James became Peter Taylor's fourth signing for Palace during the summer of 2006, when he arrived in SE25 from Coventry City for a transfer fee which could eventually total £500,000.

A strong and tall forward, Scowcroft has been used in a variety of roles throughout his career, but Taylor used him as an out-and-out centre forward for the Eagles from where he can be a goal threat and also a provider for team-mates.

Not only is he a handful for opposition defences because of his height and aerial ability, but he can also prove a threat with his intelligence and he has been known to provide ammunition for team-mates with probing through passes and flick-ons.

His first season at Selhurst started quite brightly and he got off the mark on his league debut on the opening day of the campaign by netting the winner against former club Ipswich Town and he added to that with an equaliser against Burnley before the first month of the season had passed.

However, after scoring against Barnsley on November 11th, James had to wait until the final game of the season at Colchester United's Layer Road before his next strike to finish up with five goals for the season.

A combination of niggling injuries and illness during the season disrupted his opportunities but, as Taylor often pointed out, he wasn't in the team purely for his goalscoring and his predecessor Neil Warnock thought the same.     

In 2007/08 Scowcroft has been an integral figure under Warnock, providing a perfect foil for Clinton Morrison's pace as well as chipping in with some goals of his own.  

Born in Bury St.Edmunds, James began his career with his local club Ipswich, where he burst on to the scene as a teenager in the mid 1990's and quickly became a popular player at Portman Road.

Alongside the likes of Richard Wright, Richard Naylor and Kieron Dyer, he was seen as one of the prized jewells in Ipswich's crown and developed his game considerably under the management of George Burley.

It was not unusual to see Scowcroft linked with a move away from Portman Road to the Premiership and international recognition followed with appearances in the England Under 21 team too, where he first worked with Taylor, then in charge of the national youngsters.

He made well over 200 appearances for Ipswich and netted over 50 goals, but in the summer of 2001 a bid of £3 million was accepted from Leicester City and he was on his way to the East Midlands.

Spending nearly four years at Leicester City, during which he again worked with Taylor, Scowcroft proved a useful member of the Foxes squad and clocked up nearly 150 appearances and it was during his time with City that he began to feature more and more in that deeper role on the field.

When his contract expired at the Walkers Stadium in the summer of 2005, City decided to release him as they looked to rebuild following the financial problems they had encountered after relegation from the top flight and former City boss Micky Adams took him to Coventry City.

Again, he was utilised in more of a midfield role during the 2005/06 campaign at the Ricoh Arena, but following his move to Palace, he will now be hoping to re-establish himself as one of the more feared strikers in the Championship.