 John withSwansea City in 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Declan Christopher John[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1995-06-30)30 June 1995 (age 30) | ||
| Place of birth | Merthyr Tydfil, Wales | ||
| Position | Left wing-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | St Mirren | ||
| Number | 24 | ||
| 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) |
| 2017–2018 | →Rangers (loan) | 12 | (2) |
| 2018 | Rangers | 14 | (1) |
| 2018–2021 | Swansea City | 11 | (0) |
| 2020 | →Sunderland (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2021 | →Bolton Wanderers (loan) | 21 | (2) |
| 2021–2024 | Bolton Wanderers | 58 | (5) |
| 2023–2024 | →Salford City (loan) | 32 | (0) |
| 2024– | St Mirren | 32 | (3) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2011–2012 | Wales U17 | 4 | (0) |
| 2013 | Wales U19 | 8 | (1) |
| 2014–2016 | Wales U21 | 9 | (0) |
| 2013–2019 | Wales | 7 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 6 December 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 22:00, 20 March 2019 (UTC) | |||
Declan Christopher John (born 30 June 1995) is a Welsh professionalfootballer who plays as aleft wing-back forScottish Premiership clubSt Mirren. He also plays for theWales national team.
Born inMerthyr Tydfil, John progressed through the academy atCardiff City. His professional debut for Cardiff came on 14 August 2012, in a 2–1 home defeat toNorthampton Town in the first round of theFootball League Cup.[2] On 5 January 2013, he made his only other appearance of the season, a loss by the same margin atMacclesfield Town in the third round of theFA Cup.[3]
John made his league debut on 17 August 2013 in a 2–0 loss atWest Ham United, Cardiff's first game in thePremier League. He signed a long-term contract until 2018 in December.[4] He went on to make 20 appearancesthat 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 toBarnsley for the remainder of theseason.[5] He made nine appearances for theTykes before returning to Cardiff at the end of the season.
After only making a single appearance for Cardiff during the2015–16 season, John signed forLeague One sideChesterfield on a month-loan deal in February,[6] where he impressed in six 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 againstBirmingham City on the opening day of the season.[9] Despite an impressive start to the season, John became a bit-part player underNeil Warnock and was told he could leave the club at the end of the season.[10]
John was loaned toScottish Premiership clubRangers in August 2017,[11] and the move was made permanent in December.[12]
On 9 August 2018, John joinedSwansea City on a three-year contract.[13] He made his debut for Swansea on 28 August 2018 in theEFL Cup againstCrystal Palace.[14]
John signed forSunderland on a six-month loan on 31 January 2020.[15] He played no matches, and returned to Swansea after the completion of his loan. On 7 January 2021, John joinedLeague Two sideBolton Wanderers on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season.[16]
On 11 June 2021, Bolton confirmed that John would be re-joining them on a permanent three year deal.[17] John made his second debut for the club on 7 August in a 3–3 draw againstMK Dons[18] On 2 April, he started in the2023 EFL Trophy Final which Bolton won 4–0 againstPlymouth Argyle.[19]
On 1 September 2023, John joinedSalford City on loan until January 2024.[20] On 22 May 2024, the club confirmed that he would be leaving at the end of his contract on 30 June.[21]
In November 2024 John joinedSt Mirren on a short term deal, subsequently extended until the end of the season.[22] On 28 March 2025, John signed a further two-year contract.[23]
John supplied the assist for St Mirren’s third goal in their Scottish League Cup final win against Celtic on 14 December 2025.
John was first called up to theWales squad for the2014 FIFA World Cupqualifiers againstMacedonia andSerbia, in September 2013.[24] He was an unused substitute in both games.[25][26] The following month, he retained his place in the squad for the qualifiers against Macedonia andBelgium.[27] On 11 October, John made his debut, playing the whole 90 minutes in the 1–0 win against Macedonia at theCardiff City Stadium.[28]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Cardiff City | 2012–13[29] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2013–14[30] | Premier League | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 | |
| 2014–15[31] | Championship | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2015–16[32] | Championship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2016–17[33] | Championship | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | |
| 2017–18[34] | 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[31] | League One | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Chesterfield (loan) | 2015–16[32] | League One | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Rangers (loan) | 2017–18[34] | Scottish Premiership | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 2 |
| Rangers | 2017–18[34] | 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[35] | Championship | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 2019–20[36] | Championship | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2020–21[37] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 11 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | ||
| Sunderland (loan) | 2019–20[36] | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bolton Wanderers (loan) | 2020–21[37] | League Two | 21 | 2 | — | — | — | 21 | 2 | |||
| Bolton Wanderers | 2021–22[38] | League One | 39 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[c] | 1 | 44 | 5 |
| 2022–23[39] | League One | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6[d] | 0 | 27 | 1 | |
| 2023–24[40] | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 79 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 92 | 8 | ||
| Salford City (loan) | 2023–24[40] | League Two | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| Career total | 170 | 10 | 11 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 206 | 11 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wales | 2013 | 1 | 0 |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 7 | 0 | |
Bolton Wanderers
St Mirren
