Stern John, CM (born 30 October 1976) is a Trinidadian football

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and former player who is currently managing

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindi ...

. He managed Anguilla from 2020 to 2022. He previously played for a number of American and English football clubs that included

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as on ...

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the ...

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

, Bristol City, Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town.

Club career

Early U.S. career

John was born in

Tunapuna Tunapuna is a town in the East–West Corridor of the island of Trinidad, in Trinidad and Tobago. Town Tunapuna is located between St. Augustine, Tacarigua and Trincity. Tunapuna is the largest town between San Juan and Arima. It is an impo ...

, Trinidad and Tobago, to a sporting family that included several professional footballers and cricket players. He played on the Trinidad and Tobago cricket youth national team until age 16, when he switched to playing soccer full-time. John moved to the United States in 1995 to attend New Jersey's Mercer County Community College. He had been recruited in Trinidad by the college's head coach, Charlie Inverso, who had previously sought international talent. John led the Mercer County Vikings to the 1995

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

soccer championship and scored 27 goals, including one in the final against Yavapai College. He made his professional debut for the

Carolina Dynamo North Carolina Fusion U-23, formerly known as Carolina Dynamo, is an American soccer team based in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1993, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. T ...

of the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competit ...

, the second division of U.S. club soccer, in April 1997 while on loan from the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association. John was traded to the New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers for

Jamie Wellington Jamie is a unisex name. It is a diminutive form of James or, more rarely, other names. It is also given as a name in its own right. People Female * Jamie Anne Allman (born 1977), American actress * Jamie Babbit (born 1970), American film and ...

a month later, having not scored a goal in five appearances for Carolina. With New Orleans, where he was paired with fellow Trinidadian forward

Mickey Trotman Mickey Trotman (21 October 1974 – 1 October 2001) was a football player from Trinidad and Tobago who played in the United States with the Dallas Burn, the Miami Fusion and the Rochester Rhinos, as well as representing the Trinidad and Tobago n ...

, John scored 16 goals in 21 appearances and was named Rookie of the Year. John was invited by the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

to their 1998 preseason camp, but was not retained after his trial. Following the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where he scored two goals, John was invited for a walk-on trial by the

. His second cousin

Ansil Elcock Ancil Elcock (born 17 March 1969) is a retired footballer from Trinidad and Tobago. He played for the MLS (USA's Major League Soccer) team Columbus Crew between 1997 and 2001 (130 games and 7 goals), and for Tobago United. He got 69 caps for the na ...

, a fellow Trinidad and Tobago international who had been signed by the Crew, had recommended John to head coach Tom Fitzgerald. Following a successful trial, John was signed and made his

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

debut on 29 March 1998 against the

Dallas Burn Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wit ...

, where he replaced Elcock but failed to score. He scored his first MLS goal in his fifth appearance, a 5–1 victory over the Miami Fusion, and ended the match with a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

and an assist. John ended his rookie MLS season as the league scoring champion with 26 goals in 27 matches and a place in the MLS Best XI. He was the first MLS player to score three hat-tricks in a single season, including 16 goals in a span of 12 matches. He scored 18 goals in the 1999 season, tied for the league's scoring leaderboard, and attracted interest from European clubs but declined a mid-season transfer. He ended his MLS career with 44 goals in 55 matches.

Nottingham Forest

After the 1999 season with Columbus, John was acquired by

of the English First Division for a fee of £1.5 million. However, eventual financial difficulties at Forest following the team's failed bid at promotion forced John's sale to

in February 2002, then pushing for promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

, for the sum of £100,000. John scored 18 goals in 49 starts for Forest.

Birmingham City

At Birmingham, John scored nine goals in 60 Premier League appearances in two full seasons and was effective with his hold up play and also had some memorable moments in the blue shirt of Birmingham, such as his turn and finish away at West Ham in 2002; his last minute equaliser at Villa Park in the Birmingham derby; and his last minute goal away at Millwall which put Birmingham through to the Playoff Final in 2002. He then scored one of the penalties in the play-off final shootout to help them get promoted to the Premier League. Popular with the Birmingham fans for his goals, he nonetheless fell out of favour with management, and was sold to

on 14 September 2004.

Coventry City

In his first season with Coventry, John finished second in team scoring with 12 goals despite starting in barely half of Coventry's games.

Derby County

At the start of the 2005–06 season, following the signing of

James Scowcroft James Benjamin Scowcroft (born 15 November 1975) is a retired footballer who played as a striker. He is currently a coach for the Ipswich Town academy. Scowcroft began his career at Ipswich Town, graduating from the club's academy. He went o ...

, John found himself outside of manager

Micky Adams Michael Richard Adams (born 8 November 1961) is an English former professional association football, footballer and football manager. As a player, he was a Full-back (football), full back, and made a total of 438 league appearances in a ninete ...

's first-team plans. As a result, he was loaned to

on 16 September 2005. He rejoined Coventry three months later.

Sunderland

On 29 January 2007, John was transferred to

for an undisclosed fee. The signing was Sunderland manager

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, coach and former professional player. He is the joint most successful Irish footballer of all time, having won 19 major trophies in his club career, 17 of which came during h ...

's sixth signing of the 2006–07 season January transfer window. He scored his first goals against Southend United in a 4–0 victory on 17 February 2007.

