Angharad Jane James (born 1 June 1994), also known as Angharad James-Turner, is a Welsh professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

club

Seattle Reign Seattle Reign FC is an American professional soccer team based in Seattle, Washington, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2012, it is one of eight inaugural members of the NWSL. Since June 2024, the Reign ar ...

and the Wales national team. James-Turner has previously played for English

FA Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

clubs

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, Bristol Academy,

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil, a town in Somerset, England, with a council named Yeovil Town * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town W.F.C., an English women's football team affiliated with Yeovil T ...

, Everton,

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, and

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

, as well as American clubs

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acqui ...

and

Orlando Pride The Orlando Pride are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Orlando, Florida, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The Pride began play in the 2016 National Women's Soccer League season, 2016 ...

in the

. Internationally, James-Turner has represented

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

since her debut in 2011 and was named Women's Players' Player of the Year for Wales in 2017 having previously been twice named Wales Women's Young Player of the Year in 2013 and 2014. At 28, James-Turner is the youngest ever Cymru player to accrue 100 caps for her country in a World Cup Qualifier against Slovenia. She was appointed Cymru captain in 2024. On 11 December 2022 she reached the 150 mark for Women's Super League appearances.

Club career

Arsenal

James-Turner joined the

Academy in 2010 at the age of 16, after playing for Manorbier Ladies in her native

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

. She made her senior first team debut on 5 October 2011 as a 63rd-minute substitute for

Gilly Flaherty Gilly Louise Scarlett Flaherty (born 24 August 1991) is an English former footballer who played as a centre-back. Flaherty began her career in the youth teams of Millwall Lionesses and Arsenal, and made her debut for the Arsenal Ladies senior t ...

in a 6–0 home win over Belarusian side

Bobruichanka Bobruisk Bobruichanka Bobruisk is a Belarusian women's football club from Bobruisk. The club is one of the most successful women's team in Belarus, as it won the Belarusian Premier League several times. History The team has won eight championships in a ro ...

in the UEFA Champions League round of 32.

Bristol Academy

Ahead of the

2012 FA WSL The 2012 FA WSL was the second season of the FA WSL, the top-level women's football league of England. The season began on 8 April 2012 and was scheduled to end in October 2012. The league had a break between 8 July and 19 August to allow prepa ...

season, James-Turner was signed by

Mark Sampson Mark Geraint Sampson (born 18 October 1982) is a Welsh football coach who was most recently a first team coach at Stevenage F.C., Stevenage. Born in Creigiau, Wales, Sampson played amateur football for Cardiff Corinthians F.C., Cardiff Corinthi ...

for Bristol Academy. She made her Bristol debut on 22 April 2014 as a 60th-minute substitute for Molly Clarke in a 1–0 home defeat to Lincoln Ladies. On 26 May 2013, James-Turner appeared as a halftime substitute for Alex Windell during the 2013 FA Women's Cup Final. Bristol lost 3–0 to Arsenal. James-Turner played in 13 of Bristol's 14 league games during the

2013 FA WSL The 2013 FA WSL was the third season of the FA WSL, the top-level women's football league of England. The season began on 14 April and ended on 29 September. Arsenal were the defending champions, having won their ninth consecutive English titl ...

season as the team earned their highest ever finish, runners-up behind

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. The two met on the final day of the season separated by two points with Liverpool winning 2–0 to clinch the title. During the

2015 FA WSL The 2015 FA WSL 1 was the fifth season of the FA WSL, the top-level women's Association football, football league of England. The season was played from 25 March to 4 October. Liverpool L.F.C., Liverpool were the defending champions from the 2014 ...

season, James-Turner played in all 14 games as the Vixens were relegated. She left following the team's relegation having made 83 appearances in all competitions, scoring six goals. On her departure, Bristol manager

Willie Kirk Willie Kirk (born 7 June 1978) is a Scottish football manager who was most recently the manager of Women's Super League club Leicester City. Playing career Kirk played semi-professional football for Pumpherston FC, Whitburn FC, and Preston Ath ...

said, "You never want to lose top players, but following relegation it was inevitable that we would lose a few. Angharad played a big part in the club's successes over the past few seasons and at only 21 has bags of potential and can achieve a lot in the game... Angharad made her intentions to stay in WSL1 known to me very quickly so we have been planning for this for a while now."

Notts County

Having stated her desire to remain in the top-flight, James-Turner signed for

in March 2016 ahead of the

2016 FA WSL The 2016 FA WSL 1 was the sixth edition of the FA WSL since it was formed in 2010. The WSL 1 was expanded to nine teams. The season started on 23 March and Chelsea were the defending WSL 1 champions. Manchester City Manchester Cit ...

season. She made 18 appearances in 2016. Two days prior to the start of the

FA WSL Spring Series The FA WSL 1 Spring Series was an interim edition of the FA WSL between the sixth and seventh full seasons. The Spring Series ran from February to May 2017 to bridge the gap from the 2016 FA WSL season which ran from March to September as a summer ...

in April 2017, Notts County folded, leaving the players without a club.

