Commanding figure who became Glenn Roeder's first major signing in the summer when he arrived from Aston Villa for a fee of £3.25million.

For James, it provided a welcome reunion with the Hammers boss, who played in front of him at Watford when the two were at opposite ends of their careers back in the early 90s.

Born in Welwyn Garden City, James began his career at Vicarage Road and made 98 League and Cup appearances for the Hornets before a £1million move to Liverpool in July 1992.

He spent seven years as first choice goalkeeper at Anfield, making a total of 277 League and Cup appearances before Aston Villa snapped him up for £1.7million in June 1999.

In his first season at Villa Park, he picked up an FA Cup runners-up medal and also became a well-known figure at Upton Park after his much-publicised spat with Paolo Di Canio after the infamous Worthington Cup quarter-final between the two sides - a rift that the two have now happily put behind them.

At the start of last season he handed in a written transfer request to Villa boss John Gregory before withdrawing it three days later.

He then went on to prove himself as one of the Premiership's most consistent stoppers and was rewarded with a return to international football by England caretaker boss Peter Taylor for the friendly against Italy in November 2000.

He impressed enough to keep his place for Eriksson's first match in charge against Spain in February this year, and also came on as a second half substitute in the 4-0 win over Mexico in May.

Sadly injured knee ligaments playing in England's warm-up game v Holland on 15th August, forcing him to miss the first few months of this season.