James started his career at Buckley Town Juniors and at the age of 9 he joined the academy at Connah’s Quay. His quality and skill set saw James work his way up through the years.

During this time, he went back to Buckley at under 15s level as he played up a year before returning to the Nomads at under 14s. On his return to Connah’s Quay, he went on to score 21 goals as they finished 3rd in the league.

Scoring goals was part of Hughes’ game and this was recognised in 2024/25 season, as he was given his first appearance for Connah’s Quay first team coming on as a substitute in the Nathaniel MG Cup against Aberystwyth. He was part of the squad for the play of conference in the Cymru Premier as they beat Newtown AFC 1-0.

Last season, James’ stats spoke for themselves as he was part of the Reserve and development team at Nomads. Over both leagues he went on to make a total of 35 appearances, scoring 30 goals and 14 assists. There were hat tricks against Flint Town and Holywell town, along with braces against Gresford, Newtown and Caernarfon to name a few.

His form earned him a place in the squad for the first team games in the Cymru Premier and the experience he has gained from this will put him in good stead for Airbus for the up-and-coming Novira Cymru Premier!

We would also like to thank Connah's Quay for their effort and time on getting this through on time!