play-off finals, that’s the worst thing. I’ve been on the bench for all of them! Probably the Arsenal cup game or the Middlesbrough play-off semi-final second leg, one of those two from last season.

N is for… Notable

Football memento you will never give away?

I don’t tend to do shirt swapping with other players, so I’ll say my shirt from my first professional appearance for Barnsley when I was 16, or any of my promotion medals.

O is for… Opponent

Best player you’ve faced?

I thought Alexander Isak was top, for Newcastle when we played them in the Prem. He was a joke.

Alexander Isak scores the second of a quick-fire St Mary's double in 2025

P is for… Pride

Proudest football achievement?

Making my debut, that’s always a big one. Or getting promoted. I’ve had promotions with Barnsley, Villa and here – and Luton got promoted the season I left, so I count that one in my head!

Q is for… Quote

Something someone said that always stuck with you?

I don’t think it’s one that’s necessarily been said to me, but I think a good one is “hard work beats talent if talent doesn’t work hard”. My dad always used to say to me about working hard. I wouldn’t be able to remember a specific quote that he said, but that one probably fits, even if it is a bit bog standard.

R is for… Routine

What does pre-match look like for you?

It’s changed now [since becoming a father], but normally I would wake up at 9.30, have a little bit of breakfast – scrambled egg on toast, something like that – then go off on a little walk, get a coffee, back home, shower, get ready and drive to the game. Then I’ll have my pre-match meal at the stadium, just some chicken pasta, then have a little massage about an hour before the game. I cut my shinpads out of the foam they have in the dressing room – I’ve done that before every game for the last eight years. The lads take the mick out of me because they’re tiny! And then I have an order of doing things, so right shinpad, right sock, left shinpad, left sock, stuff like that.

S is for… Support

Which team did you follow as a boy?

Liverpool.

T is for… Teammate

Best player you’ve played with?

Jack Grealish. John Terry would be a good one, but he was older. I used to come up against him (Grealish) all the time in training, because most of the time I wasn’t playing, so I’d have to mark him. I just used to kick lumps out of him!

Bree played alongside Jack Grealish for two and a half seasons in the Championship

U is for… Unbelievable

Something about you we wouldn’t expect?

I like playing golf and padel, but nothing that unusual. I can usually do alright in any sport. I was a badminton prodigy when I was a kid – I played for Yorkshire. My mum and dad had a team, and I played for them when I was 12. Badminton prodigy, put that in!

V is for… Visitor

Favourite away ground?

I don’t know if it was my favourite one, but the St. James’ Park atmosphere was unreal when we played there. That was my debut, the Carabao Cup semi-final. I’m trying to think of somewhere that I like to go to because I tend to win there, but I’ve played in the Champ for too long so I’ve won and lost everywhere! I used to like playing at Huddersfield, but I can’t pick that after the play-off semi-final.

Bree (bottom right) in action at St. James' Park in the 2023 Carabao Cup semi-final second leg

W is for… Worst

Worst thing about being a footballer?

I’m trying to think of an answer that’s suitable for the programme! Probably living away from home, because I haven’t been home since I was 18. You do get a lot of free time, but it’s not the type of freedom that you can choose – it’s dictated to you by a schedule. Christmas Day would be another example of that.

X is for… X-ray

Worst injury you have suffered?

I had an MCL knee injury when I was at Luton, and then a quad thing after that, so I was out for six months. That was probably the worst one. I came back from the knee, I could sprint but I couldn’t kick a ball further than five yards without screaming in pain, and then something happened to my quad. We still don’t know what it was, but my quad still looks a bit weird now!

Y is for… Youngsters

What piece of advice would you give an aspiring footballer?

Enjoy it as much as you can when you’re first starting out, because you put so much pressure on yourself at the start that you don’t take the big moments in, like your debut – you don’t enjoy it at the time because you’re so nervous. And obviously work hard!

Z is for… Zzzzzz

Whose banter could send you to sleep?

Ben Brereton Díaz, because I was living with him for six weeks over the summer!

Arriving at Staplewood alongside Ben Brereton Díaz (left)

This interview was originally published inside SAINTS, the club’s matchday programme, for the Sky Bet Championship match against Millwall in August. Back issues from the 2022/23 season through to the current campaign are available to buy online.

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