Stern John

Early US career

John was born in Tunapuna, 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 soccer championship and scored 27 goals, including one in the final against Yavapai College. He made his professional debut for the Carolina Dynamo of the A-League, 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 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, John scored 16 goals in 21 appearances and was named Rookie of the Year. John was invited by the New England Revolution 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 Columbus Crew. His second cousin Ansil Elcock, a fellow Trinidad and Tobago international who had been signed by the…

John made his international debut for Trinidad and Tobago national team on 15 February 1995 against Finland in a friendly at the Queen's Park Oval, 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 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.

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.. On August 18th 2026 he was announced as the Grenadian National team coach, the island of his mother's birth.

As a member of the squad that competed at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, John was awarded the Chaconia Medal (Gold Class), the second highest state decoration of Trinidad and Tobago.