1. John Mark Eustace was born on 3 November 1979 and is an English professional football coach and former player who is currently head coach of EFL Championship club Derby County.
32 Facts About John Eustace
1. 2.
John Eustace spent time on loan at Dundee United, Middlesbrough and Hereford United.
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John Eustace had a brief spell as caretaker manager of QPR in 2019.
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John Eustace served as head coach of Birmingham City between July 2022 to October 2023.
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John Eustace was appointed head coach of Blackburn Rovers in February 2024, before leaving to become Derby County head coach in February 2025.
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John Eustace played eleven matches and scored one goal against Hearts, becoming popular with United fans who voted him their young player of the year.
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John Eustace returned to Coventry where he began to establish himself in the first team.
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However, on 8 September 2001, John Eustace suffered a knee injury during Coventry's league defeat to Grimsby which kept him sidelined for seven months.
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John Eustace 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.
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John Eustace made 33 league appearances over the season, his last with Coventry.
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John Eustace returned from his long injury lay off in June 2006.
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On 13 October 2006, John Eustace joined Hereford United on loan to gain first team football to aid his comeback.
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John Eustace returned to the Stoke starting line up in the 3rd round FA Cup match against Millwall.
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In total, John Eustace made 23 league appearances over the course of the season for Stoke and Hereford.
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John Eustace later signed a one-year contract extension with the club, to take him up until the summer of 2008.
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On 20 September 2008, John 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.
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John Eustace went on to play a key role as Watford retained their Championship status for another season.
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John Eustace was given the captaincy on a number of occasions with first-choice skipper Jay DeMerit sidelined through injury.
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John Eustace made over forty appearances in league and cup competitions and was the 'Player's Player of the Season' as voted by his peers.
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John 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.
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In July 2013, it was confirmed by Derby County that John Eustace had rejoined the club on trial, with a view to earning a contract and after impressing Nigel Clough in pre-season training and friendly games, John Eustace verbally agreed a one-year contract with Derby and the move was made official on 24 July.
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John Eustace came on as a late substitute for Will Hughes in Derby's opening game against Blackburn Rovers.
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John Eustace 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.
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John Eustace led his side to the play-offs in two seasons, as well as the First Round Proper of the FA Cup.
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John Eustace left the club on 25 May 2018 to join former manager Steve McClaren at Queens Park Rangers as assistant manager.
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John Eustace succeeded Lee Bowyer as head coach of Championship club Birmingham City on 3 July 2022.
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John Eustace gained his first victory as Birmingham manager in the following match day, beating Huddersfield Town at home on 5 August 2022.
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John Eustace was able to guide the club to its highest points tally since 2016, successfully avoiding relegation.
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On 9 February 2024, John Eustace was appointed head coach of Championship club Blackburn Rovers on a two-and-a-half-year deal.
30.
Derby County announced that John Eustace had been appointed as head coach on 13 February 2025 until the summer of 2028.
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When John Eustace joined, Derby were only out of the relegation zone in the Championship on goal difference, with John Eustace admitting in his press conference the risk of leaving a battle for a play-off place at Blackburn to join a relegation battle at his new club, but he felt the Derby job was a better long-term prospect.
32.
John Eustace said he had more conversations with the Derby owner David Clowes than with previous ownership groups combined at Birmingham and Blackburn.