John Graham came to Hove as a trialist in October 1905 with a reputation as an experienced centre-forward. Although described in the Press as a Scottish international, he had, in fact, represented the Scottish League against the Irish League in February 1901. John set out on his pro career with Kilmarnock, whom he joined from the local Rugby XI club in June 1900 shortly after losing in the Scottish Junior Cup final. Fourteen goals from 37 games earned the young forward his representative honour, but in May 1902 he came south to try his luck with Bristol Rovers, A year later he returned to Scotland with Celtic, but failed to make his mark and, after appearing just four times in 1903-04, was released to sign for Millwall at the end of the campaign.
John’s career continued to decline with the ‘Dockers’ for whom he made only one appearance in the Southern League side before moving briefly into the Lancashire Combination with Accrington Stanley in April 1905. The following September saw him on Alloa Athletic’s books, but he was not a success and weeks later he arrived at the Goldstone to endure a miserable time. After appearing in one Southern League fixture, once for the reserves and once in a friendly match, John faded into obscurity and his departure failed to solicit any public comment. In March 1906 he resurfaced in his native Ayrshire when he joined the junior Kilwinning Eglinton. On hanging up his boots John worked as a miner, but later worked for ICI as an explosives operative for many years.