Jordan Anthony James (born 2 July 2004) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL Championship club Birmingham City. He made his senior debut as a 17-year-old on 2 November 2021. Born in England to a Welsh father, James has represented both Wales and England at youth levels and received his first call-up to the Wales senior team in September 2022.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jordan Anthony James[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (2004-07-02) 2 July 2004 (age 18)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Hereford, England | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Birmingham City | ||
| Number | 19 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 201?–2021 | Birmingham City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2021– | Birmingham City | 36 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| Wales U15 | |||
| Wales U16 | |||
| 2021– | Wales U18 | 1 | (0) |
| 2022 | England U20 | 2 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:15, 11 November 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:15, 11 November 2022 (UTC) | |||
James was born in Hereford,[3] where he attended Whitecross Hereford High School.[4] His father, Tony James, played in the Football League as a defender for Burton Albion, Newport County and Hereford United.[5] James joined Birmingham City at pre-Academy level and took up a two-year scholarship in July 2020.[3] According to the then head of professional development phase Mike Dodds, James was "technically very good and versatile, [and] can play in both offensive and defensive areas of the pitch." Dodds also highlighted the commitment shown by James and his family in making a round trip of more than 100 miles (160 km) from their Hereford home for training in Birmingham three times a week for nine years.[3]
James was a member of the Birmingham under-18 team that finished as runners-up in the Northern Section of their league,[6] and came from behind against Charlton Athletic's U18 in the national semi-finals only to lose to a last-minute goal.[7] As well as playing for the under-18s, he started several matches for Birmingham's under-23 team in the 2021–22 Premier League 2.[8] He trained occasionally with the first team, and was given a squad number and named in the matchday squad for the EFL Championship match at home to Bristol City on 2 November.[9][10] With only a few minutes left, Birmingham led 3–0, and the 17-year-old James came on in place of Jordan Graham to make his senior debut.[11] Manager Lee Bowyer said "He came on today, ran around, didn't give the ball away, competed and when he passed, he passed it with a purpose."[9]
With both Ryan Woods and Gary Gardner suspended,[12] James made his first start against Blackpool on 27 November, partnering Ivan Šunjić in central midfield in a 3–4–1–2 formation. He played the whole game, headed Kristian Pedersen's cross into the path of Lukas Jutkiewicz who scored the 81st-minute winner, and was the Birmingham Mail's man of the match.[13] On the same day, James signed his first professional contract.[14]
James is eligible to represent both England, where he was born, and his father's native country of Wales.[4] He came through the 2018 Cymru Cup, a training and pre-selection camp for 14-year-olds,[15] to make his under-15 debut for Wales during the 2018–19 season.[16][17] He played for Wales U16 in 2019–20,[18] attended under-17 training camps in 2020–21,[19][20] and made his under-18s debut against England in September 2021.[21]
James was called up to the England under-20 squad for matches against Poland and Germany in March 2022,[22] and appeared in both games as a very late substitute.[23][24]
James was named in a 26-man initial squad for Wales under-21's friendly against Austria in September 2022.[25] However, following an injury to Joe Allen, James was instead promoted to the senior Wales squad for the Nations League matches against Belgium and Poland.[26]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Birmingham City | 2021–22[2] | Championship | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 21 | 1 | |
| 2022–23[27] | Championship | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 17 | 0 | ||
| Total | 36 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 38 | 1 | |||
Birmingham City F.C. – current squad | |
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