Leighton James (born 16 February 1953 in Loughor,

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

, Wales) is a former Wales international footballer.

Playing career

James started his career as a left winger with

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

, making his league debut in November 1970 against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

. In 1971, he won his first international cap against

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. Altogether, he played 54 times for

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 ...

and scored 10 goals. In 1975, he signed for Derby County for a then club record fee of £310,000, and in 1977 joined Queens Park Rangers in exchange for

Don Masson Donald Sandison Masson (born 26 August 1946) is a Scottish former footballer. Club career Masson began his career with Middlesbrough in 1964. He was signed by Notts County manager Billy Gray in 1968 in a joint deal for £7000 along with Bob ...

. He made his QPR debut against WBA in October 1977 and went on to play 28 league games, scoring 4 goals. In 1978, he returned to play with

but left when they were relegated to the third division and signed for

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

, helping them from the third division to the first. He had spells with

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

and Newport County before in 1986 he returned to

for a third spell, as youth team manager and occasional player. He retired from playing in 1989 after being sacked as youth team manager.

Managerial career

James became a coach at

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

before succeeding Gary Simpson as manager of

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 October 1993. He was the manager at

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

but was sacked after only 5 months in charge. In October 1995 he was appointed manager of

Southern League Premier Division The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English foot ...

side Ilkeston Town. After winning his first three matches in charge, the team then went 20 games without a victory and James left the club in February 1996 to be replaced by Keith Alexander. On 29 September 1997, James took over from Tony Greenwood as manager of Accrington Stanley. He spent five months in charge at the Crown Ground before resigning in February 1998 due to other work commitments. James also had two spells in charge of

League of Wales The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 200 ...

club

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...

, who he saw relegated in 2002–03. In 2001–02 he coached Garden Village of the Welsh Football League to the Second Division championship title with a final day victory at Chepstow Town. He currently works as a football pundit for

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

radio and television along with a regular programme on Real Radio. The BBC suspended James for a period due to controversial remarks made in a regular newspaper column regarding

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

. In December 2009, James was appointed manager of

Welsh Football League Division One The Welsh Football League Division One, known as the Nathanielcars.co.uk Welsh League First Division for sponsorship reasons, was a football league in South Wales. It formed the top division of the Welsh Football League and the second level of ...

side Aberaman Athletic. He was appointed as Director of Football at

side

Haverfordwest County Haverfordwest County Association Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Sir Hwlffordd) is a Welsh semi-professional football team based in Haverfordwest, Wales. They currently play in the Cymru Premier, the top flight of Welsh football. The club w ...

in 2011 but resigned after less than 2 months.

Personal life

James' personal life has not been without controversy. In June 2007, the

reported that he was given a driving ban for driving while one and a half times over the legal alcohol limit. He caused further controversy in March 2008 by commenting in his column in the South Wales Evening Post that he would like

to lose to

Barnsley FC Barnsley Football Club is a professional football club based in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in . Nicknamed "the Tykes", they were founded in 1887 by Reverend Tiverton Preedy and moved into Oakwell stadium the following yea ...

in 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 ...

semi-final 2008. Although the rivalry between the football clubs of

and

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

is well documented, James' comments angered some because of his supposed impartiality as a pundit, and also for his staunch attitude that Welsh people should support Welsh teams in whatever sport, an opinion he has discussed at length on radio phone in programmes. As punishment for his comments, the BBC saw fit to ban James from appearing on their programmes for two weeks. James returned on 26 April 2008 to the Wales on Saturday programme. James' comments about Cardiff City were the subject of the song, "Leighton James Don't Like Us", recorded by Cardiff musician Leigh Bailey. Away from football, in June 2007 James was named Rookie Lollipop Man of the Year by

Swansea Council , coa_pic = , coa_res = , coa_alt = , logo_pic = Swansea City Council Logo.svg , logo_res = , logo_alt = , house_type = Unitary authority , jurisdiction = , foundation = 1 April 1996 , preceded_by = West Glamorgan County Council S ...

for Penyrheol Primary School, which his nephew Thomas James went to. James is also a rugby fan, and often comments on rugby on the Real Radio sports phone in. He is an avid supporter of Scarlets.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Leighton 1953 births Living people Welsh footballers Wales international footballers Wales under-23 international footballers Footballers from Swansea Burnley F.C. players Bury F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Cymru Premier managers Newport County A.F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players English Football League players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. managers Morecambe F.C. managers Accrington Stanley F.C. managers Ilkeston Town F.C. managers Bradford City A.F.C. non-playing staff Llanelli Town A.F.C. managers Burnley F.C. non-playing staff Association football wingers People educated at Gowerton Grammar School Welsh football managers Garden Village A.F.C. managers Haverfordwest County A.F.C. managers