Jordan Anthony James (born 2 July 2004) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for club

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

and the Wales national team. James made his senior debut for Birmingham City as a 17-year-old on 2 November 2021. Born in England to a Welsh father, he represented both Wales and England at youth levels. He made his senior international debut for Wales in March 2023.

Early life

James was born in

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

, where he attended

Whitecross Hereford High School Whitecross Hereford High School is a mixed secondary school located in Hereford in the English county of Herefordshire. Previously a community school administered by Herefordshire Council, Whitecross Hereford High School converted to acad ...

. His father, Tony James, played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

as a defender for

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...

, Newport County and

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...

. James joined

at pre-Academy level and took up a two-year scholarship in July 2020. According to the then head of professional development phase Mike Dodds, James was "technically very good and versatile, ndcan play in both offensive and defensive areas of the pitch." Dodds also highlighted the commitment shown by James and his family in making a round trip of more than from their Hereford home for training in Birmingham three times a week for nine years.

Club career

James was a member of the Birmingham under-18 team that finished as runners-up in the Northern Section of their league, and came from behind against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

's U18 in the national semi-finals only to lose to a last-minute goal. As well as playing for the under-18s, he started several matches for Birmingham's under-23 team in the 2021–22

Premier League 2 The Professional Development League is a system of youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Football Association via the Elite Player Performanc ...

. He trained occasionally with the first team, and was given a

squad number In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar (with such naming differences varying by sport and region) is the number worn on a player's uniform, to ...

and named in the matchday squad for the

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

match at home to

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

on 2 November. With only a few minutes left, Birmingham led 3–0, and the 17-year-old James came on in place of

Jordan Graham Jordan Tyler Graham (born 5 March 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a right winger for club Leyton Orient. A product of Aston Villa's academy, where he spent 12 years, Graham played league football for Ipswich Town, Bradford Ci ...

to make his senior debut. Manager

Lee Bowyer Lee David Bowyer (; born 3 January 1977) is an English football manager and former professional player. As a player, he was a midfielder who featured for Charlton Athletic, Leeds United, West Ham United (two spells), Newcastle United, Birmingha ...

said "He came on today, ran around, didn't give the ball away, competed and when he passed, he passed it with a purpose." With both Ryan Woods and

Gary Gardner Gary Gardner (born 29 June 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Birmingham City. A product of the Aston Villa Academy, Gardner made his senior debut while on loan at Coventry City. He first pl ...

suspended, James made his first start against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

on 27 November, partnering Ivan Šunjić in central midfield in a 3–4–1–2 formation. He played the whole game, headed

Kristian Pedersen Kristian Majdahl Pedersen (born 4 August 1994) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Bundesliga club 1. FC Köln and the Denmark national team. He plays predominantly at left back but can also play at centre back. H ...

's cross into the path of

Lukas Jutkiewicz Lukas Isaac Paul Jutkiewicz (born 28 March 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Birmingham City. He previously played for Swindon Town, Everton, Plymouth Argyle, Huddersfield Town, Motherwell, Coventr ...

who scored the 81st-minute winner, and was the ''

Birmingham Mail The ''Birmingham Mail'' (branded the ''Black Country Mail'' in the Black Country) is a tabloid newspaper based in Birmingham, England but distributed around Birmingham, the Black Country, and Solihull and parts of Warwickshire, Worcestershire ...

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

. On the same day, James signed his first professional contract.

International career

James was eligible to represent both England, where he was born, and his father's native country of Wales. He came through the 2018 Cymru Cup, a training and pre-selection camp for 14-year-olds, to make his under-15 debut for Wales during the 2018–19 season. He played for Wales U16 in 2019–20, attended under-17 training camps in 2020–21, and made his under-18s debut against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in September 2021. James was called up to the England under-20 squad for matches against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in March 2022, and appeared in both games as a very late substitute. James was named in a 26-man initial squad for Wales under-21's friendly against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in September 2022. However, following an injury to

Joe Allen Joseph Michael Allen (born 14 March 1990) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL Championship club Swansea City. Allen began his career at Swansea City, making his first-team debut in January 2007 at age 16. He ...

, James was instead added to the senior

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

squad for the Nations League matches against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

. He did not play, but he and fellow uncapped player Oli Cooper were named to travel as backup to the senior Wales squad at the

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wo ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

in November. On 25 March 2023, aged 18, James made his senior international debut for Wales in stoppage time of a Euro 2024 qualifier away to

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, with the hosts leading 1–0. A minute later, fellow debutant Nathan Broadhead equalised.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Jordan 2004 births Living people Footballers from Hereford English footballers Welsh footballers Wales men's youth international footballers Wales men's international footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders Birmingham City F.C. players English Football League players English people of Welsh descent