There was a proud moment for James Henry yesterday as he came off the bench to make the 600th senior appearance of a long and distinguished career.
James made his league debut on loan at Nottingham Forest, coming on as a sub for Kris Commons in a 2-0 win over Cheltenham Town at the City Ground in March 2007.
Having made his Reading debut at home to Liverpool in the League Cup the following season he enjoyed loans at Bournemouth and Norwich City before a move to Millwall where he made well over 100 appearances.
In October 2013 he joined Wolves, again playing over 100 games, and then after a season at Bolton he joined the U’s in the summer of 2017.
“It was a wonderful feeling to get that milestone out of the way” he told us after helping the U’s beat Cambridge in dramatic style. “I knew I needed that one more game to get to 600 and to achieve it in front of a sold out crowd and for the team to win in the way we did made it a really special day.
“I wasn’t expecting them to announce it when I came on but I thank the club for that and I thank the fans for the reception they gave me. The win was the most important thing but it will be nice to be able to look back and say I played 600 games
“I hit 500 career games here at Oxford and then passed 200 for the club so it’s nice to keep ticking things off. I’ve had to be patient this season. I was rehabing all summer after a hamstring injury, got myself fit and did the whole pre season but then got an achilles injury, followed by a foot injury. So it is only now that I’ve really got up to speed again.
“It took a couple of games but it has been great to be involved again. There are a lot of games coming up and I’m looking forward to Derby on Friday now and hopefully playing a part again.
“We have worked hard to get ourselves into this position in the league and we don’t want to waste the great opportunity we have given ourselves. They don’t come around very often so you have to keep working and keep the progress going that you see in everything the club is doing right now.”