Declan John

Declan Christopher John (born 30 June 1995) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a left wing-back for Swansea City and the Wales national team.

Declan John

John with Swansea City in August 2019
Personal information
Full name	Declan Christopher John[1]
Date of birth	(1995-06-30) 30 June 1995
Place of birth	Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s)	Left wing-back
Club information
Current team	Swansea City
Number	3
Youth career
	Cardiff City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2017	Cardiff City	42	(0)
2015	→ Barnsley (loan)	9	(0)
2016	→ Chesterfield (loan)	6	(0)
2017	→ Rangers (loan)	12	(2)
2017–2018	Rangers	14	(1)
2018–	Swansea City	11	(0)
2020	→ Sunderland (loan)	0	(0)
National team^‡
2011–2012	Wales U17	4	(0)
2013	Wales U19	8	(1)
2014–2016	Wales U21	9	(0)
2013–	Wales	7	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:39, 6 July 2020 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:00, 20 March 2019 (UTC)

Club career

Cardiff City

Born in Merthyr Tydfil, John progressed through the academy at Cardiff City. His professional debut for Cardiff came on 14 August 2012, in a 2–1 home defeat to Northampton Town in the first round of the Football League Cup.[2] On 5 January 2013, he made his only other appearance of the season, a loss by the same margin at Macclesfield Town in the third round of the FA Cup.[3]

John made his league debut on 17 August 2013 in a 2–0 loss at West Ham United, Cardiff's first game in the Premier League. He signed a long-term contract until 2018 in December.[4] He went on to make 20 appearances that season, appearing more frequently in the second half of the campaign, as the Bluebirds were relegated.[5]

Under new manager, Russell Slade, John fell down the pecking order and was subsequently loaned out to Barnsley for the remained of the season.[5] He made nine appearances for the Tykes before returning to Cardiff at the end of the season.

After only making a single appearance for Cardiff during the 2015–16 season, John signed for League One side Chesterfield on a month-loan deal in February,[6] where he impressed in 6 appearances before being recalled by Cardiff on 14 April.[7][8]

Upon his return to Cardiff, John impressed new manager, Paul Trollope, during pre-season and went on to make his first league start for the club in over a year, where he put in a man of the match performance in a goalless draw against Birmingham City on the opening day of the season.[9] Despite an impressive start to the season, John became a bit-part player under Neil Warnock and was told he could leave the club at the end of the season.[10]

Rangers

John was loaned to Scottish Premiership club Rangers in August 2017,[11] and the move was made permanent in December.[12]

Swansea City

On 9 August 2018, John joined Swansea City on a three-year contract.[13] He made his debut for Swansea on 28 August 2018 in the EFL Cup against Crystal Palace.[14]

John signed for Sunderland on a six-month loan on 31 January 2020.[15]

International career

John was first called up to the Wales squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Macedonia and Serbia, in September 2013.[16] He was an unused substitute in both games.[17][18] The following month, he retained his place in the squad for the qualifiers against Macedonia and Belgium.[19] On 11 October, John made his debut, playing the whole 90 minutes in the 1–0 win against Macedonia at the Cardiff City Stadium.[20]

Career statistics

Declan John (left), Ashkan Dejagah (right)

Club

As of match played 13 August 2019

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Domestic Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Cardiff City	2012–13[21]	Championship	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
	2013–14[22]	Premier League	20	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	23	0
	2014–15[23]	Championship	6	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	10	0
	2015–16[24]	Championship	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2016–17[25]	Championship	15	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	16	0
	2017–18[26]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		42	0	3	0	7	0	0	0	52	0
Barnsley (loan)	2014–15[23]	League One	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
Chesterfield (loan)	2015–16[24]	League One	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
Rangers (loan)	2017–18[26]	Scottish Premiership	12	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	14	2
Rangers	2017–18[26]	Scottish Premiership	14	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	17	1
	Total		26	3	3	0	2	0	0	0	31	3
Swansea City	2018–19[27]	Championship	10	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	13	0
	2019–20[28]	Championship	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		10	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	14	0
Total			93	3	8	0	11	0	0	0	112	3

International

As of 22 March 2018.

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Wales	2013	2	0
	2018	2	0
Total		4	0

References

1. "Professional retain list & free transfers 2012/13" (PDF). The Football League. 18 May 2013. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 July 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
2. "Northampton 1–2 Cardiff". BBC. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
3. Hughes, Dewi (3 January 2013). "Macclesfield 2–1 Cardiff". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
4. "Cardiff City and Wales defender Declan John agrees with new contract". BBC Sport. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
5. "Barnsley sign Declan John on loan from Cardiff City". Barnsley F.C. 6 March 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
6. "Jordan Slew and Declan John: Chesterfield sign duo". BBC Sport. 18 February 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
7. "More to come from Declan John at Chesterfield, says Danny Wilson". Derbyshire Times. 25 February 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
8. "Cardiff City recall Declan John as 'precaution' ahead of play-off run in". Wales Online. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
9. "Birmingham City 0–0 Cardiff City". BBC Sport. 6 August 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
10. "Craig Noone and Declan John set to leave Cardiff City, says boss Neil Warnock". BBC Sport. 1 June 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
11. "Rangers sign Cardiff left-back Declan John on loan". BBC Sport. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
12. "Declan John: Rangers left-back signs permanent deal". BBC Sport. BBC. 22 December 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
13. Declan John: Swansea City sign Rangers defender on three year deal BBC Sport. 9 August 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
14. https://swansea.vitalfootball.co.uk/10500-2/
15. "Declan John: Wales international joins Sunderland from Swansea on loan". BBC Sport. BBC. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
16. "Bale wants to play for Wales in the World Cup qualifiers". BBC Sport. 2 September 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
17. "Macedonia 2–1 Wales". BBC Sport. 6 September 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
18. "Wales 0–3 Serbia". BBC Sport. 10 September 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
19. "Gareth Bale withdraws from Wales squad with thigh injury". BBC Sport. 3 October 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
20. "Wales 1–0 Macedonia". BBC Sport. 11 October 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
21. "Games played by Declan John in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
22. "Games played by Declan John in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
23. "Games played by Declan John in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
24. "Games played by Declan John in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
25. "Games played by Declan John in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
26. "Games played by Declan John in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 November 2013.
27. "Games played by Declan John in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
28. "Games played by Declan John in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 August 2019.

External links

• Declan John at Soccerbase
• Wales profile at UEFA