Southampton

On 29 August 2007, John moved to

as part of a deal that took his international teammate Kenwyne Jones in the opposite direction. He scored his first goals with two in a 3–2 win against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional Association football, football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English foo ...

on 6 October 2007. From then on he scored regularly for "The Saints", with nine goals in his first fifteen appearances, including a second half

hat trick A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mech ...

against Hull City on 8 December 2007. He finished the 2007–08 season fourth highest scorer in the Championship with 19 goals for Southampton. (He had also scored once for Sunderland in the

prior to his transfer.) Before being sent off for a second bookable offence, John scored two goals, including the match winner, in Southampton's final game of the season against Sheffield United, as the Saints narrowly avoided relegation to League One.

Bristol City

John was loaned to Bristol City in October 2008 until the end of the 2008–09 season. John made his first Bristol City appearance, coming on as a substitute, against Barnsley in a 0–0 draw. John scored his first goal for Bristol City in a 4–1 defeat to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

at Ashton Gate Stadium on 1 November 2008.

Crystal Palace

On 29 July 2009, John signed for Crystal Palace on a year-long deal after turning down an offer to stay at Southampton. He made his debut on the opening day of the season against

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park ...

, he had to come off after 35 minutes due to an injury. He returned in mid-October, but joined Ipswich Town on a one-month loan at the end of November. He scored his first goal for Ipswich in a 3–2 win over Coventry City on 16 January 2010. Upon his return to Palace he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 win at Watford on 30 March 2010. New Palace manager George Burley had hoped to discuss the player's future at the end of the season, but no discussion occurred, and John left the club.

Solihull Moors

In August 2012, after two seasons out of English football, John returned, signing for

Solihull Moors Solihull Moors Football Club is a professional football club based in Solihull, England. The club currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system, after achieving promotion from the National Lea ...

. He did not make an appearance in any competition for the club.

WASA FC

John retired and moved back to his native

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, small ...

after his spell at Solihull Moors. He came out of retirement a second time in order to join WASA FC of the National Super League of Trinidad and Tobago in January 2014. He scored on his debut

Central F.C.

John came out of retirement once again in 2016 when he was appointed as player-coach of Central F.C. in the

TT Pro League The TT Pro League (formerly known as the Professional Football League) is the Trinidad and Tobago professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division in the Trinidad ...

International career

John made his international debut for Trinidad and Tobago national team on 15 February 1995 against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

in a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

at the

Queen's Park Oval The Queen's Park Oval is a sports stadium in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, used mostly for cricket matches. It opened in 1896. Privately owned by the Queen's Park Cricket Club, it is currently the second largest capacity cricket ground in ...

, scoring one goal on his debut. He was a vital player for the ''Soca Warriors'' and remains the team's all-time leading scorer with 70 goals in 115 caps. He was also the 7th highest international goalscorer at the time of his retirement in 2011. He is also the all-time top CONCACAF goal scorer. John was instrumental in helping his country qualify for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host th ...

and played in all three of his country's World Cup group matches at Germany 2006. In Germany, he scored an offside goal. He was also named Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation Player of the Year in 2002. John is currently the second most capped Trinidad and Tobago international behind former teammate Angus Eve. He was the only player to score in 12 consecutive international matches, from 1998 to 1999.

Coaching career

On 9 November 2020, John become the new manager of the Anguilla national team. On 23 May 2022, the Saint Lucia Football Association announced that John had taken over as head coach of the Saint Lucia national team.

Personal life

As a member of the squad that competed at the

in Germany, John was awarded the Chaconia Medal (Gold Class), the second highest

state decoration A state decoration is an object, such as a medal or the insignia of an order, that is awarded by a sovereign state to honor the recipient. The term includes: *Civil awards and decorations *Military awards and decorations Military awards and d ...

of Trinidad and Tobago.

Career statistics

Club

International

Source: :''Scores and results list Trinidad and Tobago's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each John goal''.''

Honours

Columbus Crew *

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

runner-up:

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

Birmingham City *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First D ...

play-offs: 2001–02 Sunderland *

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

: 2006–07 Trinidad and Tobago *

Caribbean Cup The Caribbean Cup was the championship tournament for national association football teams that are members of the Caribbean Football Union. The first competition, established by Shell and run by former England Cricket fast bowler Fred Rumsey, wa ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

Individual * MLS Golden Boot:

* MLS Best XI: 1998 * Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation Player of the Year: 2002 Medals * TTO_Chaconia_Medal

Chaconia Medal Gold Class: 2006

References

External links

Player profile
from Southampton F.C. website (via archive.org) * {{DEFAULTSORT:John, Stern 1976 births Living people People from Tunapuna–Piarco Trinidad and Tobago footballers Association football forwards Mercer County Community College alumni North Carolina Fusion U23 players New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers players Columbus Crew players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players North East Stars F.C. players Solihull Moors F.C. players USISL players USL First Division players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Premier League players English Football League players TT Pro League players Trinidad and Tobago international footballers 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2006 FIFA World Cup players FIFA Century Club Trinidad and Tobago expatriate footballers Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in the United States Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in England Trinidad and Tobago football managers Central F.C. managers TT Pro League managers Recipients of the Chaconia Medal Expatriate football managers in Anguilla Trinidad and Tobago expatriate sportspeople in Anguilla Anguilla national football team managers Trinidad and Tobago expatriate football managers