John Eustace

For other people named John Eustace, see John Eustace (disambiguation).

John Eustace

Eustace playing for Watford in 2012
Personal information
Full name	John Mark Eustace[1]
Date of birth	(1979-11-03) 3 November 1979 (age 45)
Place of birth	Solihull, England
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Blackburn Rovers (Head Coach)
Youth career
	Coventry City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1996–2003	Coventry City	85	(7)
1998–1999	→ Dundee United (loan)	11	(1)
2003	→ Middlesbrough (loan)	1	(0)
2003–2008	Stoke City	74	(5)
2006	→ Hereford United (loan)	8	(0)
2008–2013	Watford	157	(16)
2009	→ Derby County (loan)	9	(1)
2013–2015	Derby County	48	(2)
Total		393	(32)
Managerial career
2016–2018	Kidderminster Harriers
2019	Queens Park Rangers (caretaker)
2022–2023	Birmingham City
2024–	Blackburn Rovers
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John Mark Eustace (born 3 November 1979) is an English professional football coach and former player who is currently head coach of EFL Championship club Blackburn Rovers.

During his playing career, he played as a central midfielder for Coventry City, Stoke City, Watford and Derby County. He also spent time on loan at Dundee United, Middlesbrough and Hereford United.

After retiring as a player, Eustace served as manager of Kidderminster Harriers between 2016 and 2018, eventually leaving to become assistant manager of Queens Park Rangers in 2018. He had a brief spell as caretaker manager of QPR in 2019. Eustace served as head coach of Birmingham City between July 2022 to October 2023. He was appointed head coach of Blackburn Rovers in February 2024.

Playing career

Coventry City

Born in Solihull, Eustace began his career as a trainee at Coventry City. Despite the fact that he was at the club for seven years, he only recorded 98 appearances in all competitions due to injuries. At 19 he went out on loan to Dundee United to gain first team experience. He played eleven matches and scored one goal against Hearts,^[2] becoming popular with United fans who voted him their young player of the year.^[3]

He returned to Coventry where he began to establish himself in the first team. In the 2000–01 season, he appeared in 32 league games. Despite his efforts, the club were relegated from the Premier League. At the start of the next season, he was named as captain by manager Gordon Strachan.^[4] However, on 8 September 2001, Eustace suffered a knee injury during Coventry's league defeat to Grimsby which kept him sidelined for seven months. He returned to action in April 2002.^[5]

Eustace started the 2002–03 season well and attracted interest from Premier League club Middlesbrough, to whom he was loaned out for one month in January 2003.^[6] He only made one substitute appearance, away to Liverpool, where he appeared for only the final two minutes of the game, but earned himself a yellow card.^[7] Eustace made 33 league appearances over the season, his last with Coventry.

Stoke City

At the start of the 2003–04 season, Eustace left Coventry for fellow second-tier team Stoke City on a free transfer.^[8] He made his debut in a 3–0 win over Derby County at the start of the 2003–04 season and helped the side to 11th place in the Championship, scoring five goals. Injury problems restricted him to a handful of appearances over the next two seasons – in the Potters' 1–0 win over Wigan Athletic in February 2005,^[9] Eustace suffered a serious knee injury and was then substituted, in only his 8th appearance of the season.^[10] He missed the rest of the 2004–05 season and all of the 2005–06 season because of the injury. However, Eustace signed a one-year contract extension at the beginning of the season, which lasted until the end of the 2006–07 season.

Eustace returned from his long injury lay off in June 2006.^[11] He made his first appearance for Stoke City in over 18 months in their 2–0 friendly win over local opposition Newcastle Town. On 13 October 2006, Eustace joined Hereford United on loan to gain first team football to aid his comeback.^[12] During his time at Edgar Street he was a key part of the Hereford midfield, and his loan was extended to the New Year.^[13] However, on 14 December 2006 he was suddenly recalled by Stoke due to them suffering several injuries in midfield.^[14] John's grandfather Ken Eustace also played one match for Hereford during the 1949–50 season.^[15]

Eustace returned to the Stoke starting line up in the 3rd round FA Cup match against Millwall. On 11 February 2007, he started his first league match of the season in Stoke's 1–0 loss to Birmingham City. In total, Eustace made 23 league appearances over the course of the season for Stoke and Hereford. Eustace later signed a one-year contract extension with the club, to take him up until the summer of 2008.^[16] He was a regular for Stoke during the first half of the 2007–08 season and captained the team up until his move to Watford on the last day of the transfer window.

