Paul James (soccer)

Paul James
Personal information
Full name Paul John James
Date of birth (1963-11-11) 11 November 1963
Place of birth Cardiff, Wales
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position midfielder
Youth career
Wilfrid Laurier University
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1984 Toronto Blizzard 21 (1)
1985–1987 Monterrey
1987 Hamilton Steelers
1987–1988 Doncaster Rovers 8 (0)
1989 Ottawa Intrepid
1990 Hamilton Steelers
1991 Toronto Blizzard
1992 London Lasers
National team‡
1983–1993 Canada 47 (2)
Teams managed
1989 Ottawa Intrepid
1992 London Lasers
1994 Le Moyne College
1996 Niagara University
1998–2001 Canada U-20
2004–2010 York University
2011 Bahamas

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 September 2009.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 26 September 2009

Paul John James (born November 11, 1963) is 3 time inductee into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame. He is a former Canadian World Cup and Olympic soccer player having competed for Canada in both the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. He is a soccer analyst, former head coach and Canadian national team player. He was born in Cardiff, Wales.

In 2003 James was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame. A graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University, James has added to his academic credentials by completing the prestigious Football Industries MBA (FIMBA) at the University of Liverpool in England.

In February 2012, Paul revealed he had suffered from a crack cocaine dependency for many years.[1]

Club career

James developed into a top class midfield player while with the Toronto Blizzard, earning him a move to Mexican side Monterrey in 1985. He played in the North American and Canadian Soccer Leagues, where he earned first team all-star honours on four consecutive occasions. 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. He made his senior debut for Canada in a December 1983 friendly match against Mexico in Irapuato. He went on to earn 47 “A” caps, scoring 2 goals.

He scored a critical goal for Canada against Costa Rica in Toronto in 1985 that helped Canada qualify for the 1986 FIFA World Cup 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.[2]

He played his final international aged 29, a March 1993 friendly match against South Korea.

International goals

Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 24 October 1984 Stade Moulay Abdellah, Rabat, Morocco  Morocco 2–3 Friendly match
2 17 August 1985 Varsity Stadium, Toronto, Canada  Costa Rica 1–1 1–1 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification

Coaching career

After serving as player/coach at Ottawa and London, James also coached at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, leading them to within one game of an NCAA berth and an NCAA Division II national ranking as high as 12th, Niagara University and Canada U-20 men's national soccer team. As head coach of the Under-20 team, he led them to the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship 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 programs. 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.[3]

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.


References

  1. ↑ Article on Paul James' autobiography
  2. ↑ Record at FIFA Tournaments – FIFA
  3. ↑ "CIS:Paul James leaves York". theScore.com. Retrieved 2010-06-02.
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