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James Oliver Vaughan (born 14 July 1988 in Birmingham, England) is an English footballer, who currently plays for Everton F.C. He plays as a striker and represents England at Under-21 level. He is also the Premiership’s youngest goalscorer. He is also eligible to play for the Trinidad & Tobago national football team due to his father's heritage.

He was spotted by the Blues’ talent scouts while playing in the Preston area. He was a member of the 2002 Milk Cup winning squad and voted by his fellow team-mates as the Under-16s player of the season for 2003/4.

Vaughan scored a number of goals for the reserve team during the 2004/05 season, catching the eye of the manager. He was named among the substitutes for the first time on Saturday, February 19th for the FA Cup Fifth Round tie against Manchester United and was also named in the Blues’ 16 a week later for the 3-1 win at Aston Villa. His 73rd-minute substitute appearance against Crystal Palace on April 10, 2005, ensured that the 16-year-old from Birmingham broke Joe Royle’s record as the club’s youngest first-team player by 11 days, as he was just 16 years and 271 days old.

Then his 84th-minute strike not only made him Everton’s youngest-ever scorer, surpassing Wayne Rooney at 16 years 360 days, but he also overtook James Milner as the Premiership’s youngest scorer, who previously held the record at 16 years 357 days.

Vaughan signed his first professional contract in the summer of 2005, agreeing a two year contract. Early in the 2005/06 campaign, however, he sustained a knee ligament injury whilst on international duty with England Under-18s. A series of complications sidelined him for the remainder of the campaign and did not have the chance to establish himself as a regular in the senior squad.

Vaughan made his return for Everton reserves on the 29/8/06 against Newcastle. He played 63 minutes scoring a goal in the process. Just two weeks later, Vaughan received a great morale boost when he was called up to the England under 19 squad.

In that U-19's game against Switzerland, for a further boost to his return, Vaughan came on as a second half substitute and scored a 90th- minute goal with a header that won the match for England, 3-2. He got his long awaited 2nd Everton goal in the 93rd minute of a 2-0 win over West Ham. Vaughan, despite suffering a severed foot artery in a match with Bolton, went on to score three more goals in the final stages of the 06/07 season including one against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

At the end of the 2006/07 season Vaughan extended his current contract with Everton until the summer of 2011. He was awarded the Evertonfc.com 'Young Player of the season' award, at an awards ceremony held at St. George's Hall, and was named in Stuart Pearce's 23-man squad for the England U21's European Championship campaign. His first appearance for the side came as a substitute in the 2-2 draw with Italy on June 14th.

On July 18th in a pre-season friendly, Vaughan suffered a dislocated shoulder following an innocuous challenge with Preston North End defender Youl Mawene. He was out of action for three months before returning in late October. He made his Premier League return in a match against Birmingham City F.C. in which he came on as a substitute in the last 10 minutes. He went on to score in stoppage time and ensured Everton victory where they won 3-1.

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• Although born in Birmingham, Vaughan talks with a scouse accent.^{[citation needed]}

• He ran the 100 metres in 11.5 seconds as a 13 year old. In 1999, was recognised as the 3rd fastest 11 year old in Britain. [1]

• Vaughan scored 136 goals in one season for Hill West Primary in Sutton Coldfield, beating the national schools record previously held by Ian Rush and Michael Owen.[2].

• He scored 103 goals in 29 games for Everton's youth team in 1998/99 as a ten year old. [3].

• Vaughan's father, Dorrington, was a professional rugby player for the Preston Grasshoppers.[4]

• As a child, Vaughan's footballing idols were John Barnes and Ian Wright. [5]

• James Vaughan career stats at Soccerbase
• James Vaughan's Official Website
• James Vaughan's Un-Official Fansite
• Everton FC profile
• An England prospect?