Career
He played in The Football League for five clubs and later became a manager in non–league football. Cottam began his career with Nottingham Forest, who he signed professional forms with in April 1968. He made his debut in the 1970-1971 season when the club were in The First Division.
Apart from loan spells with Mansfield Town and Lincoln City, Cottam remained at Forest until August 1976, making nearly 100 league appearances in the process.
Cottam then moved on to Chesterfield, where he played regularly for three years in Division Three. In July 1979 he moved to divisional rivals Chester for £12,500, making his debut in a Football League Cup tie against Walsall the following month.
Ahead of the 1982-1983 season, Cottam moved to Alliance Premier League side as player–manager, taking Chester players David Burns and Brynley Jones with him. After Playing After a spell playing for Burton Albion, Cottam joined the Metropolitan Police force in July 1985, becoming a police sergeant.
He began playing for the Metropolitan Police in the Isthmian League.
He played for three years and then became coach at the start of the 1992-1993 season. Cottam became club manager in 1995 for two years. John now works for Chelsea Football Club in Security as their Compliance Officer.