Chambo and the Albion Factor

Exiled Bull is pleased that James Chambers is joining Hereford United.

The James Chamber I recall (more commonly known as Jay or Chambo) was an exciting young versatile footballer.

He and twin brother Adam (now of Walsall) were developed by the Albion Youth Department then solely consisting of John Trewick and Richard O’Kelly. The twins were influenced by their Dingle-loving father but had so much respect for Tucka and Richard O that they refused all offers from Wolverhampton to switch clubs. Adam and Jay are identical twins, other than non-visible-when-dressed birthmarks. They did their best to confuse the club doctor with one twin going in for examinations and the other not at all. There was also the potential to swap girlfriends and swap shirts after one of them had been booked though neither would admit to such activities. Jay is known to have dated Richard Sneekes’ oldest daughter Melissa.

The twins are not tall but made up for their lack of height by their tenacity and sure touch on the ball. Most made first team debuts for WBA in 2000 and both were quickly popular. ‘Local lads made good’ is always a grand selling point, but more importantly, they could play. After a decade has passed, it’s hard to remember which twin did what. Adam was the stronger tackler and was often used in a man marking role. Jay was arguably the quicker of the two and was comfortable playing full back, central defender or as a defensive midfielder. The Chambers boys were introduced to an Albion side featuring Richard Sneekes and Russell Hoult.
There were often rumours that the twins somehow upset club manager Gary Megson just for being twins. It was often said that he insisted they could not train together. Possibly they just weren‘t tall enough for Megson’s liking.

James played a few games in Albion’s promotion season of 2001/2002 and followed that with 9 more during a grim first season in the Premier League. He and Adam were the first twins ever to play together in the Premier League. After collecting a second medal for 16 appearances in the Baggies next promotion season, he and Adam were both released on free transfers. This was a sad end to a 7 year Albion career but at that time, Megson was considered bombproof.

At some point during their Albion career, they jointly bought a house in Sutton Coldfield, just a couple of streets away from Angelo’s, an Italian restaurant then partly owned by Sneekes. It’s an incestuous world, football. Their neighbour is a former workmate of mine who, not realising they were brothers, thought they were having a relationship. Clearly being identical was a clue that simply passed him by....

Eight years on and recovering from injury, who knows whether we’ll get the old Chambo back again. Given all the connections and that Jay is out of contract, it’s easy to envisage a situation that the loan might become permanent.

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