Martin John, a former player at Lisgar Collegiate, is now a midfielder for Cardiff City, a second-tier team in England.
Lisgar Collegiate graduate Martin John says he never dreamed of playing professional soccer as a kid – it just kind of happened.
In a matter of days, the 22-year-old midfielder went from training with the fourth-tier amateur Ottawa Fury team this summer to playing professionally in Wales.
He now suits up for Cardiff City FC in front of thousands of passionate soccer fans each game.
“I don’t really know how it happened,” John says. “I just tried my hardest and I guess the scouts saw something they liked.”
John’s new team, nicknamed the Bluebirds, sits atop the standings in the second most competitive league in Britain.
The team is gunning for a spot in the top-tier English Premier League next season, hoping to compete against world-class teams such as Manchester United and superstar players such as Wayne Rooney.
The past few months may have been rewarding, but certainly not a vacation for John.
He says it took two months to bring his fitness levels high enough to survive a training session without being completely exhausted, and admits he still has plenty of room for improvement.
“I can’t settle. I still have so much work to do to try and get better,” he says. “I want to play as long as I can and see how high I can go.”
Born in England, John moved to Ottawa when he was eight years old and started playing house league soccer when he was nine.
He got cut from the Fury’s junior team in his first tryout when he was 14, but made the squad the next three years while also playing for Lisgar in Ottawa high school competitive soccer.
After graduating, John went on to play college soccer in the United States.
“Martin blossomed with us,” says Fury owner John Pugh, who has known John since he started playing for the junior team.
“He just got better and better and caught the eye of college scouts.”
John played for the University of Maine for two years, then transferred to the University of Buffalo for two more.
He played for six months in Argentina at the beginning of this year before coming back to Ottawa to train with the Fury’s most competitive team.
“I’m not surprised he’s overseas,” says his former coach at Buffalo, John Astudillo.
“He’s such an exceptional player and he worked so hard.”
Astudillo says John has an amazing stride, an incredible shot, superb ball control, great technique and defends with as much force as he attacks with.
Moreover, he says, the Lisgar grad can perform these skills while running at top speed.
In John’s first game after signing a contract this year with Cardiff, he played the entire 120 minutes of regulation and overtime because the team had run out of substitutions.
“By the 60th minute, I had no energy,” he says.
“I cramped up everywhere – every single muscle in my leg was hurting and I couldn’t run. But I didn’t want to disappoint my team and the fans to think I was useless, so I kept doing what I could.”
After the game, some fans stuck around for three hours until John finished getting medical attention to congratulate him for making it through the game and helping the team earn a victory.
They asked him to sign autographs.
“It’s so rare for players to move on to the first team that quickly,” Pugh says.
He adds that it is great for the Fury organization to see one of its players make it professionally overseas.
“We measure our success by the success of our players, and we get gratitude from seeing them be successful,” Pugh says.
The Bluebirds recently loaned John to another club in a lower-tier division, Newport County FC in South Wales.
There, John will receieve more playing time and to help him adjust to the high level of competition.
John is expected to return to the Bluebirds later this year to help them compete for the championship.
“It’s a Cinderella story,” Pugh says. “He’s training with our team and then one month later on the field in England. It’s the beginning of a new chapter for Martin and we are excited for him.”