Although born in Arbroath in December 1942, John Benson was brought up in Manchester playing for Stockport Boys before signing as an apprentice with Manchester City. He turned professional with the Maine Road side in July 1961 and made 44 appearances before transferring to Torquay in June 1964. After 240 games and 7 goals for the Devon side, John transferred to Bournemouth in October 1970. At Bournemouth, he met John Bond and as his captain, formed part of the Bond/Machin/Benson dynasty that would come to Norwich in December 1973. Prior to his move to Norfolk, John played four games on loan with Exeter in March 1973. John made 37 appearances for Norwich scoring a solitary league goal.

He returned to Bournemouth in January 1975 to become player manager and made another 57 appearances. In January 1979, John returned to Norwich City and John Bond to act as youth team coach and scout. In October 1980, he followed John Bond to Manchester City to become his Assistant Manager and acted as caretaker manager for four months after Bond's dismissal in February 1983. He managed Burnley from August 1984 through to May 1985 before undertaking a coaching role in Dubai and in Kuwait with Al Nasa. He returned to England in 1990 to become Barnsley's chief scout under Mel Machin. He returned to Carrow Road in March 1994 as as an Administrative Assistant assisting John Deehan whilst also coaching the Canaries' goalkeepers. After Deehan's resignation in April 1995 and Martin O'Neill's appointment as manager, John was squeezed out at Carrow Road. He jumped at the chance to become Assistant Manager to Deehan when he took over at Wigan and stepped into the managerial shoes for the 1998 pre-season when Deehan left to join Steve Bruce at Sheffield United.

Although he did not get the permanent position at Wigan in the summer of 1998, John stayed with the club and again became caretaker when Roy Matthias was sacked in May 1999. On 1st June 1999, it was announced that John was to be the new manager of Wigan and would have £3million to spend on new players in an attempt to escape from Division Two. John managed to lead Wigan to a play-off final at Wembley but unfortunately lost 3-2 to Gillingham on 28th May 2000. John moved upstairs to become general manager as Bruce Rioch took over day-to-day affairs as manager on 26th June 2000. Rioch's departure led to the arrival of Steve Bruce as manager in April 2001 and a new role for John as he concentrates on youth development

John teamed up again with Bruce in December 2001 when he became part of Bruce's coaching set-up at Birmingham City (as did Mark Bowen). John left the Blues, where he was working as general manager to join Wigan on 2nd June 2006 in a role designed to prvide linkage between the playing and administrative aspects of the club.