Stern John, CM (born 30 October 1976) is a Trinidadian football manager and former player who is currently managing Saint Lucia. He managed Anguilla from 2020 to 2022. He previously played for a number of American and English football clubs that included Columbus Crew, Nottingham Forest, Birmingham City, Coventry City, Derby County, Sunderland, Southampton, Bristol City, Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town. Club career Early U.S. career John was born in Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago, to a sporting family that included several professional footballers and cricket players. He played on the Trinidad and Tobago cricket youth national team until age 16, when he switched to playing soccer full-time. John moved to the United States in 1995 to attend New Jersey's Mercer County Community College. He had been recruited in Trinidad by the college's head coach, Charlie Inverso, who had previously sought international talent. John led the Mercer County Vikings to the 1995 NJCAA soccer championship and scored 27 goals, including one in the final against Yavapai College. He made his professional debut for the Carolina Dynamo of the A-League, the second division of U.S. club soccer, in April 1997 while on loan from the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association. John was traded to the New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers for Jamie Wellington a month later, having not scored a goal in five appearances for Carolina. With New Orleans, where he was paired with fellow Trinidadian forward Mickey Trotman, John scored 16 goals in 21 appearances and was named Rookie of the Year. John was invited by the New England Revolution to their 1998 preseason camp, but was not retained after his trial. Following the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where he scored two goals, John was invited for a walk-on trial by the Columbus Crew. His second cousin Ansil Elcock, a fellow Trinidad and Tobago international who had been signed by the Crew, had recommended John to head coach Tom Fitzgerald. Following a successful trial, John was signed and made his Major League Soccer debut on 29 March 1998 against the Dallas Burn, where he replaced Elcock but failed to score. He scored his first MLS goal in his fifth appearance, a 5–1 victory over the Miami Fusion, and ended the match with a hat-trick and an assist. John ended his rookie MLS season as the league scoring champion with 26 goals in 27 matches and a place in the MLS Best XI.