Squad Number: 1
Position: Goalkeeper
Age: 39
Birth Date: Aug 1, 1970
Birth Place: Welwyn
Height: 6' 5" (1.96m)
Weight: 200 lbs (90.8 kg)
Club: Portsmouth
International Caps: 50
Club History
Manchester City (ENG): 2004-2006
West Ham United (ENG): 2001-2004
Aston Villa (ENG): 1999-2001
Liverpool (ENG): 1992-1999
Watford (ENG): 1990-1992
from Wikipedia (full wiki >>)
David Benjamin James is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for the England national football team and is captain of English Football League Championship club Portsmouth.
As of 14 February 2009, he achieved the all-time Premier League record of 536 appearances, having overtaken Gary Speed with 535. He has also been capped 50 times by England, having made his first appearance in 1997.
He gained a Football League Cup winner's medal with Liverpool in 1995, and 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, he became the oldest goalkeeper to appear in the FA Cup Final at 39.
James holds the Premier League record for most clean sheets.
from ESPN SoccerNet
As the most experienced goalkeeper in the English top flight it is no surprise that James has a number of milestones under his belt. In April 2007 he broke David Seaman's record of 142 Premier League clean sheets and in 2008 he joined Gary Speed and Ryan Giggs as only the third player to notch over 500 Premier League appearances.
The former Watford keeper signed for £1 million Liverpool in 1992 and was labelled 'Calamity James' for a series of high-profile gaffs. But he still made 279 appearances for the Reds, winning the League Cup in 1995, before enduring trophyless terms at Aston Villa, West Ham United and Manchester City.
Accused of lacking concentration as a younger man, his move to Portsmouth in 2006 coincided with an improved maturity and James established himself in the England team. He made his debut for Glenn Hoddle's England back in 1997 but it took until 2004 to make his mark. He played in all England's matches in Euro 2004 but a characteristic error in a World Cup qualifying draw against Austria in the same year saw him dropped. Fabio Capello selected James in his first squad in February 2008 and he has sporadically been England's No.1 since.
Strengths: A giant keeper who commands his penalty area and is a great shot stopper.
Weaknesses: his decision making has improved with age but he is still prone to the odd clanger, particularly when coming for crosses.
Career high: Putting two FA Cup final defeats behind him to win the trophy with unfashionable Portsmouth in 2008.
Career low: Unfortunately he will probably be best remembered by Villa fans for the error at Wembley that gifted Chelsea the 1999-00 FA Cup. At international level he conceded three soft goals in a 4-1 defeat to Denmark, having come on as a second-half substitute.
Style: Commanding, imposing, but when it comes to his hair he has more than one.
Quotes: "For me he's still the best 'keeper in the country by a million miles." Harry Redknapp, March, 2008.
Trivia: James is an art lover and writer. He pens a column for the Observer and having dabbled with a paint brush on one or two occasions he has held a small exhibition of his work.
from FIFA.com
The tallest of the England goalkeepers, measuring in at almost 2-metres, David James made his name between the sticks at Watford, where he registered 89 appearances in English football’s second tier. His form for the Hornets earned him a big move to Liverpool where he went on to spend seven seasons and won the 1995 League Cup, before spells at Aston Villa, West Ham United, Manchester City and current club Portsmouth, whom he joined in 2006.
Further knockout success came at Pompey in the shape of the 2008 FA Cup, while he also became the club’s first player to be capped by England’s senior side for 23 years. This agile, though occasionally error-prone, shotstopper also made history on 14 February 2009 when appearing in his 536th Premier League fixture, thus beating the all-time record held by Gary Speed.
Having previously picked up 10 caps for England’s U-21 side, the one-time Armani model was handed his full international debut on 29 March 1997 by then Three Lions coach Glenn Hoddle in a 2-0 friendly win over Mexico at Wembley. Though David Seaman and Nigel Martyn held sway in the battle for the England No1 shirt in subsequent seasons, from February 2003 James started 14 consecutive internationals and was his country’s first-choice keeper at UEFA EURO 2004 in Portugal, starting all four games.
Although he was then ousted by Paul Robinson, the veteran keeper reclaimed the mantle of England’s first-choice keeper under Fabio Capello and, as of 10 October 2009, had collected 49 senior caps. The 2009/10 season was a frustrating one for James, who suffered a succession of minor injuries and saw Rob Green selected by the Italian coach for the majority of England’s fixtures. Time will tell whether James has done enough to win back the confidence of Capello once again.
England World Cup Soccer Flag
England World Cup 2010 Scarf
Posts
James was born on 1 August 1970, so he is yet 39 years of age.
ReplyDeleteThank you. ESPN has it listed wrong.
ReplyDeleteI thought he was still 39 as SkySports was making a big deal about his age the other day.
Btw: will you also have a profile for Robert Green, as it looks almost certain, that he will start in England's opener versus the USA?
ReplyDeleteIt's starting to look like Green is going to start on Saturday, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteThere are a couple No. 1 GK spots that are still up in the air... Ochoa & Sanchez are still questions for Mexico... and Kingson may not get the start for Ghana.
Yeah, it's a very different WC so far - as it hasn't started yet with so many question marks over players and injuries, absentees etc. Much to talk about.
ReplyDelete