John Charles Keyworth Curtis (born 3 September 1978) is an English former professional footballer. He was a versatile defender who could play anywhere along the back four or as a defensive midfielder. Playing career Manchester United Born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, Curtis began his career at Manchester United and was tipped as a huge star for the future, being part of their FA Youth Cup-winning team in 1995 (when he was still only 16 years old and in his final year of secondary school) and turning professional in 1997. He proved himself as competent at right-back and centre-back after making his debut against Ipswich Town in the League Cup on 14 October 1997. His Premier League debut followed in a 7–0 home win over Barnsley on 25 October 1997, and he made a further six league appearances in 1997–98 as United finished second in the league, but he managed just five more league appearances before joining Division One promotion chasers Barnsley on loan on 19 November 1999, scoring twice in 28 league games as they qualified for the playoffs but lost 4–2 to Ipswich Town in the final at Wembley Stadium. The two goals he scored during his loan spell at Barnsley were the only goals he scored in his professional career. The first came against United's rivals Manchester City, and the other was scored against Port Vale. Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers manager Graeme Souness was impressed by the young defender, and managed to prise Curtis away from Manchester United during the summer of 2000 for a fee of £1.5 million. During the next season he was a league ever-present as Blackburn were promoted to the Premier League as Division One runners-up. By this time he had also represented England at youth, Under-21 and 'B' level. However, his 2001–02 FA Premier League campaign was hampered by the form of new signing Lucas Neill, limiting him to just 10 league appearances. He was an unused substitute in the 2002 Football League Cup Final which Blackburn won. He failed to regain his regular starting place, and spent the second half of the 2002–03 season on loan to Sheffield United. At the end of the season he was released by Blackburn on a free transfer, and was signed by Leicester City (newly promoted to the Premier League) on a two-year contract. Leicester & Portsmouth Curtis' spell at Leicester was an unhappy one, and after