Manjrekar James

Manjrekar James (born August 5, 1993) is a professional soccer player who plays as a centre-back for Forge FC in the Canadian Premier League. Born in Dominica, he has represented the Canada national team at international level.

Manjrekar James
Personal information
Full name Manjrekar James[1]
Date of birth (1993-08-05) August 5, 1993[2]
Place of birth Roseau, Dominica
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Forge FC
Number 5
Youth career
2003–2009 North York Hearts-Azzuri
2009–2012 Sigma FC
2012–2014 Pécs
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2015 Pécs 16 (1)
2015–2016 Diósgyőr 17 (0)
2016–2018 Vasas 39 (2)
2018–2021 Midtjylland 14 (0)
2018–2019 → Fredericia (loan) 17 (1)
2021 → Lamia (loan) 7 (0)
2021–2022 Vejle 13 (0)
2022 → Chornomorets Odesa (loan) 0 (0)
2022–2023 Chornomorets Odesa 13 (1)
2023– Forge FC 26 (0)
International career‡
2013 Canada U20 1 (0)
2015 Canada U23 3 (0)
2015– Canada 17 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of October 7, 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of January 7, 2020

Early life

James was born in Roseau, Dominica. His father was born in Pichelin, and his mother was born in Grand Bay. James and his parents moved to North York, Ontario, Canada, when he was nine years old.[3] At age 10, James signed for North York Hearts-Azzuri youth soccer club.[3] At age 16, James signed for Sigma FC of the Ontario Soccer League.[4] At age 18, James went on trial with RCD Mallorca of La Liga.[5] Although he had a successful trial at the club, James was not signed because of strict visa laws for foreign players in Spain.[4] Following his trial at Mallorca, James went on a 10-day trial with SC Paderborn 07 of the 2. Bundesliga. During the trial, James went directly into training with the first team but was ultimately not signed.[6]

Club career

Pécsi

In mid April 2013, James went on trial with Pécsi MFC of the Nemzeti Bajnokság I. After several months of training with the reserve squad, James was offered a contract. James made his professional debut March 18, 2014, in a Ligakupa, the Hungarian league cup, match against Videoton FC. James made his league debut for Pécsi on October 18, 2014, coming on as a late substitute for Roland Frőhlich and playing two minutes in a 2–0 defeat to Ferencvárosi.[7][8] At the end of the season, Pécs were relegated to the Hungarian fourth division due an unstable financial situation. James and many other first team players were subsequently released.

Diósgyőri

After leaving Pécs, James signed with fellow Hungarian club Diósgyőri VTK on August 25, 2015.[9]

Vasas

James moved to fellow Hungarian side Vasas on June 8, 2016.[10] Prior to the 2017–18 Vasas season, James was criticized by the club for playing internationally with Canada during the 2017 Gold Cup, while Vasas played in the first round of the Europa League qualifiers.[11][12] He started regularly for Vasas in 2017–18.

Midtjylland

James joined Danish Superliga side Midtjylland on June 12, 2018, signing a four-year deal. He was immediately loaned to Danish 1st Division Fredericia for the 2018–19 season.[13] James made his debut for Fredericia on July 29 against Næstved,[14] and scored his first goal for the club on August 5 against Roskilde.[15] In January 2019, Midtjylland recalled him from Fredericia.[16] He made his competitive debut for Midtjylland on March 13, starting in a 2018–19 Danish Cup match against Kolding IF. He made his league debut five days later on March 17 against SönderjyskE. Having featured in nine first team games in his first two years with the club, in March 2020 James signed a contract extension with Midtjylland until December 2023.[17]

Loan to Lamia

On January 25, 2021, James joined PAS Lamia 1964 on loan for the rest of the season.[18]

Vejle

On July 1, 2021, it was announced that James had signed with Vejle Boldklub.[19][20] On February 22, 2022, he was loaned out to Ukrainian club FC Chornomorets Odesa for the rest of 2022.[21]

Forge FC

On March 10, 2023, James signed with Forge FC of the Canadian Premier League. This move reunited James with manager Bobby Smyrniotis who had previously coached him as a youth at Sigma FC.[22][23]

International career

Youth

James was called into camp with the Canada U18 squad in December 2011. In 2012 and 2013, he was again called into several camps with the U20 team in preparation for the 2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship in Mexico. In the tournament, James made one appearance, a 4–2 defeat to the United States in which he received a red card ejection.[3]

Senior

James was called up to the senior team for the first time in May 2014 for friendlies against Bulgaria and Moldova in Austria on May 23 and 27, respectively.[24] James received his second call up to the national team for a January 2015 camp and friendlies against Iceland.[25] He made his debut for Canada as a starter in the first of the two friendlies on January 16, 2015.[26] James became cap-tied to Canada on June 11, 2015, against his native Dominica. Prior to the match, James received harassment from Dominica fans.[27] James scored his first goal for Canada against Honduras in San Pedro Sula on September 2, 2016.[28]