Watford

On 31 January 2008, Eustace joined Watford from Stoke City for a fee of £250,000.^[17] On 20 September 2008, Eustace "scored" a bizarre opening own goal in the game between Watford and Reading, where a goalmouth scramble saw the ball go nowhere near the goal line, despite the linesman flagging for a goal to the bemusement of everyone in the ground. A corner from Stephen Hunt bounced off of Eustace and was hooked back by Noel Hunt. What could have been a debatable corner for Reading, initially given as a goal kick, was actually then given as a goal. The game ended Watford 2–2 Reading.^[18]

On 9 March 2009, he joined Championship rivals Derby County on loan until the end of the 2008–09 season, in order to help solve the Rams' midfield injury crisis.^[19] He made his Derby debut in the 1–1 draw away to Southampton, and scored against his parent club on the final day of the season.^[20] Eustace was unable to secure a permanent move to Derby at the end of his loan spell with the club and returned to Watford at the beginning of May.^[21] However, Derby manager Nigel Clough said "He's got a year left at Watford. If he's still in the same situation at the start of next season, needing a loan, then we might look at that."^[22]

With his Hornets career seemingly in jeopardy, Eustace signed an amended contract stipulating that he would not receive his sizeable appearance fee, freeing up Malky Mackay to pick the tenacious midfielder. Eustace went on to play a key role as Watford retained their Championship status for another season. He was also given the captaincy on a number of occasions with first-choice skipper Jay DeMerit sidelined through injury. Eustace made over forty appearances in league and cup competitions and was the 'Player's Player of the Season' as voted by his peers.^[23]

After much speculation throughout the 2009–10 off-season, Eustace finally signed a new two-year contract with Watford. Eustace and Mackay later revealed that he had passed a medical at Leeds United, and that there was interest from other clubs.^[24]

Ahead of the season, Mackay handed Eustace the captaincy, after DeMerit was released on a Bosman transfer.^[25] He started the season in good form, scoring Watford's first goal of the season in a 3–2 win at Norwich City,^[26] followed a week later with an over-head finish in a 2–2 draw against former club Coventry which was later named as the 2010–11 goal of the season.^[27] Eustace kept the captain's armband following the managerial appointment of Sean Dyche in June 2011 and signed a new two-year contract until 2013 at the end of July despite interest from Derby County.^[28]

In June 2013, Eustace was offered a new contract with a player/coach role, which he declined, stating that he was not ready to turn away from playing just yet, therefore leaving the club as a free agent.^[29]

Derby County

In July 2013, it was confirmed by Derby County that Eustace had rejoined the club on trial, with a view to earning a contract^[30] and after impressing Nigel Clough in pre-season training and friendly games, Eustace verbally agreed a one-year contract with Derby^[31] and the move was made official on 24 July.^[32] According to Clough, Eustace was signed to act as cover in his natural central midfield position as well as being an emergency central defender.^[33] Eustace came on as a late substitute for Will Hughes in Derby's opening game against Blackburn Rovers. His first Derby start was in the 1–0 League Cup win at Oldham Athletic.^[34] He scored the first goal of his second spell at Derby with a looping header against Queens Park Rangers on 10 February 2014, at Pride Park.

Eustace suffered a serious knee cartilage injury against Ipswich Town in a 1–0 victory on 10 January 2015. His manager Steve McClaren described Eustace's injury as a 'big blow'. A focal point in defensive central midfield, Eustace had only been on the losing side once in 14 appearances prior to his injury for Derby during the 2014–15 season.^[35] The injury required an operation and ruled him out for the remainder of the season.^[36] Eustace was released by Derby in June 2015.^[37]

On 22 June 2015, Eustace was linked with a move to Scottish club Rangers, with newly appointed manager Mark Warburton stating: "People like John Eustace are few and far between, people like John are ultra-professional on and off the pitch. They are great role models. If you look at his record and the win ratio when John's playing, it's really important. He had a big role to play at Derby over the last few years."^[38] Despite the link to Rangers, Eustace retired from playing due to his injury.^[39]

Coaching career

Following his retirement as a player, Eustace moved into coaching. On 21 April 2016, he was named manager of National League side Kidderminster Harriers on a one-year contract for the 2016–17 season.^[40] While at the club, Eustace transformed the side's style of play,^[41] with the Harriers being dubbed the "non-league Barcelona".^[42] Eustace led his side to the play-offs in two seasons, as well as the First Round Proper of the FA Cup.^[41]

