James Oliver Charles Tomkins (born 29 March 1989) is an English professional footballer who last played as a centre-back for Premier League club Crystal Palace.

Aged seven, Tomkins was spotted while playing for his local Sunday League side and signed into West Ham United's youth academy.

[8] He played 8 times in all competitions for Derby County during his loan spell, before being recalled to West Ham on 31 December 2008 by manager Gianfranco Zola.

On 21 March 2009, he started and played the full 90 minutes alongside Jonathan Spector in a 1–1 draw with Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.

Initially desputising for the injured Collins, he managed to stake his claim ahead of the Welsh international, and on 4 April 2009, scored his first senior goal, a header from Mark Noble's corner, in a 2–0 win over Sunderland.

After the departure of James Collins and with Danny Gabbidon injured, Tomkins retained his place in the starting eleven at the beginning of the 2009–10 season, losing it to new signing Manuel da Costa for several games.

[12] He was named Man of the Match by Sky Sports as he and Upson helped keep the Hammers' first clean sheet of the year in the away draw against Aston Villa on 17 January 2010.

[14] It was the 2011–12 season that Tomkins found his feet in the West Ham United first team, forging a partnership at the back with New Zealand's Winston Reid.

During the 2011–12 season, he was linked with a £4 million move to both Queens Park Rangers and Newcastle United of the Premier League, but the speculation soon ended about his future when he signed a new four-and-a-half-year deal at West Ham on 21 January running until summer 2016.

[24] His shoulder injury kept him out of the side from March 2015, finally returning for the last game of the season, replacing Reece Burke in the 69th minute, a 2–0 away defeat to Newcastle United.

[33] Tomkins has represented England at U15,[34] U16,[35] U17, U19 and U21 levels[4] and played in every match of the 2008 UEFA U-19 Championships along with club mate Freddie Sears.