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, becoming popular with United fans who voted him their young player of the year. 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. 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.
Stoke City At the start of the 2003–04 season, Eustace left Coventry for fellow second-tier team
Stoke City on a free transfer. 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, Eustace suffered a serious knee injury and was then substituted, in only his 8th appearance of the season. 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. 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
midfield, 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.
Watford On 31 January 2008, Eustace joined
Watford from Stoke City for a fee of £250,000. 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. in 2012 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.
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 and after impressing Nigel Clough in pre-season training and friendly games, Eustace verbally agreed a one-year contract with Derby and the move was made official on 24 July. According to Clough, Eustace was signed to act as cover in his natural central midfield position as well as being an emergency central defender. 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. 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. 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. ==Coaching career==