Kingsley Tyrone James (born 17 February 1992) is an English former football player and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. A former

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

youth team In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future i ...

captain, he switched to

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

in summer 2011. He was

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

ed out to

Chasetown Chasetown is a village in the town of Burntwood in Staffordshire, England. It is split between the civil parishes of Burntwood and Hammerwich. History Chasetown developed in the mid 19th century as a coal mining village. At first the village wa ...

in October 2011. He joined

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 'Th ...

on loan in January 2013. Port Vale were promoted out of

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

in 2012–13, and he left the "Valiants" to play for Hereford on a permanent basis. He represented

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 ...

at semi-professional level. He switched to Chester in June 2014 and then FC Halifax Town in July 2015. He played for Halifax in their

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

FA Trophy final victory over

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

, before he joined

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was wound-up after a High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 ...

in July 2016. He played in the Macclesfield's defeat at the

2017 FA Trophy Final The 2016–17 FA Trophy Final was the 48th final of the Football Association's cup competition for teams at levels 5–8 of the English football league system. The match was contested between Macclesfield Town and York City. The final of the FA ...

, and then returned to Chester in June 2017. He spent the second half of the 2017–18 campaign on loan at Barrow after Chester were unable to pay his wages. He signed with

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is a town in metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-western suburb of Leeds. It sits in th ...

in July 2018, and played for the club in the 2019 West Riding County Cup final. He joined

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

in May 2019. He switched to Hyde United in June 2020 and was loaned out to Farsley Celtic in November 2020.

Club career

Sheffield United

James began his career as a

player at

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club

, after joining at the age of ten he went on to captain the likes of

Kyle Naughton Kyle Naughton (born 17 November 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right back for club Swansea City. Naughton was a product of Sheffield United's academy before breaking into their first team in 2008, transferring to T ...

and

Kyle Walker Kyle Andrew Walker (born 28 May 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club Manchester City and the England national team. Walker started his career at his boyhood club Sheffield United which he had join ...

in the

Kevin Blackwell Kevin Patrick Blackwell (born 21 December 1958) is an English former professional football goalkeeper who since retiring as a player has worked as a coach and a manager. He is currently the manager of Thai League 1 club Nakhon Ratchasima. Ear ...

handed him his first team début in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

First Round 2–0 defeat by

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

on 11 August 2010 – he was replaced by

Jamie Ward Jamie John Ward (born 12 May 1986) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Ilkeston Town where he is player-manager. He has represented the Northern Ireland national team. Born in Birmingham he began his career with his home ...

on 66 minutes. This would prove to be his only appearance for the club, and he and teammate Phil Roe followed former United

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Micky Adams Michael Richard Adams (born 8 November 1961) is an English former professional footballer and football manager. As a player, he was a full back, and made a total of 438 league appearances in a nineteen-year professional career in the English ...

side

in July 2011. Adams pursued the youngster despite having refused to offer him a new

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...

as United manager.

Port Vale

He missed the start of the 2011–12 season due to a knee injury. He joined

of the

Northern Premier League Premier Division The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Division ...

on 20 October. He scored on his Chasetown début in the FA Trophy, then followed this up with two goals on his league début at Marine. He played a further five games without scoring, before returning to

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

in December. James made his Port Vale deébut on 7 January 2012, replacing Gareth Owen 63 minutes into a 3–0 defeat at

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

. He was given his first start against

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

at the

New Meadow New Meadow, also known as Montgomery Waters Meadow for sponsorship purposes, is a stadium situated on the southern outskirts of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, between the districts of Meole Brace and Sutton Farm, and close to the A5. It serves the ho ...

on 27 March, but the match was abandoned after 64 minutes due to a fire caused by the failure of the

floodlight A floodlight is a broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial light. They are often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is being held during low-light conditions. More focused kinds are often used as a stage ...

s. He agreed to sign a new one-year deal with the club in June 2012. He hoped to establish himself in the centre of midfield in the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season following the departure of Anthony Griffith. James filled in at centre-back for 45 minutes against

