Having been with two Third North clubs, without making either first team, James Ellison joined Second Division Southampton from Rhyl United. While there he won Welsh League representative honours in 1925. Signed initially as an amateur, James turned pro early in the 1927-28 season. He would complete that season having had just the one outing for the first team, but 56 for the Reserves – in the last of which against Charlton when a scout from Arsenal was taking an interest, he burst a thigh muscle.

His pace was one of his main assets and he was never the same player again, walking with a pronounced limp for the rest of his life. Even so, he did manage a few games for Rochdale, back in Division III(N), and then played or coached for a while, latterly working for Forster’s Glass Company in St. Helens and turning out for their works-team. In 1939 his occupation was listed as a glassworker/skilled sorter.