Allow me to introduce you to Declan John, a fully grown 30-year-old defender who measures 1.78m (5ft 10in) when he's not leaping for headers, and who tips the scales at 75kg (11st 11lb), proving that footballers do eat more than just salad. Sporting the number 24 jersey for St Mirren, heโs earned a market value addition of around ยฃ213k in the football world, courtesy of Transfermarkt. He's earmarked to strut his stuff at St Mirren until the 31st of May, 2027, as per the terms of his contract.
Our Welshman got his big break in 2011 when he was spirited away as a trainee to Cardiff City, known as the Bluebirds. His time in Cardiff was an ebb and flow of football fortune, with a total of 42-league match appearances by the time he finally flew the Bluebirds nest in 2017. Nothing like quietly building your career, is there?
2015 saw our burgeoning left back shipped off on loan to Barnsley, where he squeezed in a whole nine appearances before being called back to Cardiff. Fast forward to 2016, he was back on loan to Chesterfield making six appearances, before once again being recalled by Cardiff. Clearly a hard lad to pin down.
August 2017 marked a short stint on loan at Rangers up in Scotland before he made a final move from Cardiff to Rangers in January 2018 for an undisclosed fee. He showed off at Ibrox with 26 appearances and three goals before a fleeting visit to Swansea City in 2018, which could only have served to improve his seashell collection. He even squeezed in an ill-judged sojourn to Premier League strugglers Sunderland on loan in 2020
His time at Swansea yielded a paltry 11 appearances before one more leap brought him over to Bolton Wanderers. This whirlwind tour of less glamorous English clubs continued with a loan to Salford before he finally signed for Bolton. Here, he managed, wait for it, another whopping thirteen appearances.
Finally, our intrepid journeyman made his way back to Scotland with St Mirren in 2024 where he continues to ply his trade in the Premiership, scoring twice in the 2024/25 season. He seems to be on a two appearances per season trend in the current one, but it's early days yet. Fingers crossed he also managed to start in a few cup games, which should keep him in match-worn shirts for a while.
