Christopher Paul James (born 4 July 1987) is a professional football player who currently plays for Klubi 04 in the

Kakkonen Kakkonen or II divisioona is the third level in the Finnish football league system, league system of Finnish football and comprises 36 Finland, Finnish football (soccer), football teams. The II divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1 ...

, the third highest level of the Finnish football league system. He is also the assistant coach of

HJK Helsinki Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki, or simply as HJK, is a professional football club based in Helsinki, Finland. The club competes in the Finnish Veikkausliiga. Founded in 1907, the club has spent most of its history i ...

's U14 team. James represented

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

at international level. James is predominantly a

central 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 ...

deep-lying playmaker A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

, but is also able to play very well in offensive roles.

Club career

James' first professional contract was with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

side Fulham. Although he never made a senior first-team appearance, he made many appearances for the reserve side. James was offered a one-year contract extension by Fulham in 2007, however James declined the offer to pursue first team opportunities elsewhere. In February 2008, he signed a two-year contract with

Tampere United Tampere United is a Finnish football club from the city of Tampere. The club plays in Kakkonen, the third highest level of football in Finland. The club had a team in Veikkausliiga, the premier football league in Finland, until the end of the ...

. Even though the 2008 season wasn't a very successful one for his team, James debut season was impressive, in 17 league games he scored three goals and also provided eight assists in his breakthrough season. He represented

in their four Champions League Qualifiers scoring two goals. James was signed by

Football 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 ...

side Barnet in March 2010 on a free transfer subject to international clearance. James made his first team debut as a late substitute in a 3–1 home victory over Chesterfield on 5 April 2010. James was released at the end of the season due to change of management at Barnet. After his departure from his third

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

side FC Haka, James was signed by second-tier American club Colorado Springs Switchbacks F.C. on a free transfer on 12 January 2017. He was officially released from the club after making only four appearances due to injuries on 27 July 2017 On 19 November 2017, he returned to New Zealand and played for

Eastern Suburbs AFC Eastern Suburbs Association Football Club is a professional Association football club based in the suburb of Kohimarama in Auckland, New Zealand. The club competes in the Northern League (New Zealand), Northern League. Club history Eastern Sub ...

of ISPS Handa Premiership On 9 March 2018, he moved to Finland for KTP of

Ykkönen ''Ykkönen'' ( Finnish for 'Number One'; sv, Ettan) is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system (after the Veikkausliiga), although it is the highest league managed by the Football Association of Finland. The teams also pla ...

. After he arrived to the team, he played 90 mins and scored in the next day versus

PEPO Lappeenranta PEPO Lappeenranta (abbreviated PEPO) is a football club from Lappeenranta in Finland. The club was formed in 1958 and their home ground is at the Kimpinen Sports Centre. The men's first team currently plays in the Ykkönen (Second Division). ...

in 2017–18 Finnish Cup

Later career

In January 2019, James received his UEFA B Coaching Licence. As part of his personal development, James reached out to

New Zealand national under-20 football team The New Zealand men's national under-20 football team, more commonly known as the Junior All Whites, is controlled by New Zealand Football and represents New Zealand in international Under 20 or youth football competitions. The 25,000 capacity ...

head coach Des Buckingham, to join the preparation camp in the lead up to the FIFA U-20 World Cup where he helped the coaching staff out. Before that, he also picked up coaching experience at the academies of

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

and Arsenal. In November 2019 it was confirmed, that James would play for Klubi 04, the reserve team of

. Beside that, he would also function as an assistant coach to the club's U14 team.

International career

James played for the

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 ...

youth team representing them over 30 times at Under 16–18 levels but has now chosen to play for the country of his birth,

. Ricki Herbert included him in the

All Whites The New Zealand men's national football team ( mi, Tīma hoka a-motu o Aotearoa) represents New Zealand in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Footbal ...

squad just days after receiving international clearance to play for New Zealand for the friendly match against then-World Champions

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

on 5 June 2006, which they lost 4–0. He has made a number of appearances for his country since his debut, playing the likes of Charlton Athletic and

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

in friendlies. He also scored a consolation goal against Sevilla which was calmly slotted away. Impressive performances in these matches has won him the

Soccer International Young Men's Player of the Year award for 2006. He was a member of the New Zealand under-20 team that qualified for the under-20 World Cup in Canada, scoring seven goals in six games including a hat-trick against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

. It was the first time New Zealand had a team qualify for the under-20 world cup. James was named as part of the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup New Zealand squad to travel to South Africa, but was not named in New Zealand's

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

squad. James returned to the national side for the

2013 OSN Cup The 2013 OSN Cup was an association football tournament held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 5 September 2013 to 9 September 2013. The tournament was organized by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation and sponsored by the Middle Eastern and North A ...

International goals

:''Scores and results list New Zealand's goal tally first.''

References

External links

*
Player profile on Veikkausliiga's official sitePlayer profile on Tampere United's official siteJames on NZFootball.co.nz
* {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Chris 1987 births Living people New Zealand men's association footballers New Zealand men's international footballers New Zealand expatriate men's association footballers New Zealand people of English descent Association footballers from Wellington City Fulham F.C. players Tampere United players Barnet F.C. players APIA Leichhardt FC players FC Haka players Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC players Ilves (football) players Ekenäs IF players Kotkan Työväen Palloilijat players Kuopion Palloseura players CS Sedan Ardennes players Eastern Suburbs AFC players Klubi 04 players Veikkausliiga players Kakkonen players Ykkönen players Championnat National 2 players USL Championship players English Football League players Men's association football midfielders 2008 OFC Nations Cup players 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Finland New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in the United States