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

at Sixfields on 27 October, after a catalogue of injuries and suspensions left only James and

Joe Davis Joseph Davis (15 April 190110 July 1978) was an English professional snooker and English billiards player. He was the dominant figure in snooker from the 1920s to the 1950s, and has been credited with inventing aspects of the way the game is ...

as the two players with any experience of the position. He provided an

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

for a

Tom Pope Thomas John Pope (born 27 August 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre forward for side Congleton Town. A Crewe Alexandra Academy graduate, he turned professional with the club in 2005 after impressing at non-leag ...

goal in a 4–1 win over

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their ho ...

on 20 October, his second appearance of the season. He won his first start for the club on 20 November, in a 4–0 win over

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

Hereford United

On 28 January 2013, he joined

Martin Foyle Martin John Foyle (born 2 May 1963) is an English former professional footballer and manager who is the Head of Recruitment at club St Mirren. In his 20-year playing career he played 533 League games, scoring 155 goals. As a manager, he took ...

on a one-month loan deal. He made eight Conference National starts for the "Bulls", and his loan spell was extended until the end of the

campaign. He became a key member of the first team, and scored his first goal for the club on 1 April, in a 5–2 win over Tamworth at

Edgar Street Edgar Street is a football stadium in Hereford and was the home of Hereford United Football Club from the club's formation in 1924 until December 2014, when the club was wound up. It is now the home of Hereford FC, a phoenix club formed to rep ...

. He played 21 games for Hereford, before returning to Vale in time to see the club promoted into

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

. He was not offered a new contract at the end of the season and was released as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. After leaving Port Vale, James began training with Hereford in July 2013, and signed a one-year contract the following month. He made 23 appearances in the 2013–14 campaign.

Chester

James signed a one-year contract with Steve Burr's Chester in June 2014. He scored three goals in 46 appearances during the 2014–15 campaign, and elected to leave the "Seals" following a strong first half and finish to the season which attracted interest from clubs in the

English 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 Engl ...

Halifax

James turned down a two-year contract from Chester to move to a club closer to his Barnsley home, and in July 2015 joined

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

side

FC Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

. Halifax were forced to pay Chester £8,000 compensation with a 20% sell-on clause following a tribunal. He scored 11 goals in 57 appearances across the 2015–16 campaign as Halifax were

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

in 21st-place, one point short of safety. He did though play at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

in the FA Trophy

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

, coming on as a 74th-minute substitute for

Scott McManus Scott Harrison McManus (born 28 May 1989) is an English people, English association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), defender for Nuneaton Borough F.C., Nuneaton Borough. Playing career Prestwich Heys McManus ...

as Halifax beat

1–0.

Macclesfield Town

James was sold to

for an undisclosed fee in July 2016, and signed a one-year contract. He made 48 appearances across the 2016–17 campaign, including in the

, where Macclesfield were beaten 3–2 by

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

Return to Chester

In June 2017, James rejected Macclesfield's offer of a new deal and instead re-signed with Chester after agreeing to a two-year contract; he was the third Macclesfield player to move to the

Deva Stadium Deva Stadium is an association football stadium which is the home of Chester F.C., the effective successor club to the liquidated Chester City F.C., Chester City. The stadium straddles the England-Wales border at Sealand, Flintshire, Sealand, o ...

that summer. However the "Seals" struggled to pay his wages due to financial difficulties, and on 16 February he was sent on loan to divisional relegation rivals Barrow. He made a good impression at

Holker Street Holker Street ( known as the SO Legal Stadium for sponsorship purposes), is a sports stadium in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. As well as being a football ground, it has also been used for motorcycle speedway.Jamie Day. He proved to be a key player for

Adrian Pennock Adrian Barry Pennock (born 27 March 1971) is an English former association football, footballer who played for Norwich City F.C., Norwich City, Molde FK, AFC Bournemouth, Gillingham F.C., Gillingham and Ebbsfleet United F.C., Gravesend & Northfl ...

