Meet Declan John, a lad born in the verdant valleys of Wales on 30 June 1995, which places him in the gripping clutches of the big 3-0. A defender by trade, and a left back by specific profession, he currently runs about the park for St Mirren, donning the distinctly unexciting number 24 kit. Stands about 5ft 10in in his socks, that's 1.78m for those of European persuasion, and tips the scales at a trim 11st 11lb, or 75kg when translated into kilograms.
According to the inquisitive folks at Transfermarkt, his current market value is a rather uninspiring €250k, or for those of us who prefer dealing in stout British currency, around £214k. Rather fortuitously for St Mirren, they've got their Welsh asset locked down until the 31 of May 2027.
John's career started out innocently enough at Cardiff City back in July 2011, where he performed the various duties of being a trainee. He managed a grand total of 42 league appearances over his tenure there, with the 2013/14 season seeing him grace the field 20 times, a height not reached in subsequent seasons. His time at Cardiff was interspersed with loan spells at Barnsley and Chesterfield, where he put in 9 and 6 appearances respectively. Probably not a spell he regales his grandchildren with.
In an ambitious, if not completely believable twist, August 2017 saw the lad loaned out to Rangers in our fair Scottish Premiership. He later made the deal full time in January 2018 after impressing the Glasgow side. At Rangers, he figured in 26 games and even found the back of the net thrice.
Eventually deciding that pounding the mossy turf of Scotland wasn't his cup of tea, John transferred to Swansea City in August 2018 for a princely sum of £800,000. There, he managed to squeeze in 11 appearances across two seasons. From Swansea, he enjoyed temporary stints with Sunderland and Bolton Wanderers before eventually signing a permanent deal with Bolton in July 2021.
John found himself on loan at Salford City in September 2023, and after returning to Bolton in 2024, ended up in the grand football wilderness for a brief, undefined period. Fortunately for him, St Mirren stepped in and picked him up in November 2024.
Since then, he's been relatively active within the St Mirren squad. Currently in the 2025/2026 season, he's made five first team appearances and scored once. If nothing else, it seems our good man John at least knows where the back of the net is.
He's also been sighted in the Scottish Cup in 2024/2025 and the League Cup in 2025/2026, for anyone keeping tally of such insignificant details. All in all, a rather ordinary trek across the footballing landscape; one of life's journeymen, you might say. But hey, we can't all play for the Old Firm before 2013, can we?
