DAVID JAMES Biography - Theater, Opera and Movie personalities

 
 

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DAVID JAMES
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David Benjamin James (born August 1, 1970) is an English professional football who currently plays for Manchester City in the English Premier League. He has played as a goalkeeper for a number of English clubs, and most notably won the 1995 League Cup with Liverpool F.C.. He has represented the England national football team in 34 matches since his debut in 1997, and he was England’s first choice keeper following the retirement of David Seaman in October 2002 until he was replaced by Paul Robinson in September 2004.

       

Born in Welwyn, James signed as a trainee with Watford in 1989. Here he won the FA Youth Cup, and James made 98 first-team appearances before he was signed by Liverpool in 1992. After conceding 20 goals in 11 games, he was dropped by Liverpool boss Graeme Souness.

       

James found favour under Souness’ successor Roy Evans, and became a regular in Liverpool’s team of the 1990s. James rose to fame together with Steve McManaman and Robbie Fowler, but they received criticism at the time for their collective culture of being “Spice Boys” - a derogatory term that signified the Liverpool team of that decade as more focused on partying than winning games. James was labelled as ‘unfocused’ and ‘inconsistent’ due to his involvement in modelling for Armani.[citation needed] James defended his actions, claiming that the modelling affairs were “blown out of proportion"[citation needed] and that he only flew to Milan for the catwalk or for fashion shoots on a Monday and would be back the next day in training, with the approval of then coach Roy Evans.

       

Despite winning the League Cup in 1995, Liverpool’s side at the time had failed to oust rivals Manchester United as England’s premier club, due to the team’s poor defensive record coupled with James’ occasional high-profile mistakes. In 1997, he publicly put down his spate of errors to an overindulgence of playing computer games that in turn affected his concentration.[citation needed] His reputation for making mistakes soon earned him the nickname Calamity James. This nickname is either a pun on Calamity Jane or a reference to a character in The Beano comic, also called Calamity James.

       

With the arrival of American goalkeeper Brad Friedel, his place at Liverpool became less assured, and in 1999 he was sold to Aston Villa, where his inconsistency continued; he proved to be the hero in saving penalties against Bolton Wanderers in a 2000 FA Cup semi-final, but then was blamed for conceding Chelsea’s winning goal in the ensuing final.

       

James moved to West Ham United in summer 2001, where his consistency improved, but he was unable to help the club avert relegation from the Premier League in 2003. In January 2004, he returned to the Premier League, signing for Manchester City. James helped the club stay up that season with two crucial penalty saves towards the end of the season. He has also been given a new lease of life by Stuart Pearce, his manager at Man City, who played him as a striker for the last few minutes of the 2004-05 season.

       

After making 10 England under-21 appearances whilst at Watford, James made his full debut for England in a friendly against Mexico in 1997 as a Liverpool player. For several years, however, he had to play understudy to England’s regular keeper, David Seaman. When Seaman was dropped after making a mistake against Macedonia in 2002, James became the new England No. 1, and played in all England’s matches in Euro 2004. However, James has not started a competitive match for England since an error in a 2-2 draw against Austria in September 2004, his place being taken by Paul Robinson.

       

After conceding all four goals during a 4-1 drubbing England suffered at the hands of Denmark during a summer friendly on 17 August 2005 - resulting in their worst defeat in 25 years - James was displaced by Robinson as England’s #1 keeper. James is still part of the England squad, as he was selected as the second-choice goalkeeper behind Robinson for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.


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