He left the club on 25 May 2018 to join former manager Steve McClaren at Queens Park Rangers as assistant manager.^[43] At QPR, he had a brief spell as caretaker manager in 2019,^[44] helping the club avoid relegation from the Championship with 7 points from his 7 games in charge.^[39] Following Mark Warburton's arrival as manager in May 2019, Eustace remained as his assistant and began studying for his UEFA Pro Licence.^[39][45] In March 2022 he was named as Assistant Manager of the Republic of Ireland team under manager Stephen Kenny, while he would also continue his existing role at QPR.^[46] Eustace, along with Matt Gardiner, left his role at QPR in June 2022 following the appointment of new manager Michael Beale.^[47]

Birmingham City

Eustace succeeded Lee Bowyer as head coach of Championship club Birmingham City on 3 July 2022. His first managerial role in the football league, he signed a three-year contract.^[48] Eustace's first competitive game in charge was a 0–0 draw away to Luton Town. Eustace gained his first victory as Birmingham manager in the following match day, beating Huddersfield Town at home on 5 August 2022. Eustace was able to guide the club to its highest points tally since 2016, successfully avoiding relegation.^[49]

On 9 October 2023, Eustace was sacked by Birmingham City. The club cited the importance of the board of directors and management being fully aligned on the culture of the football club as the reason behind the decision, despite an impressive start to the season with the club in sixth position with eighteen points from eleven matches.^[50] Following Eustace's dismissal, the club fell to 20th by the end of 2023 and were relegated to League One at the end of the season,^[51] with the replacement manager, Wayne Rooney, being sacked after just fifteen matches.^[52]

Blackburn Rovers

On 9 February 2024, Eustace was appointed head coach of Championship club Blackburn Rovers on a two-and-a-half-year deal.^[53]

Career statistics

As a player

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition^[54]

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Coventry City	1998–99[55]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	1999–2000[56]	Premier League	16	1	3	1	2	0	—		21	2
	2000–01[57]	Premier League	31	2	1	0	4	2	—		36	4
	2001–02[58]	First Division	6	0	0	0	0	0	—		6	0
	2002–03[59]	First Division	32	4	1	0	2	0	—		35	4
	Total		85	7	5	1	8	2	—		98	10
Dundee United (loan)	1998–99[55]	Scottish Premier League	11	1	2	0	0	0	—		13	1
Middlesbrough (loan)	2002–03[59]	Premier League	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		1	0
Stoke City	2003–04[60]	First Division	26	5	2	1	2	0	—		30	6
	2004–05[61]	Championship	7	0	1	0	0	0	—		8	0
	2005–06[62]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2006–07[63]	Championship	15	0	1	0	1	0	—		17	0
	2007–08[64]	Championship	26	0	2	0	1	0	—		29	0
	Total		74	5	6	1	4	0	—		84	6
Hereford United (loan)	2006–07[63]	League Two	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
Watford	2007–08[64]	Championship	13	0	0	0	0	0	2[a]	0	15	0
	2008–09[65]	Championship	17	2	0	0	0	0	—		17	2
	2009–10[66]	Championship	42	4	1	0	2	0	—		45	4
	2010–11[67]	Championship	41	6	0	0	1	0	—		42	6
	2011–12[68]	Championship	39	4	2	0	1	0	—		42	4
	2012–13[69]	Championship	5	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	7	0
	Total		157	16	4	0	5	0	2	0	168	16
Derby County (loan)	2008–09[65]	Championship	9	1	0	0	0	0	—		9	1
Derby County	2013–14[70]	Championship	35	1	1	0	2	0	1[a]	0	39	1
	2014–15[71]	Championship	13	1	0	0	1	0	—		14	1
	Total		57	3	1	0	3	0	1	0	62	3
Career total			393	32	18	2	20	2	3	0	434	36

1. Appearances in Championship play-offs

As a manager

As of match played 1 January 2025

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record					Ref(s)
			P	W	D	L	Win %
Kidderminster Harriers	1 June 2016[a]	25 May 2018	104	57	21	26	054.81	[72][73]
Queens Park Rangers (caretaker)	1 April 2019	8 May 2019	7	2	1	4	028.57	[74]
Birmingham City	3 July 2022	9 October 2023	63	21	16	26	033.33	[74]
Blackburn Rovers	11 February 2024[b]	present	43	15	15	13	034.88	[75]
Total			217	95	53	69	043.78

1. Eustace's Kidderminster appointment was announced on 21 April 2016 but he did not take charge of the team for what remained of the 2015–16 season.^[40]
2. Eustace's Blackburn appointment was announced on 9 February, but first-team coaches David Lowe and Damien Johnson took charge of the following day's match.^[53]

