Paul John James (born November 11, 1963) is a retired professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played 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 ...

. He was a one-time

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; types ...

champion who represented Canada at both the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games and 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. He later worked as a soccer analyst and soccer coach. He is an honoured member of the

Canada Soccer Hall of Fame The Canada Soccer Hall of Fame honours people and institutions for their contributions to Canadian soccer. It was founded in 1997 by the Ontario Soccer Association and was originally located in Vaughan, Ontario. As of 2019, the Canada Soccer H ...

. In 1998, was granted his Canada Soccer Coaching "A" Licence. After working as a player-coach in the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

, he later served as a coach with Canada's national youth teams from 1998 to 2001, including the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2001. A graduate of

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campuses ...

, James has added to his academic credentials by completing the prestigious Football Industries MBA (FIMBA) at the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

in England. In February 2012, Paul revealed he had suffered from a

crack cocaine Crack cocaine, commonly known simply as crack, and also known as rock, is a free base form of the stimulant cocaine that can be smoked. Crack offers a short, intense high to smokers. The ''Manual of Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment'' calls ...

dependency for many years.Article on Paul James' autobiography
/ref> Paul was on a hunger strike to protest his mistreatment by

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and sta ...

over his "Substance Disability".

Club career

James developed into a top class midfield player while with the

Toronto Blizzard Toronto Blizzard may refer to: *Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984), the original soccer club, a franchise of the North American Soccer League *Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993), the later club and franchise of the Canadian Soccer League *Toronto Azzurri B ...

. On the Blizzard team, James scored against the then famed

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independ ...

. He played in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league ba ...

and

, where he earned first team all-star honours on four consecutive occasions. In 1986, he played in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

with

. He also had a short stint with English league outfit Doncaster Rovers.

International career

Welsh-born James became a Canadian citizen in 1983 and arrived on the international scene when he made full appearances for Canada at the 1984 Olympics in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. He made his senior debut for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

in a December 1983 friendly match against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

in Irapuato, James played in all four of Canada's games at Los Angeles Olympics including quarter final game against Brazil losing on penalty kicks He made 46 international "A" appearances for Canada (two goals) as well as additional "B" appearances including the Olympic Games. He scored a critical goal for Canada against

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

in Toronto in 1985 that helped Canada qualify for the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

finals in Mexico. A member of the country's 1986 World Cup team, he played in all three games in the finals. He represented Canada in 7 World Cup qualifiers. James then played for Canada on the famed occasion in St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador when the Canadian men's team qualified for the first time to the FIFA World Cup Championships winning the 1985 CONCACAF Championship in the process. Paul played in all three of Canada's FIFA World Cup games in Mexico, in June 1986 Singapore. Last two games for Canada were in 1993 against the United States (2–2) playing his final international aged 29, a March 1993 friendly match against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

(1–0) win.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.''

Coaching career

After serving as player/coach at Ottawa and London, James also coached at LeMoyne College in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, Yonkers, and Rochester. At the 2020 census, the city' ...

, leading them to within one game of an NCAA berth and an

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

national ranking as high as 12th,

Niagara University Niagara University (NU) is a private Catholic university in the Vincentian tradition in Lewiston in Niagara County, New York. It is run by the Congregation of the Mission and has 3,300 undergraduate students in 50 academic programs. App ...

and Under-20 national soccer team. As head coach of the Under-20 team, he led them to the

2001 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Argentina between 17 June and 8 July 2001. The 2001 championship was the 13th contested. The tournament took part in six cities, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza, Rosario, Salta, and Mar del ...

in Argentina 2001. James thus became the first Canadian to represent Canada at a FIFA World Championships both as a player and coach. Through his coaching career, Paul has garnered six coach of the year awards at varying levels including; CSL, NCAA, and OUA. In 2007 James received the CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport) national coach of the year award. James has a reputation for developing successful soccer programmes. In 2008 James coached York to the CIS Canadian Championship game where they won the title. On January 16, 2010 James announced his departure from York University after serving with the Lions for six years. After that, he coached the Bahamas national football team.James on Bahamian potential in soccer
thenassauguardian.com

Soccer analyst

From 2004 to 2008 he was an analyst for ''The Footy Show'' on The Score television network, along with James Sharman and the late Brian Budd. He also provided soccer analysis for GolTV in Canada. Paul has appeared on the CBC and Sportsnet on numerous occasions and currently writes for ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

''.

Early years

Lived in Cardiff until July 3, 1980 when at 16 years of age he emigrated to Toronto, Canada, with his parents and sister Julie. Departed Wales with a Canadian equivalent Grade 12 education and an athletic career which included being awarded Whitchurch High School's Athlete of the Year in 1980; two time Glamorgan champion at 800 metres with the fastest recorded times in Wales in 1977/78 for his age group; a third-place finish at the British Championships in the 1500 metres; excelled in football (soccer) which included competing for Cardiff Schoolboys, county of Glamorgan, Cardiff City Youth Team, and Newport County Reserves as a 15 year old; while also competing in first team high school rugby and cricket.

Oakville Soccer Club and Ontario Provincial Team

In 1980/82 Paul John James played for the Oakville Minor Soccer club winning an Ontario provincial championship. In 1982 Paul John James played for the Ontario Provincial team who won the Canadian national championships.

Soccer achievements

47 International Caps as a player; Competed in 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games; Competed in 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico Professional player Toronto Blizzard, Hamilton Steelers, Doncaster Rovers, London Lasers, Ottawa Intrepid; Four Time Canadian Soccer League First Team All Star Player; Four CONCACAF Championships (2 player/2 coach); Canadian National Men's U20 Head Coach (98/01); Canadian National Men's U17 Assistant Coach (98/00); Canadian National Women's U20 Assistant Coach (2008) FIFA World Championship Argentina 2001; Professional Head Coach Ottawa (89); London (92); Collegiate Head Coach Lemoyne College, Niagara, York University; 6 Coach of The Year Awards; CIS National Women's Coach of the Year 2007; BA Wilfrid Laurier (1997); MBA Football Industries (2002); Television Soccer Analyst: GOL TV, The Score, CBC, Sportsnet. Soccer Writer for the Globe and Mail;

Author, advocacy for human rights protection

Authored Crack Open (2012); Owner Author Confronting the Stigma of Drug Addiction; Submissions to HRTO, Divisional Court of Appeal; Ontario Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of Canada (2012-2019).

References

External links

* *
Paul James NASL stats and jerseys
* {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Paul 1963 births Living people Footballers from Cardiff Welsh emigrants to Canada Naturalized citizens of Canada Soccer people from Ontario Association football midfielders Canadian soccer players Canada men's international soccer players Olympic soccer players of Canada Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics 1986 FIFA World Cup players Canadian expatriate soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Mexico British expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984) players C.F. Monterrey players Liga MX players Hamilton Steelers (1981–1992) players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Ottawa Intrepid players Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993) players London Lasers players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players Expatriate footballers in Mexico Canadian soccer coaches Niagara Purple Eagles men's soccer coaches Canadian television sportscasters Canadian soccer commentators Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks soccer players Alumni of the University of Liverpool Canada Soccer Hall of Fame inductees Expatriate football managers in the Bahamas Bahamas national football team managers Canadian National Soccer League players CONCACAF Championship-winning players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in England Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the Bahamas