's "Bluebirds", who managed to avoid relegation at the expensive of parent club Chester. Speaking before the match between Chester and Barrow towards the end of the campaign, James said that "My sole focus is on Barrow, that's where I'm playing at the minute. Whatever has happened with Chester, it's not personal, it's just business". His contract with Chester was cancelled by mutual consent on 4 July. Manager Anthony Johnson praised James for accepting the settlement on his contract, which had been taking up a significant portion of the club's wage budget.

Guiseley

On 10 July 2018, James signed with

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Syst ...

side

. On 22 September, he scored a first-half

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

as the "Lions" recorded a 4–0 victory over Staveley Miners Welfare in the second qualifying round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. He went on to play for Guiseley in their FA Cup second-round defeat to League One side

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

, televised on

BT Sport BT Sport is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe and BT Group, they first launched on 1 August 2013. The channels are based at the former International Bro ...

. He scored six goals in 40 appearances across the 2018–19 campaign, as Guiseley went on to reach the final of the West Riding County Cup, which they lost to Ossett United. He left Guiseley in May 2019.

Gainsborough Trinity

On 22 May 2019, James joined Northern Premier League Premier Division side

; assistant manager Ross Hannah described the signing as a "big coup" for the "Holy Blues". As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in England, the 2019–20 season was formally abandoned on 26 March, with all results from the season being expunged.

Hyde United

On 10 June 2020, James signed with

Hyde United Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England. Formed in 1919, they were renamed Hyde F.C. between 2010 and 2015 as part of a sponsorship deal with Manchester City.David McGurk David Michael McGurk (born 30 September 1982) is an English Manager (association football), football manager and former professional Football player, player who played as a centre-back. He played in the Football League for Darlington F.C., Darl ...

said that "he works with me and John with our

ing company so we know he's the exact type of character we want". On 6 November 2020, James arrived on loan at Farsley Celtic in the National League North, who were able to continue to play whilst Hyde were shut down during the second national coronavirus lockdown. He never made an appearance at

The Citadel The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, commonly known simply as The Citadel, is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Established in 1842, it is one of six senior military colleges in the United States. ...

however and the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season was soon curtailed for both Hyde and Celtic. He retired on 1 September 2021.

International career

James scored on his debut for the

England C The England national football C team (previously known as the England National Game XI and the England Semi-Pro national team) is the football team that represents England at non-league level. Formed in 1979 as the England Non-League team, it f ...

team against Estonia under-23's on 18 November 2014.

Coaching career

James has coached youth players at Sheffield United, Port Vale and Hereford United. On 19 November 2021, he joined

as a first-team coach. On 16 November 2022, manager

John Askey John Colin Askey (born 4 November 1964) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club York City. He is the son of former Port Vale player Colin Askey. Able to play as a winger or as a ...

was sacked and James left the club shortly afterwards.

Personal life

Although many of his friends and family were

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

fans, James supported Manchester United as a boy. He married Emily on 21 May 2016, the day before he played for Halifax in the

2016 FA Trophy Final The 2015–16 FA Trophy Final was the 47th final of the FA Trophy. The match was contested by FC Halifax Town and Grimsby Town. Grimsby Town were beaten finalists in 2013, but it was FC Halifax Town's first final and their first visit to Wembley ...

Career statistics

Honours

Port Vale *

third-place promotion:

F.C. Halifax Town * FA Trophy:

Macclesfield Town * FA Trophy runner-up:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

Guiseley * West Riding County Cup runner-up: 2019

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Kingsley 1992 births Living people Footballers from Rotherham People educated at Wath Academy English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Sheffield United F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Chasetown F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Chester F.C. players FC Halifax Town players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Guiseley A.F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Farsley Celtic F.C. players English Football League players Northern Premier League players National League (English football) players England men's semi-pro international footballers Association football coaches York City F.C. non-playing staff