References

1. "John Eustace". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
2. "Hearts 4 Dundee Utd 1". Sporting Life. 15 May 1999. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
3. FC, Blackburn Rovers (9 February 2024). "In profile: John Eustace". Blackburn Rovers FC. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
4. Turner, Andy (19 September 2022). "Birmingham City boss John Eustace gives verdict on former club Coventry City". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
5. "Eustace on road back". BBC Sport. 28 February 2002. Retrieved 6 August 2007.
6. Turner, Andy (16 January 2003). "FOOTBALL: FOWLER FILLIP; City youngster gets chance as Eustace heads for Middlesbrough". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
7. "Eustace back at Coventry". BBC Sport. 12 February 2003. Retrieved 6 August 2007.
8. "Eustace moves to Stoke". BBC Sport. 18 July 2003. Retrieved 6 August 2007.
9. "Wigan 0-1 Stoke". BBC Sport. 5 February 2005.
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15. "Family connection at Edgar Street". Hereford Times. 26 October 2006. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
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20. "Watford 3–1 Derby". BBC. 3 May 2009. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
21. "Midfielder back with Hornets". TEAMtalk. Archived from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
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25. "Captain Eustace sets the record straight". Watford Football Club. 4 June 2010. Archived from the original on 8 June 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
26. Chowdhury, Saj (6 August 2010). "Norwich 2–3 Watford". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
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29. Allnutt, Thomas (28 June 2013). "Watford club captain John Eustace set to leave Hornets in pursuit of more first-team opportunities". Watford Observer.
30. "Eustace Training With Derby". Derby County. 2 July 2013.
31. "John Eustace agrees a one-year deal with Derby County". Derby Telegraph. 23 July 2013. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013.
32. "Eustace signs one-year deal with Derby County". Derby Telegraph. 24 July 2013. Archived from the original on 28 July 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
33. "Nigel Clough in no rush to land central defender for Derby County". Derby Telegraph. 29 July 2013. Archived from the original on 1 August 2013.
34. "Oldham 0–1 Derby". BBC Sport. 6 August 2013.
35. "Derby County: John Eustace injury a huge blow says Steve McClaren". Derby Telegraph. 15 January 2015. Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
36. "Derby County: Rams midfielder John Eustace to have knee op". Derby Telegraph. 15 January 2015. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
37. "John Eustace released by Rams". Derby Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
38. "Rangers: Danny Wilson has medical as deals 'progress'". BBC Sport. 22 June 2015.
39. "John Eustace: the small details". The FA. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
40. "Harriers confirm details of new Manager and potential Head of Coaching". Archived from the original on 30 May 2016. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
41. "John Eustace departs". Kidderminster Harriers. 25 May 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
42. "Forget Barcelona – get yourself to Kidderminster Harriers". Worcester News. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
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45. "Pro Licence: communicating with confidence". The FA. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
46. "John Eustace appointed Ireland assistant coach | Football Association of Ireland". www.fai.ie.
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48. "John Eustace appointed as Blues Head Coach". Birmingham City F.C. 3 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
49. "Marc Roberts on club's fortunes under John Eustace". Birmingham Mail. 27 April 2023.
50. "Club Statement: John Eustace". www.bcfc.com. 9 October 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
51. "Birmingham relegated despite beating Norwich". BBC Sport. 4 May 2024. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
52. "Wayne Rooney: Birmingham sack manager after 15 games in charge of Championship club". Sky Sports. 3 January 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
53. "Eustace appointed Rovers head coach". Blackburn Rovers F.C. 9 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
54. "John Eustace: Career statistics". Soccerbase. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
55. "Games played by John Eustace in 1998/1999". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
56. "Games played by John Eustace in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
57. "Games played by John Eustace in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
58. "Games played by John Eustace in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
59. "Games played by John Eustace in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
60. "Games played by John Eustace in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
61. "Games played by John Eustace in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
62. "Games played by John Eustace in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
63. "Games played by John Eustace in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
64. "Games played by John Eustace in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
65. "Games played by John Eustace in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
66. "Games played by John Eustace in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
67. "Games played by John Eustace in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
68. "Games played by John Eustace in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
69. "Games played by John Eustace in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
70. "Games played by John Eustace in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
71. "Games played by John Eustace in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
72. "Kidderminster Results 2016/17". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
    "Kidderminster Results 2017/18". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
73. For FA Cup matches not covered by Soccerbase (17 Sep and 1 October 2016, 16 September 2017, 3 wins): "Kidderminster Harriers FC: Matches: FA Cup". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
74. "Managers: John Eustace". Soccerbase. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
75. "John Eustace Manager". Sofascore. Retrieved 14 February 2024.

External links

• John Eustace at Soccerbase