Born Cardiff 10 November 1991.   

James Wood was a goalkeeper on loan from Manchester City. He played on 12 April 2011 against Swindon reserves in the Combination League.

James is the son of former Arsenal, Everton and Scotland goalkeeper George Wood. He moved from Cardiff City to Manchester City as an academy player for £40,000 compensation in 2006, never played for City's first-team and joined Exeter City on loan in April 2011. James was an unused substitute for four first-team games during his month at Exeter 

In October 2011 he signed for Neath, where he made 14 appearances, and moved to Aberystwyth Town in August 2012. 

After Aberystwyth, James spent several seasons in France playing for FC Libourne. He later became a goalkeeping coach in the Cardiff City academy.     

Speaking to the Everton Heritage Society’s website in 2020 James looked back to his time at Exeter:

“I went to Exeter, and to be fair to them it was a tough transition. As a 19/20-year-old, I’d gone from having everything handed to me on a plate at Man City to washing my own kit and having beans on toast after training. Everything was just a massive culture change.  Going into the changing room with 35-year-olds with different backgrounds. In a way, I think that was where I grew up to be a man.  Exeter City changed me completely. 

I eventually returned to Man City, but on the way, I was involved in a really bad car crash. I almost died and was out of football for about four months.”

Wood left Man City and played for Neath, Aberystwyth & FC Libourne (France).

Wood is now at Cardiff City as academy keeper coach. He did have a stint as 1st team keeper coach during the 2022/23 season.