Famous Players – The 1960’s

John (“Jessie”)  James

John began his career at the Vale, turning professional in April 1966 aged 18 and made his first appearance for the club that month. He also helped the youth team to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Youth Cup in 1966/67.

Initially a defender, manager Gordon Lee converted him into a striker. He became a first-team regular from September 1967 and went on to make more than 200 league appearances for Vale, including 43 in the club’s promotion season from the Fourth Division in 1969/70.

His goals were crucial to the club and he was top scorer in both 1969/70 with 17 goals and 1970/71 with 15 goals. However he subsequently missed much of the following campaign due to a cartilage injury which required two separate operations. After returning to the squad in February 1972, he was much less effective and lost his first-team spot. Nevertheless, he remained an extremely popular player at the club.

John was sold to Chester in 1973 and went on to also play for Tranmere Rovers and Stafford Rangers.

He died in February 2021 aged 72.