Born in 1996, Tom James came through Cardiff City's academy and made his debut for the Bluebirds in May 2024, coming off the bench in a 2-1 loss against Chelsea.

The defender moved to the Sky Bet League Two team Yeovil Town in January 2017, featuring regularly for the Glovers and scoring an impressive six goals in 38 league appearances in his final season at the Club. Overall, he played 96 times for Yeovil, scoring eight goals, before switching to Scottish Premiership club Hibernian in June 2019.

He featured six times for Hibbs in the 2019/20 season and had loan spells at Wigan Athletic and Salford City during the 2020/21 campaign before moving permanently to Orient in July 2021.

James played 21 times in Sky Bet League Two in his first term at the Club, scoring four goals, before playing regularly the following season, appearing 41 times and helping the O's clinch the title. The 30-year-old spent five campaigns at Orient, playing 191 times across all competitions, scoring 11 goals and registering 15 assists.