Boston, in Lincolnshire, England - not Boston Massachusetts - isn't the greatest environment for a young person to prosper. 

And for a then-20-year-old - who had some talent on the football pitch, but had been expelled from school and the Nottingham Forest junior system - living in Boston forced him to take a good hard look at his life and future.

The solution?

He had to get as far away as possible. Immediately.

So the East-London born youngster backed himself to reinvent his life.

And Canberra, the capital of Australia, is about as far away as you can get.

Smart move.

Five years later, “TJ” as he’s known is the hottest striker outside the A-League and Wollongong Wolves' main man in the NSW NPL. 

He’s scored a staggering number of goals in Australia’s second-tier part-time NPL leagues, is on the cusp of gaining his Australian residency, and has set himself up outside of football with his studies.

You have to admire his get up and go.

“When my parents split up when I was pretty young, I moved back up north from East London to a place called Boston,” he tells FTBL.

“I grew up there – and,” he pauses, “it’s not a very nice place.”

However, James was good enough to play for Nottingham Forest up to his teens, before turning out for Boston Town and Boston United in the Conference League.

“And then when I was 20, I just needed a lifestyle change. I wasn’t in a good place at the time," he says. 

With his life at a crossroads, and with no plan to play football in Australia, James says by luck he met “some good people” in Canberra.

“And life changed very quickly. I can’t fault what I’ve done so far in Australia. Australia is the best country in the world!

“So I started playing in Canberra and it went a bit well,” he recalls in one of the understatements of the year.

“A bit well” by James’ standards equates to an astounding 80 goals in 83 games in four years in the Capital Football NPL.

In 2018, for instance, he banged in 19 goals in 17 games for Canberra FC.

Being on a visa, the club sponsored him and he also began studying building and construction management and business management.

Apt given he’s built a new life.

He graduated last December.

The ACT may be the capital of Australia, but the most powerful NPLs are in Sydney and Melbourne.

So, this year, he was lured to Wollongong Wolves by former Bristol City, Middlesbrough, Dynamo Moscow and Feyenoord defender Luke Wilkshire.

The now-retired 37-year-old World Cup Socceroo was building his coaching career in the NSW NPL on the scenic south coast, about an hour’s drive from Sydney.

The former Socceroo knew James was the missing ingredient.

And you guessed it, 22 goals later, the now 26-year-old is the newly crowned NSW NPL Golden Boot as the league winners Wolves chase Grand Final glory.

From Boston to the beach at Wollongong, James’ reinvention is now complete.

He couldn’t be happier with life, while his accent is a hybrid of regional English and larrikin Aussie.

“When Luke called me, things changed. When someone with that calibre calls you, you’ve got to show him a bit of respect.

“I signed after playing against an A-League side and he liked how I played.”

James now lives near the stunning Wollongong beach. He has a revitalised football career and his study is paying off too.

He’s a good example of how to change your life. For the better.

James says he hasn’t achieved anything but has progressed his life as a human being.

“I got expelled from school for being a bad kid, and they expelled me from Nottingham Forest academy also," he reveals.

“And so I went to a school away from my hometown to get away from all the people I went to school at the primary level.

“When I hit 20, I needed a lifestyle change. There’s not much opportunity in Boston. I needed to escape from the life I was living and what I was involved in back home.

“I needed to get away. It was a 26-hour flight and for the first few weeks, I hated it. I wanted to come home.

“But I’m still close with the family I stayed with in Canberra who put me onto Canberra FC.

“After a year, I went home to Boston and was so depressed. But I got a call to come back to Canberra and I continued scoring goals for them.”

James is a visa player, which means his chances of playing in the A-League are tougher given most clubs will look to Europe or South America to fill those spots.

He’s applied for his residency last December.

Ironically it’s probably someone in Canberra’s immigration who is pondering James’ future as we speak.

Could this story be completed by James becoming a professional?

That is the question for any A-League club seeking a striker who knows exactly where the back of the net is. 

“There’s no doubt with a second division coming in below the A-League in the next few years, this will benefit young Aussie talent get a shot at professional football," James says. 

“And with social media being so prevalent, you don’t even need scouts.

“A-League clubs just need to tap into lower leagues and find out about players they could potentially sign,” he notes.

For now, the Manchester United fan (“I was a huge fan of Rooney, Ronaldo and also Van Nistelrooy and I liked Henry”) trains three nights a week.

He is kept busy as a project manager in construction and he lives on the beach in Wollongong.

You have to say his life has turned out well. In just five years, too.

“It’s definitely a better life than to grow up in England," he says. "There’s not much opportunity where I grew up and not much chance to progress in life as a human being.

“You get caught in a trap, which sounds like an Elvis Presley song!" he says with a laugh, "but it’s exactly right for where I grew up.

“If I hadn’t made this move, I wouldn’t want to picture my life.

“I’d probably be in jail by now. Like all my friends back home.”