James McFarlane McArthur (born 7 October 1987) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder.

McArthur started his career at Hamilton Academical and was part of the team that won the 2007–08 Scottish First Division title.

Such was his progress that he was given the captaincy for Hamilton against Aberdeen in February 2008 for a Scottish Cup tie[9] and nominated for the First Division Player of the Year for the 2007–08 season.

On 5 April 2010, McArthur went on a three-day visit to Premier League club Wigan Athletic with a view to a permanent move in the summer.

[19] On 1 September 2014, McArthur signed a three-year contract with Crystal Palace after joining from Wigan Athletic for an undisclosed fee;[20] due to a clause in his Wigan contract, his former club Hamilton received a sell-on fee from the Crystal Palace transfer, which they used to invest in the youth system through which the player had emerged.

[24] In May 2018, having helped his club to maintain top division status for the fifth consecutive season of his spell at Selhurst Park, McArthur was recognised by the Premier League for reaching 200 appearances in the competition.

[31] On 16 November 2010, McArthur made his senior international debut as a second-half substitute for Charlie Adam against the Faroe Islands.