David James (footballer, born 1970)

David James
MBE
James with England in 2009
Personal information
Full name David Benjamin James[1]
Date of birth (1970-08-01) 1 August 1970 (age 54)
Place of birth Welwyn Garden City, England
Height 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)[2]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
1986–1988 Watford
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1992 Watford 89 (0)
1992–1999 Liverpool 214 (0)
1999–2001 Aston Villa 67 (0)
2001–2004 West Ham United 91 (0)
2004–2006 Manchester City 93 (0)
2006–2010 Portsmouth 134 (0)
2010–2012 Bristol City 81 (0)
2012–2013 AFC Bournemouth 19 (0)
2013 ÍBV 17 (0)
2014 Kerala Blasters 12 (0)
2024 AFC Hutwood 1 (1)
Total 818 (1)
International career
1990–1992 England U21 10 (0)
1997–2010 England 53 (0)
Managerial career
2014 Kerala Blasters (player-manager)
2018 Kerala Blasters
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

David Benjamin James MBE (born 1 August 1970) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. His most recent position was manager at Kerala Blasters FC in the Indian Super League in 2018. He is also a pundit on Sky Sports football coverage.

James is fifth on the list of all-time Premier League appearances, having played in 572 top-level matches, and held the Premier League record for most clean sheets with 169 until Petr Čech surpassed this record.[3] He holds the record for most penalties saved in Premier League history (13).[4]

He was capped 53 times by England between 1997 and 2010, and was first choice goalkeeper during the team's Euro 2004 and the 2010 World Cup campaigns. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to football and charity.[5][6]

Having started his career with Watford, James went on to feature in the Premier League for Liverpool, Aston Villa, West Ham United, Manchester City and Portsmouth. He gained a Football League Cup winner's medal with Liverpool in 1995, an FA Cup winner's medal with Portsmouth in 2008, as well as runners-up medals with Aston Villa in 2000, Liverpool in 1996 and Portsmouth in 2010. In 2010, at the age of 39, he became the oldest goalkeeper to appear in an FA Cup Final.[7] James dropped down a division in 2010 to play for Bristol City and later played for League One side AFC Bournemouth. He joined Icelandic side ÍBV Vestmannaeyjar in 2013 in a joint playing and coaching capacity, before officially retiring.

In October 2013, James took up a coaching position at Luton Town, the club he has supported since his childhood.[8] The following year, he became the marquee player and manager of the newly formed Kerala Blasters. He returned to the club in 2018,[9] being dismissed in December following an 11-match winless run.[10]

  1. ^ "FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010 – List of Players" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2010. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  2. ^ "BBC profile". BBC Sport. 1 August 1970. Archived from the original on 14 September 2007. Retrieved 20 June 2010.
  3. ^ "Petr Cech breaks Premier League clean sheet record in Arsenal's win over Bournemouth". Archived from the original on 28 December 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  4. ^ "The best penalty savers in Premier League history". Premier League. 23 March 2018.
  5. ^ "No. 60173". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 June 2012. p. 17.
  6. ^ "Queen's Birthday Honours list for Bristol". BBC News. 16 June 2012. Archived from the original on 19 June 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  7. ^ Stevenson, Jonathan (18 April 2014). "FA Cup final as it happened". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
  8. ^ "UPDATED: Ex-England keeper David James helps to take training with the Hatters". Bedford Today. Johnston Publishing Ltd. 26 October 2013. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  9. ^ "David James returns as Kerala Blasters head coach". The Times of India. 3 January 2018. Archived from the original on 20 May 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  10. ^ Easwar, Nisanth. "ISL: Kerala Blasters part ways with David James". Goal. Archived from the original on 18 December 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2018.