After playing for Northern League Evenwood Town while on his National Service, full-back John joined Chelsea where he played a number of times for their reserve team.

He joined Wimbledon at the start of the 1958/59 season and was soon a first team regular and England amateur international, helping the Club to three Isthmian League titles and the Amateur Cup. He captained the Great Britain side in the 1964 Olympic qualifying tournament before turning professional when the Club joined the Southern League later that summer. An unfortunate knee injury shortly after lead to a long recovery and limited appearances thereafter, and he was released at the end of his three year contract and joined Dover. After a successful spell there, where he was appointed captain, he was surprisingly released at the end of the 1968/69 season and Les Henley snapped him up, and he was immediately back in the side for the Premier Midweek Floodlight Cup play-off that had over-run the season proper.

A telephone engineer with the Post Office, John played for the Club until the 1970/71 season.