John Alexander Beck is an English former footballer and manager. As a player he made nearly 500 league appearances between 1972 and 1988. He is also known for his successful period as manager of Cambridge United from 1990 to 1992, where he won two successive promotions. Beck took the club from the Fourth Division to the Second and very nearly to the new Premier League at the end of the 1991?92 season, where they ended their campaign in the Top 5 of the Second Division, their highest ever league finish. In 2010, he was appointed manager of Conference National club Histon, but resigned two games into the 2010?11 season.