William John James (18 October 1921 – 27 July 1980) was 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 ...

. During his career, he represented Wales at amateur level during wartime competitions and played six times in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

before being forced to retire due to the physical effects of his time spent as a prisoner of war during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Career

Born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, James was raised in the Splott area of the city, living in Carlisle Street. He joined his hometown club

in 1939 at the start of the

. A prolific scorer for the club during wartime fixtures, he was regarded as an exciting prospect in Welsh football and was chosen to represent

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 ...

in two wartime fixtures against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, scoring in the first match where he played against

Stan Cullis Stanley Cullis (25 October 1916 – 28 February 2001) was an English professional footballer and manager, primarily for Wolverhampton Wanderers. During his term as manager between 1948 and 1964, Wolves became one of the strongest teams in the En ...

. At the age of 18, James enlisted in the army, joining the 77th HAA Regiment,

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

. The unit contained a number of footballers including other Cardiff City players Ernie Curtis and Billy Baker and embarked on a journey to

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

by ship for deployment. However, en route, Japanese forces launched attacks on Hong Kong,

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and Malaya leading the UK to declare war against Japan which saw James and his unit rerouted to the Dutch colony of

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

where British forces suffered heavy losses and James was one of numerous British troops taken prisoner. He spent three years in a Japanese

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

before returning to Britain at the end of the war. He resumed playing for Cardiff City in the 1946–47 season, scoring in his first two matches in the

, a 2–1 defeat to

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 ...

and a 2–0 victory over

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

. However, his time in the POW camp had seen James suffer from severe malnutrition and the effects had resulted in irreparable damage to his eyesight and he was forced into retirement at the end of the season. The club held a benefit game for James in May 1950 and he later returned to work for the club as a scout.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Billy 1921 births 1980 deaths Footballers from Cardiff Welsh men's footballers Cardiff City F.C. players English Football League players British World War II prisoners of war Royal Artillery personnel Cardiff City F.C. non-playing staff Men's association football forwards World War II prisoners of war held by Japan British Army personnel of World War II Military personnel from Cardiff