20/07/98 Joined Southampton Football Club Limited
1998-99 turned out to be an excellent season for James, he became an England U21 International making his debut against France U21 at Pride Park, going on to win a total of four caps. Expecting only occasional first team outings he was thrown into the thick of a relegation battle. Very strong in the air and having great physical presence that unsettled opponents he won instant acclaim with the Saints fans. In a season that became known as the great escape his five goals and seven assists proved vital in premiership survival. James was voted Southampton's "Player of the Year".
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1999/2000 season was very frustrating, a groin operation at the end of last season and a fall at the beginning of the new season kept him out of action for the early part of the campaign. Struggling for fitness coupled with a subsequent loss of form James found competition for places much stronger and his chances were limited. A change of manager at the turn of the year gave James a fresh opportunity but an ankle injury at Arsenal sidelined him once again. The season ended as it had started with James struggling for fitness. One positive thing was a further England U21 cap against Poland.
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2000/2001 saw further additions to the squad that left James down the pecking order and out of contention for a starting place. The club decided to sell James and accepted an offer from 1st division club Crystal Palace. With two years left on his contract with Southampton James turned down the move deciding to stay with the premiership club and fight for his place. His chance came in the sixth game of the season at home to Newcastle, in the bottom three with no wins and only three points from five games Southampton were in desperate need of a win, the win duly came, James started the following game at Bradford were Saints registered one of only three away victories. The two wins and six points lifted Saints well clear of the relegation zone. The next four games saw James return to the substitutes bench, with only one point from these four games and back in the bottom three James was included in the starting eleven for the home game against Chelsea. This was the start of a successful period for the team that saw them pull clear of the relegation zone. On a personal level James scored 10 goals in 10 games and won the December "Carling Player of the Month" award. A change of formation saw James playing the lone striker role, he found goals harder to come by but the team became very hard to beat and picked up 19 points in a seven game unbeaten run that saw them rise to eighth place in the league. James was awarded a new contract in March that keeps him at the club till 2005. He ended the season as the clubs leading goal scorer with 12 goals.
Top of the page2001/2002 was a season of mixed fortunes for James.
Following his spell of 10 goals in as many games towards the end of the year 2000 this season was seen by many as very important in his premiership career.
He came through with flying colours, for the second season in a row he achieved double figures in league goals which was a very good return considering he missed 3 months of the season due to an ankle injury.
He also contributed 5 assists and was Southamptons top player according to the Opta Index.
His heading ability caused havoc for a number of defences and his tally of 164 aerial flick ons was bettered by just four other premiership strikers.
As 2001 drew to a close James was in impressive form, he had scored four times in four games and with a number of international friendlies coming up he was being tipped for a first full England cap. Sadly after scoring the opening goal against Manchester United with a powerful header he sustained the ankle injury that ruled him out for three months and the opportunity passed him by.
Top of the page2002/03 turned out to be an excellent season, Southampton finished in eighth place in the league their highest final place since the formation of the Premiership, they also reached the FA Cup Final losing by just one goal to Arsenal.
On a personal level James had a magnificent season, a run of 20 goals in 21 games saw him become the first player to score 10 and then 20 Premier league goals, his final tally of 23 league goals earned him third place in the Premiership top scorers and joint seventh in the European top scorers list.
James has had impressive goal scoring runs in the past but this season he remained injury free and managed to keep the run going longer, for the second season in a row he was Southamptons top player according to the Opta Index.
For those who enjoy a wager and like to predict the first goalscorer James was again good value, he scored 12 first goals, for those who like to predict who will score most goals in a season his third place in the leagues top scorers made him a winning each way bet.
As we reached the end of 2002 James' fine form earned him the Barclaycard player of the month award for November, he also received the PFA fans player of the month for December.
In much the same way as this time last year James impressive form was being noticed and with a friendly against Australia on the horizon he was once more tipped for a first full England cap. This year James remained injury free, his fine form continued throughout January and he was rewarded with a call up to the England squad, James made his full England debut at West Ham in the game against Australia. As the season came to a close there was a further honour as James with a number of others was shortlisted for the PFA player of the year award, the award was deservedly won by Arsenals Thiery Henry. To round off a memorable season James received another England call up that resulted in him making another appearance as he came on as a late substitute in the Serbia and Montinegro game at Leicester.
James extended his contract in March by one more year, this keeps him at the club till 2006.
Top of the page2003/04 James was once more Southamptons leading goalscorer with 17 goals. The season started with much excitement, expectation levels were high with fans looking forward to European football, watching new players and derby games with near neighbours Portsmouth. The excursion into European football was short lived as Saints drew 1-1 at home and lost 0-1 away to Steaua Bucharest. The first meeting with Portsmouth came at home on December 2nd in the 4th round of the Carling Cup, Sky sports carried the game live and Southampton fans went home happy as James scored both goals in a 2-0 win, the fans did not have to wait long for the next encounter just 19 days, Sky once more showed the game live as the home side came out on top with James, Pahars and Dodd scoring, 2003 ended with Saints in eighth place. 2004 started with manager Gordon Strachan announcing he was leaving Southampton at the end of the season, speculation about the return of Glen Hoddle followed, Gordon left early, Steve Wigley took over as caretaker manager before Paul Sturrock was appointed. This disrupted the season, results suffered and the season ended with Saints in 14th place. No sooner had the final ball been kicked that speculation of James leaving the club started.
Top of the page2004/05 Speculation that James was leaving Southampton persisted throughout the Summer as he was linked with first one club then another, offers were made for him but these were rejected by Southampton.
James missed the first game of the season away at Aston Villa with a calf strain but was back for the home game against his former club Blackburn Rovers, James scored a last minute penalty that gave Saints their first win of the season. With just two games of the new season gone manager Paul Sturrock was sacked, Steve Wigley took over. No explanation was given for the departure of Paul Sturrock, however, as is often the case fans looked for reasons, somehow player power and James became linked to the managers departure,
A broken toe sidelined James for six games but with the impending derby against Portsmouth in mind he was rushed back, Saints got the victory they wanted. James continued to struggle for fitness and Southampton struggled for results, as the year came to a close with Saints in the relegation zone Steve Wigley was replaced by Harry Rednapp, this signalled the end of James career with Saints.
Southampton received offers for James from both Everton and Aston Villa. The Everton offer was accepted and James was given permission to speak with them, a week later he was also given permission to talk to Aston Villa. Having made only eleven appearances this season for Saints and fully aware of the clubs need to generate funds to strengthen the squad James agreed to his transfer and after much deliberation chose Everton. James had six and a half very enjoyable seasons with Saints, he thanked the fans for their support said goodbye to his Southampton team mates and staff then made the trip to Goodison and signed for Everton on tuesday 4th January 2005.