Although born in Mansfield, James Perch was on Norwich's books as a schoolboy before joining Notts Forest's academy. Playing either as a right-bak or a centre-back, he made his league debut in 2004 and had made almost 200 appearances by the end of the 2009/10 season. The captain of Forest's first team, he was the subject of a transfer bid by Newcastle in January 2010 which was dismissed as derisory.

James finally signed for Newcastle on a four year deal at the beginning of July 2010

On 3rd July 2013, Perch signed for Wigan on a four year contract for an undisclosed fee rumoured to be £1million. He had played 80 times for Newcastle.

He moved to QPR on 31st July 2015.

After making 79 appearances for QPR, he was released on 8th May 2018. He then signed a two year deal with Scunthorpe on 1st August 2018. Perch made 45 appearances for Scunthorpe in his first season, scoring three goals and being booked 17 times. unfortunately Scunthorpe were relegated to League Two on the final day of the 2018/19 season.

He was released by Scunthorpe at the end of May 2020. He returned to his hometown signing for Mansfield Town on 13th August 2020 on a one year contract.

In October 2012, he was approached by the Jamaica Football Federation, who wanted Perch to play for Jamaica during their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign. Perch is also eligible for Barbados through his father, who was born on the island.