James Robert Perch is an English professional footballer who plays for Scunthorpe United. Perch is versatile and has covered many positions in both defence and across midfield. However, he is usually deployed at right back.
Perch was born in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire and began his career at Nottingham Forest. He made 22 league appearances in his début season as Forest were relegated from the rebranded Football League Championship. His first professional goal came in the same season, scoring in the 63rd minute against Doncaster Rovers in the Third Round of the Football League Cup. After his first season, he signed a new contract to extend his stay a further 2 1/2 years. He made over 200 appearances for Forest before moving to newly promoted Newcastle United.
Newcastle United
On 5 July 2010, Perch signed for Newcastle United for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £1 million, on a four-year deal. Forest had rejected a transfer bid from Newcastle in January of the same year. He made his debut for Newcastle against Manchester United on 16 August 2010 in a 3–0 defeat. On 18 September 2010, he set a new Premier League record by being the first player ever to receive five yellow cards in his first five games in the league. His only goal for Newcastle came in a 4–3 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Premier League.
On 3 July 2013, Perch completed a move to recently relegatedFA Cup holders Wigan Athletic, signing a four-year contract with the club. The transfer fee was undisclosed, but was estimated to be around £750,000. Perch made his league debut for Wigan on 3 August 2013, in a 4–0 away victory over Barnsley. He scored his first goal for the club on 9 March 2014, in a 2–1 win against Premier League Manchester City, helping holders Wigan to the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the second year in a row.
On 31 July 2015, Perch signed for Championship side Queens Park Rangers on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee. Perch made his competitive QPR debut in the first game of the 2015-16 Championship Season which resulted in a 2–0 defeat against Charlton Athletic, he played the whole game. On 6 April 2018, it was announced that Perch would leave the club at the end of the 2017–18 season.
Scunthorpe United
He joined Scunthorpe United in August 2018, signing a two-year contract.
