Athletics Hall of Fame Spotlight

Stern John, Men's Soccer

 

 

Stern John was born in Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago and played on the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Youth National Team until age 16, when he switched to playing soccer full time. In 1995, John moved to the United States to attend Mercer County Community College.

 

John led the Mercer County Vikings to the 1995 NJCAA National Championship and scored 27 goals, including one in the final, a 2-0 victory over Yavapai College. 

 

John planned to return to the Vikings for the 1996 season but in August was called to represent the Trinidadian national team at age 19. While John felt great loyalty to Mercer, his support team advised he skip the fall season in West Windsor to enhance his career and grow his professional profile.

After an impressive showing with Trinidad and Tobago, Stern turned professional and made his pro debut for the Carolina Dynamo of the A-League, the second division of U.S. club soccer, in April 1997. John was traded to the New Orleans Riverboat Gamblers, where he scored 16 goals in 21 appearances and was named Rookie of the Year.

 

Following the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup, where he scored two goals, John was invited for a walk-on trial by the Columbus Crew.  Following a successful trial, John was signed and made his Major League Soccer (MLS) debut on March 29, 1998. He scored his first MLS goal in his fifth appearance and ended the match (a 5-1 win over Miami) 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. John was the first MLS player to score three hat tricks in a single season, including 16 goals in a span of 12 matches.

 

He scored 18 goals in the 1999 season, tied for the MLS' scoring leaderboard, and attracted interest from European clubs but declined a mid-season transfer. He ended his MLS career with 44 goals in 55 matches the second highest goals per game average in MLS history.

 

After the 1999 season with Columbus, John was acquired by Nottingham Forest of the English First Division. John scored 18 goals in 49 starts for Nottingham.

 

John then moved to Birmingham in the English Premier League, generally regarded as the best professional league in the world. At Birmingham, John scored nine goals and also had some memorable moments including a turn and finish away at West Ham in 2002; his last minute equalizer at Villa Park and his last minute goal away at Millwall which put Birmingham through to the Playoff Final in 2002.

 

Stern was sold to Coventry City on September 14, 2004. In his first season with Coventry, John finished second in team scoring with 12 goals despite starting in barely half of Coventry's games. He also had stops at Derby County, Sunderland, Southampton, Bristol City and Crystal Palace.

 

While in the Premier League, Stern played for some of the top managers in the league, two of who are linked to Manchester United, one of the world’s most famous clubs. One of those managers was legendary Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane, who was the inspiration for Roy Kent of Ted Lasso fame.

 

The highest honor an athlete can attain is to represent their country. Stern made 115 appearances, the second highest ever, for the Trinidadian National team while holding the honor of being their all-time leading scorer with 70 goals. Stern proudly represented Trinidad and Tobago in its only World Cup appearance in 2006. He started all three of Trinidad’s World Cup matches vs Sweden, England and Paraguay.

 

Stern began his managerial/coaching career as the National Team Coach of Anguilla. He currently is the highly successful manager of the St. Lucia National Team. A week from the MCCC Athletic Hall of Fame Induction, Stern will lead St. Lucia in a World Cup Qualifier against Haiti.

 

To learn more about the 2024 MCCC Athletic Hall of Fame Class, visit: https://www.mccc.edu/athletics_hof.shtml