Gough was a well decorated member of the Queen's Island team that experienced great success in the Irish League during the 1920s.

During his impressive season, Gough was selected to represent Ireland against South Africa in a friendly game at Solitude in September 1924.

The full cap added to the two caps he had won between 1923 and 1924 for the Irish League representative team[2] Queen's Island's success quickly deteriorated and in September 1928, John left the club to join the newly elected Ballymena team.

[3] It proved a shrewd decision as Gough won another Irish Cup winners' medal in 1929, as the Braidmen defeated Belfast Celtic in final in their first ever season.

He was also part of the team for a return to the Irish Cup final a year later, as Ballymena were defeated by Linfield.