James was born in
Gorseinon and began his career with local side
Swansea City. He made his debut at the end of the
1972–73 season which ended with Swansea being relegated to the
Fourth Division. They slowly recovered and James' 16 goals in
1976–77 and 17 in
1977–78 helping the Swans gain promotion back to the
Football League Third Division. He then scored a career best of 21 in
1978–79 as Swansea gained back to back promotions. After two seasons in the Second Division they completed a remarkable rise gaining promotion to the
First Division for the first time in the club's history. James took to the top flight well scoring 14 goals in 46 appearances as Swansea finished in sixth position. However the following season saw Swansea relegated back to the Second Division and James joined
Stoke City. He played in 46 matches for Stoke in
1983–84 scoring seven goals but with the team struggling in
1984–85 he was sold to
Queens Park Rangers £100,000. After a season with Leicester he moved back to
Swansea City, and later played for
Bradford City and
Cardiff City. With Cardiff, he helped them to win the
Third Division in
1992–93, his last season in the English
Football League after 20 years. After his time with Cardiff he moved into
Non-League football with
Merthyr Tydfil. == Legacy ==