Stern John - Definition and Overview

Stern John (born October 30, 1976 in Cane Farm, Trinidad) is a Trinidadian football player who currently plays for Coventry City of the Football League Championship (formerly the Football League First Division).

John joined the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer from the now-defunct New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers of the A-League for the 1998 season. He received a tryout with Crew based on the good word from his older cousin, Columbus Crew defender and Trinidad and Tobago international, Ansil Elcock. With the Crew he proved to be one of the most prolific scorers in league history. John led the league with 26 goals in 1998 and tied for the lead with 18 the next year, and was named to the MLS Best XI in his rookie season. After the 1999 season with Columbus, John was acquired by Nottingham Forest of the English First Division for a fee of £1.5 million pounds. However, eventually financial difficulties at Forest following the team's failed bid at promotion forced John's sale to Birmingham City of the FA Premier League for the sum of £100,000, having scored 18 goals in 49 starts for Forest. At Birmingham, John rarely played, having trouble breaking through an accomplished roster of forwards, and was sold to Coventry September 14, 2004.

John has also been an important player for the Trinidad and Tobago national football team, currently the team's all-time leading scorer with 51 goals.

The Official Stern John Website (http://www.sternjohn.com/)