James leaves his past behind

DONNA WALSH/Waikato Times

WELSH DEAL: Ceri James trains with his new club in preparation for the new season.

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Welsh soccer player Ceri James joins Melville United with a reputation as a strong midfielder and a solid distributor – but he has a chequered past.

Melville's first game defending their Northern League title is today at Gower Park against Glenfield Rovers and it will be the first chance for James to show his wares in a competitive game for his new club.

James, 26, missed two years of his career after being suspended for returning a positive drugs test in 2007.

James was advised by the Football Association of Wales to plead guilty as it would help his chances of a lesser suspension. He was originally suspended for 10 weeks, but the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed the decision – on the last day possible – and it was extended to two years. "I've moved on from it," James said.

"To be honest, I'm not here to get away from that, I've been back playing for a year now."

In a statement at James' hearing he said he was peer pressured into taking cocaine on a night out with friends and said it was a mistake.

It's behind him, and he's now focused on his game and enjoying his time in New Zealand as much as possible.

Spies at Melville have said James is class and is likely to stand out this season for the defending champions.

James said his team-mates and the Melville club had made him feel welcome and he was already enjoying his time here.

"It's a lot different from home," he said.

"Everyone's really friendly. The first day I was in the changing sheds, guys were coming up to me and saying, `Hi, I'm such and such'.

"At home you sit in the corner for a while when you're new."

James said the only thing he wasn't enjoying in New Zealand was the hard pitches, so he'll likely come into his own when they get wetter and heavier.

He knows very little in terms of other teams' and players' reputations which he said would be a good thing, but what he did know, he'd picked up from Ryan Harden, who lives close to James in Wales and played for Melville two seasons ago.

As for pedigree, James comes with plenty for the Northern League.

He has played in the Welsh Premier League and when he was playing for Welshpool he missed a spot in the Europa League by a single point.

"I'd compare it to about League Two in England," he said of the Welsh Premier League.

He was impressed with the organisation of the sport in New Zealand and had seen a few New Zealand Football Championship games.

"I think a team like Auckland City wouldn't win the Welsh Premier League, but they're about that level, they'd finish maybe sixth or seventh."

Being the team's import or foreign player often comes with an added pressure, an expectation to dominate other teams, or score lots of goals, but James said pressure didn't concern him and put more pressure on himself.

"I want to prove myself to the boys and to (coach) Steve (Williams) to show they made a good decision on bringing me out here," he said.

As for scoring all the goals: "I'm more of a passer, the other boys can take all the glory."

- © Fairfax NZ News