Marlon James (footballer)

Marlon Alex James (born 16 November 1976) is a retired Vincentian soccer player.

Marlon Alex James
James in 2009
Personal information
Full name Marlon Alex James
Date of birth (1976-11-16) 16 November 1976
Place of birth Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Height 6 ft 1.5 in (1.87 m)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1993–1994 Youth Olympians
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1997 Combined Stars FC 79 (63)
1998–1999 Newwill Hope International FC 56 (42)
2000 Bray Wanderers 0 (0)
2001–2002 Tirsense 33 (24)
2002–2003 Youth Olympians 29 (25)
2003–2004 Newwill Hope International FC 16 (20)
2004–2005 Selangor MK Land FC 39 (41)
2005 Newwill Hope International FC
2006–2008 Kedah FA 44 (44)
2009–2010 Vancouver Whitecaps 23 (10)
2009 → Whitecaps Residency (loan) 1 (1)
2012–2014 ATM FA 54 (47)
Total 374 (317)
National team‡
1995–2008 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 55 (12)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 October 2013
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 28 March 2013

Career

Youth and early Caribbean career

James began his career in his native St. Vincent with the Youth Olympians, and played club soccer for Combined Stars FC and Newwill Hope International FC, eventually turning professional in 2000.

Professional

James began his professional career in Ireland with Bray Wanderers. He transferred to FC Tirsense in the Portuguese Second Division in 2001, and later played for Selangor MK Land FC in Malaysia, scoring 19 league goals in 2004 and 22 goals in 2005. He also played for Selangor FA in 2005 for Sultan Selangor Cup against Singapore FA.

James enjoyed a hugely successful period with Kedah FA in Malaysia between 2006 and 2008. On 8 September 2007, his two goals enabled Kedah FA to clinch the Malaysia Cup title in a 3–0 win over Perak FA at National Stadium Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, and also brought Kedah FA to the highest level in Malaysian football history. James received the 2006/2007 Most Valuable Foreign Player award in the 100Plus-F.A.M National Football Awards after his team won the treble – Malaysian FA Cup, Malaysian Super League, and Malaysia Cup. He scored a total of 40 goals in those 3 competitions. He also retained his Most Valuable Foreign Player award in the next season after helping Kedah FA to win another treble in the 2007/2008 season.

After the Football Association of Malaysia barred foreign players from competing in the 2008 season of the Malaysia Super League, James moved to Canada, signing a two-year deal with the Vancouver Whitecaps in the USL First Division.[1]

After residing in his homeland and resting from playing football for a year, he returned to Malaysia and joined the Malaysia Premier League club, ATM FA alongside Bruno Martelotto.[2] Marlon helped ATM FA won the 2012 Malaysia Premier League, runners-up in the 2012 Malaysia Cup as well as won the Super League Golden Boot for the second time in 2013.

In May 2014, Marlon terminated his contract with ATM FA and subsequently retired from playing football professionally, due to persistent injuries which made him missed most of the ATM FA's 2014 season matches.[3][4][5]

International

James has represented St. Vincent & Grenadines. Since 1995, the striker has earned 55 caps and scored 12 goals for his country, including four goals in 10 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches. His last international goal was scored against Canada in Montreal, Canada on 20 June 2008, when St. Vincent & Grenadines lost 4–1 in the qualifying stages for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Honours

Kedah FA

ATM FA

Individual

References
  1. Whitecaps sign Marlon James. whitecapsfc.com (23 December 2008)
  2. Quality of imports come into question Retrieved at 6 December 2011
  3. TERIMA kasih & selamat tinggal Marlon Alex James!. atmfa.my (15 May 2014)
  4. T. Avineshwaran (10 May 2014) Thank you Marlon – The Gaffer | The Star Online. Thestar.com.my. Retrieved on 29 October 2016.
  5. Nik Afiq (15 April 2014) Marlon Alex James calls it a day and leaves ATM. Goal.com. Retrieved on 29 October 2016.
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