John Karelse

John Karelse (born May 17, 1970 in Kapelle) is a retired Dutch football goalkeeper.

He played for AGOVV Apeldoorn in his native country for a few years before moving to NAC Breda. It was here that he caught the attention of then Newcastle United manager Ruud Gullit, who signed him for £900,000 in August 1999. His time at Newcastle was largely unsuccessful, as he endured a terrible start to his career at the club, losing 4-2 to Southampton on his debut. He found his first team opportunities very limited after this, not helped by the competition for his position being very high with Shay Given and Steve Harper also at the club.

A proposed move to Turkey broke down in 2000, but a year later a move back to Holland seemed likely, with Feyenoord Rotterdam rumoured to be interested. No move materialised and the former Holland Youth and Under-21 international had no choice but to stay in the Newcastle reserves. He retired in 2004 after one final season at AGOVV Apeldoorn, and currently works as a goalkeeping coach for NAC.