A product of the West Ham (and the Leyton Orient) academy system John played for Newcastle United for a year over two seasons before leaving to join Swindon Town in 1988.

A decent enough footballer he would not quite make the grade as a long term fit for United.

His best spell as a professional would come at Southend United, where he would spend three years after leaving Swindon, where he would play for three seasons appearing over 100 times for The Robins