Career
He notably played in the Premier League for Wimbledon, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Ipswich Town as well as playing in the Football League for Bristol Rovers. He was capped 3 times by England. Bristol Rovers He started his career at Bristol Rovers before earning a move to Wimbledon in July 1987 after just two seasons at his original club
Wimbledon Scales played as a substitute in the final, though unusually playing as a forward after coming on for striker Terry Gibson.
He made his debut for the club in a 1–0 First Division defeat to Watford, who had just appointed former Wimbledon boss Dave Bassett as their new manager, on 15 August 1987. Liverpool Scales made a £3.5 million transfer to Liverpool in September 1994, he says that the highlight of his time there was his three England caps and the game at Anfield when they beat Newcastle United 4–3 in April 1996.
Tottenham Hotspur In 1996, Liverpool accepted offers from Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur for Scales, who decided to again join up with Spurs manager Gerry Francis who he had played for whilst at Bristol Rovers. Scales had a disappointing time at Tottenham Hotspur due to injuries, being in and out of the team and the instability of the club
Ipswich Town In July 2000, Scales signed for new promoted Ipswich Town but made only two Premier League appearances before succumbing to injury and was released in the summer of 2001.
All his appearances came in the Umbro Cup, starting games against Japan and Brazil, and came on as a substitute in the 80th minute against Sweden. He was England coach for the Danone Nations Cup in 2007. Later in his career, Scales went on to coach the England Beach Soccer team
As a schoolboy, Scales attended Rossett School from 1978–1983.
John was featured on the Sky Sports series Where are they now?, he is now a company chairman with an events management company "Be Sport". His company organises tournaments for schools.
He has also co-commentated on football matches for British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 5Live.