PLAYER PROFILE

David James

Position: Goal

Height: 6'4

Weight: 14st 11lbs

Date of Birth: 1970-08-01 Welwyn, England

David James

David James signed for Manchester City in a £2million deal during the January transfer window in 2004, arriving to fill the hole left by the retirement of former England keeper David Seaman.

James had been with West Ham, arriving at Upton Park in a £3.5million move from Aston Villa in July 2001, on the same day as former team-mate Gareth Southgate joined Middlesbrough. But whilst Southgate's transfer was inevitable, James' sudden departure caught many Villa fans by surprise, just as his eventual move to Manchester City would do to Hammers supporters.

The towering England goalkeeper had been one of the club's critics in the past, but his career resurgence under boss John Gregory and continuing involvement in the England set-up saw him re-think his transfer request - a new lucrative contract might have also helped.

However, during the 2000/01 season James spoke out about his concerns that the club lacked ambition and it was thought that he could well leave the club. Although these fears were eased, it became clear that the England keeper would have no future at Villa Park when the club accepted West Ham's £3.5million bid.

James began his career at Watford but made his name at Liverpool where he developed a reputation as a solid shot stopper. However, James ended an erratic 98/99 season at Liverpool by signing for Villa in June '99. On his day, James is a fabulous goalkeeper, with excellent shot stopping abilities, whilst on a bad day James's errors can cost the team vital points. He has been known as "the Vampire - because he doesn't like crosses" and "calamity James".

A bad knee injury sustained at Arsenal put him out of action early in the 99/00 season. He was then involved in a car crash on the eve of his return to the first team, which left him shaken. James did eventually return to the side and has produced excellent goalkeeping displays on a regular basis for Villa, repaying the faith that Gregory had shown in buying him.

His injury jinx struck again, however, just a few weeks after signing for West Ham whilst playing for England. A clash of knees forced the keeper out of the friendly match against Holland and curtailed his Hammers' career before it had even started - ligament damage ruling him out until after Christmas.

Nevertheless, upon his return James once again showed his quality and his arrival in the West Ham first team coincided with an upturn in fortunes for Glenn Roeder's side, with a series of victories and positive results in the second half of the season helping them finish seventh in the Barclaycard Premiership table.

However, the following season saw the Hammers struggle throughout, and they were relegated on the last day. Many expected James to leave to ensure that he did not lose his England place by playing in the First Division, but he stayed on until January 2004 when Manchester City signed him to replace the retiring David Seaman.

He made his debut for City in their 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers a week after playing his last game for the Hammers. He played almost every game from then till the end of the season.

Seaman's retirement allowed James to wear England's number one jersey on a more regular basis, and helped England as far as the quarter-finals in Euro 2004, when the game with Portugal ended up in a penalty shoot-out.

The 2004/05 campaign saw his success continue. Although he had to fight for his England place with Paul Robinson, he still collected a further 4 caps. On the domestic front, he played 39 games for City, keeping 11 clean sheets.

By the time the 2006 World Cup came around however, he had well and truly lost his regular place in the England team to Paul Robinson, so he again had to watch on the sidelines as he had in 2002. The 2005/06 season saw the usual mixture of great performances and bizarre mistakes, though his place in the City team was never in question.

However, in August 2006 he became unsettled at City, wanting to live nearer to his southern-based fiance. He therefore moved to Portsmouth for a fee of £1.2million.

He settled in immediately at Fratton Park and had one of his best seasons yet, breaking David Seaman's record of the most Premier League clean sheets (141).

He is vital to Pompey's future success.