Patrick Roland John

Patrick Roland John was a colonel before he joined politics. Born in Roseau on January 7, 1938, John succeeded Edward Oliver Le Blanc as the national leader. Patrick John used to be the mayor of Roseau and the leader of the Waterfront and Allied Workers Union before his election to the House of Assembly in 1970.

He became a Premier in 1978, and when the United Kingdom granted independence to Dominica that same year, he became the Prime Minister but left office in 1979. He was forced to resign because he had become unpopular with the people and mass protests were a common occurrence during his time in office. John was succeeded by Oliver Seraphin as prime minister and later by Dame Eugenia Charles.

Patrick John, however, attempted in 1981 to overthrow the government of Eugenia Charles by hiring American and Canadian mercenaries affiliated with the white supremacist group Ku Klux Klan in an infamous coup codenamed Operation Red Dog. The coup failed flat because American federal agents in Louisiana, USA, intervened in time. John was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for the coup attempt but he served only five years before he was released.

Patrick John, who used to be a member of the Dominica national football club, later became a sports administrator after his release from prison. He became the president of the Dominica Football Association (DFA) in 1992 and he made DFA to join FIFA in 1994. He ceased to be the president of the national football league in 2006, and was inducted into the CONCACAF Hall of Fame in 2007. He became the DFA president again in 2008 but was banned by FIFA in 2011 for two years and fined $3,300 for alleged bribery and corruption.