Jason Koumas, nicknamed ‘Welsh Wizard’ is an international footballer who plays in the mid-field position. Son of a Greek Cypriot restaurant owner, he was born on September 25, 1979 in Wrexham, Wales. He made his international debut for Wales in a game against Ukraine in 2001 though he was eligible and called to play for Cyprus. He scored a goal in the 3-1 win over Cyprus in October 2006 and a brace in the comfortable 4-0 win over Liechtenstein in November 2006. On June 1, 2008 Jason Koumas captained the side for the first time in a match against Netherlands.
Jason Koumas played youth football at the Liverpool academy after which he joined Tranmere Rovers and made his first professional appearance for them in the 1998-99 season. He started making regular appearance for the club since the 2000-01 season and the next season he was named in the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) Division Two team of the year.
In August 2002, West Bromwich Albion’s Manager Gary Megson spotted his potential and signed him for a transfer fee of £2.25 million. Jason Koumas won the First Division Player of the Month award for November 2003 and also named in the First Division Team of the Year. In the summer of 2004, Jason Koumas signed a new contract with West Bromwich Albion.
At the start of the 2005-06 season, he was loaned out to Cardiff City for which he scored in his debut against Leeds United after coming in as a substitute. In that season, he scored 13 goals in 44 appearances and earned the club’s Player of the Year award besides being named in the Championship’s PFA Team of the Season. Cardiff City attempted to sign Jason Koumas on a permanent deal before the start of the 2006-07 season, but West Bromwich Albion turned down the deal. Later Jason Koumas signed a new three-year deal with West Bromwich Albion and became a first-team regular again. He won the Powerade Championship Player of the Month award for December 2006 and capped it off with the Championship Player of the Year award in March 2007 at the Football League Awards. In April 2007, he was named in the Championship Team of the Year.
On July 11, 2007, Wigan Athletic signed him for a transfer fee of £5.3 million and Jason Koumas made his debut for the club on August 11, 2007 against Everton. On his 300th career league appearance, Jason Koumas scored his first and the equalizing goal for the club in the 1-1 draw against Fulham.