Yeovil Town

On 16 May 2017, following the folding of Notts County, James-Turner signed a short-term one month contract with newly promoted WSL 1 side

for the remainder of the

. She made four appearances and scored one goal in a 2–1 defeat to

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

as Yeovil finished bottom.

Everton

In July 2017, James-Turner left Yeovil to join newly-promoted Everton ahead of the

2017–18 FA WSL The 2017–18 FA WSL 1 was the seventh edition of the FA WSL since it was formed in 2010. It was the first season of WSL which ran as a winter league. It started in September 2017 and ended in May 2018, with ten teams competing in both leagues. ...

season. She became an integeral part of the team, starting in 43 of her 47 appearances for the club during her two seasons as a Toffee.

Reading

In July 2019, James-Turner left Everton to join

. On 17 November 2019, James-Turner scored her first Reading goal, and her first goal since scoring for Yeovil May 2017, in a 3–3 draw with

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

. James-Turner captained Reading on 7 October 2020 in their 4–0 win over second division

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

in the League Cup group stage in the absence of Natasha Harding. James-Turner scored her only other goal for Reading on 23 January 2021 in the third minute of a 2–2 WSL draw with

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

. On 24 February 2021, Reading announced that James-Turner had agreed to join

of the American

(NWSL) upon the completion of the 2020–21 FA WSL season in May. She left having made 48 appearances and scored two goals. In her final season with the team, James-Turner led the FA WSL in successful tackles with 46 and was one of three outfield players to play all 1,980 minutes along with West Ham's Grace Fisk and Manchester United's

Millie Turner Millie Turner (born 7 July 1996) is an English footballer who plays as a defender for Women's Super League club Manchester United and the England national team. A product of the United academy, she previously played for Everton and Bristol Ci ...

North Carolina Courage

Having agreed terms in February, James-Turner joined

in May after the end of the 2020–21 FA WSL season. She was named to a matchday squad for the first time on 5 June 2021 as an unused substitute against

Chicago Red Stars Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chic ...

before eventually debuting two games later on 23 June when she started against

Racing Louisville Racing Louisville Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Louisville, Kentucky, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It began playing in 2021 at Lynn Family Stadium. The team i ...

. The Courage won 2–0 with head coach Paul Riley commenting James-Turner, "has a great range of passing and a great engine. She plays intelligently with the ball, and for me, she was one of the highlights of the night". James-Turner scored her first NWSL goal and only goal for the Courage on 25 September 2021 in a 3–1 defeat away to

Gotham FC Gotham Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in the New York metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sk ...

. James-Turner made 17 appearances during her debut NWSL season including one in the playoffs.

Orlando Pride

Having been traded to

San Diego Wave FC San Diego Wave Fútbol Club is an American professional soccer team based in San Diego, California, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). The team plays its home games at Snapdragon Stadium. Founded on June 8, 2021, the Wav ...

in exchange for roster protection during the 2022 NWSL Expansion Draft on 8 December 2021, James-Turner was subsequently traded to

along with a league record $275,000 in Allocation Money in exchange for

Alex Morgan Alexandra Morgan Carrasco (born Alexandra Patricia Morgan; July 2, 1989) is an American former professional association football, soccer player.She co-captained the United States women's national soccer team, United States national team with ...

eight days later. The move reunited her with fiancé Amy Turner, the first time since Notts County in 2016 they had been at a club at the same time. James-Turner made her Orlando debut on 19 March 2022 at home to

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the USL W-League (1995� ...

in the

2022 NWSL Challenge Cup The 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup was a league cup competition that took place during the 2022 National Women's Soccer League season. It was the third iteration of the NWSL Challenge Cup tournament. In the 2022 championship game, the North Carolina C ...

. She would make four further appearances in the Cup competition that year ahead of the regular season opener on 2 May 2022 against Gotham FC where she would make her league debut for Orlando. On 28 July 2022, James-Turner and Orlando agreed to mutually terminate her contract.

Tottenham Hotspur

On 30 July 2022, it was announced that James-Turner had signed for English WSL side

on a two-year deal with the option of a further year.

Seattle Reign

On 31 January 2024, it was announced that James-Turner had signed for NWSL club

until the end of 2025.

International

Youth

James-Turner previously represented Wales at under-16, under-17 and under-19 level. The team automatically qualified for the

2013 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, UEFA Women's U-19 Championship 2013 Final Tournament was held in Wales between 19 and 31 August 2013. Players born after 1 January 1994 were eligible to participate in this competition. It was the first time ...

as the host nation, their first appearance at the tournament. Despite the team losing all three group games and failing to score, James-Turner's performances earned her a place in 22-player the Squad of the Tournament, Wales' sole representative.

