John Cornelius McCarthy (born 10 February 1893, date of death unknown) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood and Footscray in the VFL. He was known during his career as Con McCarthy.
Originally from Western Australia, McCarthy was a ruckman and started his league career in 1915 with Collingwood. He was a premiership player with them in 1917 and 1919, the latter as captain. He also captained Victoria during his career, leading the VFL at the 1921 Perth Carnival.
McCarthy joined Footscray in 1922 as captain-coach and led them to back to back VFA premierships in 1923 and 1924. This saw Footscray promoted to the VFL in 1925 and McCarthy was their inaugural captain and coach. He retired at the end of the 1926 season.