Career statistics

Club
As of October 7, 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Playoffs Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Pécsi MFC 2013–14 Nemzeti Bajnokság I 002000-20
2014–15 1608000-240
Total 1601000000260
Diósgyőri VTK 2015–16 Nemzeti Bajnokság I 1700000-170
Vasas 2016–17 Nemzeti Bajnokság I 1104100-151
2017–18 2820000-282
Total 392410000433
FC Midtjylland 2018–19 Danish Superliga 501000-60
2019–20 501000-60
2020–21 401010-60
Total 140301000180
FC Fredericia (loan) 2018–19 1st Division 1713000-201
Lamia (loan) 2020–21 Super League Greece 702100-91
Vejle 2021–22 Danish Superliga 1303000-160
Chornomorets Odesa (loan) 2021–22 Ukrainian Premier League 000000-00
Chornomorets Odesa 2022–23 Ukrainian Premier League 1310000-131
Forge FC 2023 Canadian Premier League 260300010300
Career total 136425210101636

International
As of match played January 7, 2020
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Canada 201530
201661
201751
201820
201900
202010
Total172
As of match played June 13, 2017
Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each James goal.
List of international goals scored by Manjrekar James
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 September 2, 2016Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano, San Pedro Sula, Honduras6 Honduras1–01–22018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 June 13, 2017Saputo Stadium, Montreal, Canada11 Curaçao1–12–1Friendly

References
  1. "40-Player National Team Roster: 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup: Canada" (PDF). CONCACAF. p. 2. Retrieved May 20, 2019 – via Bernews.
  2. FIFA.com
  3. "CSA Profile". Canada Soccer Association. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
  4. "Manjrekar James Signs with PMFC of Hungarian First Division". Sigma Sports Solutions. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
  5. "Sigma FC Defender, Manjrekar James Off to Mallorca". Sigma Sports Solutions. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
  6. "Manjrekar James-Next Stop Germany". Sigma Sports Solutions. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
  7. "FTC-PMFC-MATIAS 2-0" (in Hungarian). PMFC. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  8. "FERENCVÁROS VS. PÉCSI MFC 2 - 0". Soccerway. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
  9. "Manjrekar James a DVTK játékosa". August 25, 2015.
  10. "A Vasas játékosa lett James Manjrekar". June 8, 2016.
  11. "Vasas-Executive: James abandoned the club". 24.hu. July 4, 2017.
  12. "Vasas: "sauna experience" in Israel, five missing from Beitar". Nemzeti Sport. June 28, 2017.
  13. "FC MIDTJYLLAND HENTER CANADISK LANDSHOLDSSPILLER". June 12, 2018.
  14. "Nederlag til Næstved i sæsonåbningen". July 29, 2018.
  15. Andreas Dyhrberg Andreassen (August 5, 2018). "FC Fredericia er i gang: Sejrede ude over Roskilde FC". Fredericia Avisen.
  16. "FCM er meget tilfredse med FCF-samarbejde". January 2, 2019.
  17. "FC Midtjylland Forlaenger Med StaerkForsvarsspiller". FC Midtjylland. March 21, 2020.
  18. MANJREKAR JAMES RYKKER TIL GRÆKENLAND I FORÅRET, fcm.dk, January 25, 2021
  19. "Vejle Boldklub køber forsvarsspiller i FC Midtjylland – Vejle Boldklub". vejle-boldklub.dk (in Danish). July 1, 2021.
  20. Hoffskov, Ole (July 1, 2021). "Officielt: Vejle handler i FC Midtjylland". Tipsbladet.dk (in Danish).
  21. Vejle Boldklub udlejer Manjrekar James, vejle-boldklub.dk, February 23, 2022
  22. Jacques, John (March 10, 2023). "Manjrekar James Comes To The Hammer". Northern Tribune. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
  23. Tierney, Mitchell (March 10, 2023). "Forge FC sign Canadian international defender Manjrekar James". Canadian Premier League. Retrieved March 17, 2023.
  24. "Canada MNT sets up camp ahead of Bulgaria, Moldova matches". Canada Soccer. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
  25. "Clear plan for Canada MNT ahead of Iceland friendlies". Canada Soccer. Retrieved January 15, 2015.
  26. "Canada MNT outsmarted by Iceland, prepares for rematch". Canada Soccer Association. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
  27. "RedNation Interview Series: Manjrekar James". Red Nation Online.
  28. Larson, Kurt (September 2, 2016). "Canada falls 2-1 to Honduras in World Cup qualifier".
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