Senior

On 27 October 2011, James-Turner made her senior international debut, aged 17, as a late substitute in a 2–2 draw with

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Tynecastle Park Tynecastle Park, also known as Tynecastle Stadium, is a football stadium in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, which is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Heart of Midlothian (Hearts). A UEFA category four stadium, it ha ...

during

UEFA Women's Euro 2013 qualifying The Qualifying rounds for the UEFA Women's Euro 2013 determined which 11 teams joined Sweden, the hosts of the 2013 tournament, to play for the UEFA Women's Championship. Tie breakers If two or more teams are tied in points the tie breakers are ...

. She scored her first senior international goal on 29 February 2012, a 90+2 minute winner in a 1–0 victory over

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

at the

2012 Algarve Cup The 2012 Algarve Cup was the nineteenth edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational Women's association football, women's football tournament held annually in Portugal. It began on 29 February and ended on 7 March 2012. Format The twelve invited ...

. James-Turner earned her 100th International Cap for Wales on 6 September 2022 in a World Cup Qualifier against Slovenia, a game which also saw her Wales team qualify for the World Cup play-offs for the first time in their history. On 4 October 2024, she was appointed as Wales captain. In June 2025, James-Turner was named in Cymru's squad for

UEFA Women's Euro 2025 The 2025 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2025 or simply Euro 2025, will be the 14th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEFA for the wome ...

as the Captain.

Great Britain Olympic

In January 2012, James-Turner was named on the provisional

Great Britain women's Olympic football team The Great Britain women's Olympic football team (also known as Team GB; or occasionally Great Britain and Northern Ireland) represent the United Kingdom in the women's football tournament at the Olympic Games. Normally, no team represents the ...

longlist for the

London 2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. James-Turner had stated on numerous occasions that if she was selected she would accept a call-up to Team GB.

Personal life

James-Turner speaks

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

, viewing it not only as an expression of her identity but also a tactical advantage when playing English-speaking opposition. Prior to focusing on football, James-Turner also played

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

and was capped internationally at under-15 level. She attended

Ysgol y Preseli Ysgol Bro Preseli is a Welsh 3-18 school in the village of Crymych, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was formed in 2022 following the merger of Ysgol y Preseli with the neighbouring primary school ''Ysgol Y Frenni''. History Prior to the school's openi ...

at the same time as fellow Welsh international footballer

Joe Allen Joseph Michael Allen (born 14 March 1990) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Allen began his career at Swansea City, making his first-team debut in January 2007 at age 16. He played in 150 matches across a ...

. Angharad grew up unaware of the Cymru women's team and only became aware on her arrival at Arsenal, where Jayne Ludlow

Jayne Ludlow Jayne Louise Ludlow (born 7 January 1979) is a Welsh football coach and former player. A midfielder, Ludlow played at Arsenal for 13 years, whom she also captained and was the club's all-time top goalscorer when she retired. She represented t ...

became an important role model for Angharad. James-Turner's father, Clive James, played

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

for, and later became head coach of,

Narberth RFC Narberth RFC are a Welsh rugby union club based in Narberth in Pembrokeshire. They are members of the Welsh Rugby Union playing in the WRU Championship and are a feeder club for the Scarlets. The Otters have won the Pembrokeshire County Cup co ...

. On 23 December 2020, James-Turner announced her

engagement An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''f ...

to fellow professional footballer Amy Turner. They married in June 2023, and James-Turner began playing under her married name in 2024.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

: ''As of match played 11 September 2024.''

Honours

Bristol Academy *

runner-up: 2013 *

Women's FA Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup, and now Women's FA Cup (currently known as the Adobe Women's FA Cup for sponso ...

runner-up:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Individual *

Women's Young Player of the Year: 2013, 2014 *Wales Women's Players' Player of the Year: 2017

Notes

References

External links

Angharad James-Turner
at

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

Angharad James-Turner
at Everton (archived)
Angharad James-Turner
at FAW (archived) * {{DEFAULTSORT:James-Turner, Angharad 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from Haverfordwest Arsenal W.F.C. players Bristol Academy W.F.C. players Notts County L.F.C. players Yeovil Town L.F.C. players Everton F.C. (women) players Reading F.C. Women players Women's Super League players Wales women's international footballers Welsh women's footballers 21st-century Welsh sportswomen Women's association football midfielders Welsh LGBTQ footballers 21st-century Welsh LGBTQ people National Women's Soccer League players North Carolina Courage players Orlando Pride players Seattle Reign FC players FIFA Women's Century Club