John Robert Borthwick (born 24 March 1964) is an English former professional footballer who made 225 appearances in the Football League playing as a forward for Hartlepool United, Darlington and York City.
Borthwick was born in Hartlepool, County Durham, and made his Football League debut for his local club, Hartlepool United, on 3 January 1983 in a 4–1 defeat away at Colchester United. He spent six seasons with Hartlepool, scoring 16 goals from 135 games in all competitions, before moving on to Darlington, newly relegated to the Conference for the 1989–90 season. His 19 goals made him Darlington's leading scorer as they won the Conference title to return to the Football League, and was again their top scorer as they won back-to-back titles to gain promotion to the Third Division. He had one more season with Darlington, then spent the 1992–93 season with York City before moving into non-League football with Gateshead.