Dai James was born in Aberdare in in 1899. He joined his hometown club, Aberdare Athletic in 1921, ahead of their first season in the Football League, and went on to make 171 appearances in the Third Division South playing at centre half, wing half and all the forward positions in a five-and-a-half-year stay.
He moved to Brighton & Hove Albion, in December 1926, and made a further 32 appearances scoring 9 goals before being released at the end of the 1928–29 season.