Leighton James (16 February 1953 – 19 April 2024) was a Welsh professional footballer who played as a winger. He played almost 400 times for

Burnley F.C. Burnley Football Club () is a professional football club based in Burnley, Lancashire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1882, Burnley were one of the first to be ...

in three different spells at the club, being tenth on the club's most appearance list. He was widely regarded as one of

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

's finest ever players and his goal for Swansea against

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

in the final game of the season in 1981 helped Swansea get promoted to the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

for the first time in their history. In 1977, he scored a penalty for

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 a 1–0 win 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 ...

, their only victory against England at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

John Toshack John Benjamin Toshack (born 22 March 1949) is a Welsh former professional football player and manager. He began his playing career as a teenager with his hometown club Cardiff City, becoming the youngest player to make an appearance for the ...

described him as "one of the finest wingers that British football has ever produced and we were very very lucky at the fact he was a Welshman".

Club career

James started his career as a left winger with

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, making his

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 ...

debut in November 1970 against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

. In 1975, he signed for

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

for a club-record fee of £300,000, and in 1977 joined

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

in exchange for

Don Masson Donald Sanderson Masson (born 26 August 1946) is a Scottish former footballer. A midfielder, Masson began his career with Middlesbrough in 1964. He stayed there for six years before moving to Queens Park Rangers, followed by Derby County and N ...

. He made his debut against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

in October 1977, and went on to play 33 games, scoring six goals. In 1978, he returned to play with Burnley, but left in 1980 when they were relegated to the Third Division. Manager

signed James for

for £130,000 in 1980, in a move to build a side capable of gaining promotion to the First Division after their rapid rise up the Football League. They won the Second Division at the first attempt, with James scoring the first goal against

in the last game of the season, securing the club's promotion. He later had spells with

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 ...

, Bury and Newport County, before he returned to Burnley for a third spell in 1986 as youth-team manager and occasional player. He retired from playing in 1989 after being sacked as youth-team manager.

International career

In 1971, he won his first international cap, aged 18, against

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

at Letenský Stadion in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

in a 1–0 defeat. His first international goal was in a 2–0 victory against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a association football, football stadium in the Leckwith, Cardiff, Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovatio ...

in Cardiff in March 1973. In May 1977, he scored the only goal of the game, a penalty, in a defeat of

, in the

British Home Championship The British Home Championship (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Championship) was an annual football competition contested between the United Kingdom's four national teams: England, Scotlan ...

, their only win against England in England. He also captained the team, making his first appearance as captain against

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

Vetch Field The Vetch Field was a football stadium in Swansea, Wales, and was the home ground of Swansea City A.F.C. from the club’s founding until 2005. Following its closure, the club relocated to a newly constructed stadium, originally named the Libert ...

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

, in October 1981. He played 54 times for

, scoring ten goals.

Managerial career

James became a coach at

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

, before succeeding Gary Simpson as manager of

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the English Football League, Football League i ...

in October 1993. He was the manager at

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

, but was sacked after five months in charge. In October 1995, he was appointed manager of

Southern League Premier Division The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and e ...

side Ilkeston Town. After winning his first three matches in charge, the team then went twenty games without a victory, and James left the club in February 1996, to be replaced by Keith Alexander. On 29 September 1997, James took over from Tony Greenwood as manager of

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

. He spent five months in charge at the

Crown Ground The Crown Ground is a multi-use stadium in Accrington, Lancashire, England. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Accrington Stanley. Opened in 1968, the stadium has a capacity of 5,450. Stands/terraces *J ...

, before resigning in February 1998 due to other work commitments. James also had two spells in charge of

League of Wales League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

club

Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...

, but in his second spell, he oversaw the club's relegation in the 2002–03 season. In the 2001–02 season, he coached Garden Village of the

Welsh Football League The Welsh Football League (also known as the Nathaniel Car Sales Welsh Football League for sponsorship reasons) was a club football league in Wales. For its final season in 2019–20 season it operated at levels 3 and 4 of the Welsh football leag ...

to the Second Division championship title with a final-day victory at Chepstow Town. James worked as a football pundit for

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

radio and television, along with a regular programme on

Real Radio Real Radio was a network of five regional radio stations broadcasting to North East England, North West England, Scotland, Wales and Yorkshire. Each station broadcasts a mix of local and networked programming. On Tuesday 6 May 2014, the statio ...

. The BBC suspended James for a period due to controversial remarks made in a regular newspaper column regarding

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 ...

. In December 2009, James was appointed manager of

Welsh Football League Division One The Welsh Football League Division One, known as the Nathanielcars.co.uk Welsh League First Division for sponsorship reasons, was a association football, football league in South Wales. It formed the top division of the Welsh Football League and ...

side Aberaman Athletic. James was appointed Director of Football at Welsh Football League Division One side Haverfordwest County in 2011, but resigned after less than two months.

Personal life

In June 2007, the

reported that James was given a driving ban for driving while one-and-a-half times over the legal alcohol limit. James caused controversy in March 2008 by commenting in his column in the ''

South Wales Evening Post The ''South Wales Evening Post'' is a tabloid daily newspaper distributed in the South West region of Wales. The paper has three daily editions – Swansea; Neath and Port Talbot; and Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ...

'' that he would like Cardiff City to lose to

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

in the 2008

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

semi-final. Although the

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

between the football clubs of Swansea City and Cardiff City is well documented, James' comments angered some because of his supposed impartiality as a pundit, and also for his staunch attitude that Welsh people should support Welsh teams in whatever sport, an opinion he had discussed at length on radio phone-in programmes. As punishment for his comments, the BBC saw fit to ban James from appearing on their programmes for two weeks. He returned on 26 April 2008 to the ''Wales on Saturday'' programme. James' comments about Cardiff City were the subject of the song "Leighton James Don't Like Us", recorded by Cardiff musician Leigh Bailey. Away from football, in June 2007, James was named Rookie Lollipop Man of the Year by Swansea Council for Penyrheol Primary School, which his nephew Thomas James went to. James was a rugby fan and often commented on rugby on the Real Radio sports phone-in. He was an avid supporter of

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby c ...

. He 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 has been described as an extremely competent batsman. James died in Cwmrhydyceirw on 19 April 2024, at the age of 71.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Leighton 1953 births 2024 deaths Welsh men's footballers Wales men's international footballers Wales men's under-23 international footballers Footballers from Swansea Burnley F.C. players Bury F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Cymru Premier managers Newport County A.F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players English Football League players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. managers Morecambe F.C. managers Accrington Stanley F.C. managers Ilkeston Town F.C. managers Bradford City A.F.C. non-playing staff Llanelli Town A.F.C. managers Burnley F.C. non-playing staff Men's association football wingers People educated at Gowerton Grammar School Welsh football managers Garden Village A.F.C. managers Haverfordwest County A.F.C. managers British association football commentators Welsh football coaches