Signed from: Hinckley United
Brakes Debut: 13/08/11 @ Hemel Hempstead Town - Southern League Premier Division (Sponsored by Zamaretto) - Drew 1-1
Appearances: 436
Goals: 13
2011/12: 43 starts, 2 sub appearances, 1 goal
2012/13: 46 starts, 3 sub appearances, 2 goals
2013/14: 40 starts, 2 sub appearances, 1 goal
2014/15: 43 starts, 2 sub appearances
2015/16: 44 starts, 1 sub appearance, 2 goals
2016/17: 50 starts, 1 sub appearances, 3 goals
2017/18: 33 starts, 3 sub appearances
2018/19: 46 starts, 1 goal
2019/20: 42 starts, 1 sub appearance, 2 goals
2021/22: 18 starts, 1 sub appearance, 1 goal
2022/23: 12 starts, 3 sub appearances
James Mace must surely rate as one of Paul Holleran’s best signings for the club. Joining initially on trial in the summer of 2011, he is now the clubs' record appearance makers since the renaissance in 2000, having passed Josh Blake's record last season. He is also third in the all time appearances list behind Dennis Taylor and Syd Hall. James would probably be far closer to those two had he not suffered an ACL injury in our final game of the curtailed 2019/20 season at Guiseley. There was never any doubt that he would return, and after playing around 20 games in the Southern League Premier Division at Bromsgrove Sporting last season after his rehabilitation he came back into the Leamington side following the deparature of Kyle Morrison, making 19 appearances and capped off his comeback season with the clinching third goal in the Birmingham Senior Cup Final at the Villa Park home of his beloved Aston Villa.
He did not make as many appearances as he would have liked in 2022/23, and decided to leave the club at the end of the season with his name in the history books as our record appearance holder in the modern era.
At home across the defensive positions, James spent the majority of his time at Leamington at right back and in central defence. His previous clubs include Rushall Olympic, Coleshill Town, Bedworth United, Atherstone Town and Hinckley United.