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John Mark Eustace (born 3 November 1979) is an English professional football coach and former football player who is head coach of club Derby County.
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, before leaving to become Derby County head coach in February 2025.
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. 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.
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. 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. Eustace made 33 league appearances over the season, his last with Coventry.
Eustace returned from his long injury lay off in June 2006. 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. During his time at Edgar Street he was a key part of the Hereford Midfielder, and his loan was extended to the New Year. However, on 14 December 2006 he was suddenly recalled by Stoke due to them suffering several injuries in midfield. John's grandfather Ken Eustace also played one match for Hereford during the 1949–50 season.
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. 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.
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. 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. 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. 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."
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.
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.
Ahead of the season, Mackay handed Eustace the captaincy, after DeMerit was released on a Bosman transfer. He started the season in good form, scoring Watford's first goal of the season in a 3–2 win at Norwich City, 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. 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.
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.
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. The injury required an operation and ruled him out for the remainder of the season. Eustace was released by Derby in June 2015.
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." Despite the link to Rangers, Eustace retired from playing due to his injury.
He left the club on 25 May 2018 to join former manager Steve McClaren at Queens Park Rangers as assistant manager. At QPR, he had a brief spell as caretaker manager in 2019, helping the club avoid relegation from the EFL Championship with 7 points from his 7 games in charge. Following Mark Warburton's arrival as manager in May 2019, Eustace remained as his assistant and began studying for his UEFA Pro Licence. In March 2022, he joined the Republic of Ireland national team in the same capacity, working under Stephen Kenny, combining this with his existing role at QPR. Eustace, along with Matt Gardiner, left his role at QPR in June 2022, following the appointment of new manager Michael Beale.
On 9 October 2023, Eustace was dismissed by Birmingham. 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. Following Eustace's dismissal, the club rapidly declined and fell to 20th by the end of the calendar year, which was succeeded by relegation to League One at the end of the season, with his replacement Wayne Rooney being sacked after just fifteen matches.
Derby made 13 new signings in the summer transfer window for the 2025–26 season, as Derby started the first month of league action winless, picking up two draws in their first four Championship matches. In Derby's first ten league matches of the season, they had won one match, drew four and lost five, with Eustace being disappointed with Derby's lack of aggression in 1–0 loss over Oxford United in October. After this match, Derby went on five-match winning run. After winning five matches in November, Eustace was nominated for Championship Manager of the month. Derby's results in the first half of the season, were stronger away from home, Derby having on the best away records in the Championship. The home form was a factor in the team not being in the play-off places whilst the away form meant they were clear of the relegation battle. This strong away form was highlighted on 30 January 2026, with Derby winning 5–0 at Ashton Gate against Bristol City, the first time Derby won by 5 goals away from home since 12 September 1959.
| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition | |||
| Coventry City | 1998–99 | Premier League | 0 |
| 1999–2000 | Premier League | 2 | |
| 2000–01 | Premier League | 4 | |
| 2001–02 | First Division | 0 | |
| 2002–03 | First Division | 4 | |
| Dundee United (loan) | 1998–99 | Scottish Premier League | 1 |
| Middlesbrough (loan) | 2002–03 | Premier League | 0 |
| Stoke City | 2003–04 | First Division | 6 |
| 2004–05 | EFL Championship | 0 | |
| 2005–06 | Championship | 0 | |
| 2006–07 | Championship | 0 | |
| 2007–08 | Championship | 0 | |
| Hereford United (loan) | 2006–07 | League Two | 0 |
| Watford | 2007–08 | Championship | 0 |
| 2008–09 | Championship | 2 | |
| 2009–10 | Championship | 4 | |
| 2010–11 | Championship | 6 | |
| 2011–12 | Championship | 4 | |
| 2012–13 | Championship | 0 | |
| Derby County (loan) | 2008–09 | Championship | 1 |
| Derby County | 2013–14 | Championship | 1 |
| 2014–15 | Championship | 1 | |
| + Managerial record by team and tenure | |||
| Kidderminster Harriers | 1 June 2016 | 25 May 2018 | For FA Cup matches not covered by Soccerbase (17 Sep and 1 October 2016, 16 September 2017, 3 wins): |
| Queens Park Rangers (caretaker) | 1 April 2019 | 8 May 2019 | |
| Birmingham City | 3 July 2022 | 9 October 2023 | |
| Blackburn Rovers | 11 February 2024 | 13 February 2025 | |
| Derby County | 13 February 2025 | Present | |
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