Roger Johnson (footballer)

Roger Johnson

Johnson in Wolves pre-season, 2011
Personal information
Full name Roger Johnson[1]
Date of birth (1983-04-28) 28 April 1983
Place of birth Ashford, Surrey, England
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[1]
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current team
 Charlton Athletic
Number 6
Youth career
1998–2000 Wycombe Wanderers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2006 Wycombe Wanderers[2] 157 (19)
2006–2009 Cardiff City 119 (12)
2009–2011 Birmingham City 76 (2)
2011–2015 Wolverhampton Wanderers 69 (2)
2013–2014 → Sheffield Wednesday (loan) 17 (0)
2014 → West Ham United (loan) 4 (0)
2015 Charlton Athletic 14 (0)
2015 Pune City 11 (0)
2016– Charlton Athletic 5 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:53, 15 August 2016 (UTC).


Roger Johnson (born 28 April 1983) is an English footballer who plays as a central defender for Charlton Athletic.

Johnson began his career with Wycombe Wanderers, where he spent six years as a professional. He then joined Welsh side Cardiff City in 2006 for £275,000. He was part of the team that reached the 2008 FA Cup Final and was twice chosen as the club's Player of the Year in his three-year stint with the club.

He moved into the Premier League by signing for Birmingham City in 2009 for £5 million, with whom he won the 2011 League Cup. He departed Birmingham in 2011 after their relegation to join Midlands neighbours Wolverhampton Wanderers, with whom he suffered two further consecutive relegations, leading to his exclusion from first team involvement. After loan spells with Sheffield Wednesday and West Ham United, Johnson left Wolves by mutual consent, and spent the latter part of the 2014–15 season with Charlton Athletic. He played for Indian Super League club Pune City in 2015 before returning to Charlton in January 2016.

Career

Wycombe Wanderers

Johnson spent time at Portsmouth and Bournemouth before joining Wycombe Wanderers as a 15-year-old, where he developed through the club's youth system.[3] He made his first-team debut for Wycombe in the final game of the 1999–2000 season against Cambridge United,[2] becoming the youngest ever player to make a Football League appearance for the club at the time, at the age of 17 years and 8 days.[3] The following season, Johnson also made one substitute appearance, and was on the bench as Wycombe beat Premier League club Leicester City in the FA Cup quarter finals.[4] The 2003–04 season saw Johnson in and out of the side under manager Tony Adams but he was still awarded the Fans' Player of the Year Award.[3]

After the departure of Adams after one season (6 months), Johnson became a regular in the side and was handed the captaincy by new manager John Gorman when he took over in November 2004, as well as finishing second in the player of the year award to forward Nathan Tyson.

Cardiff City

After 183 appearances and 22 goals for Wycombe,[3] Johnson joined Cardiff City on 4 July 2006 for a fee of £275,000; Cardiff's local rivals Swansea City £100,000 bid was rejected.[5]

Johnson had a strong first year at Cardiff, and after spending the first six months as a regular substitute, began to form a dominant pairing with Dutchman Glenn Loovens which saw them keep club captain Darren Purse out of the side. In the 2007–08 season he began to score goals, with late winners against Norwich City in the League[6] and Brighton & Hove Albion in the League Cup,[7] as well as vital equalisers against Hull City[8] and Preston North End.[9] Johnson scored the second goal of Cardiff's memorable 2–0 away victory over Premier League Middlesbrough in the 2007–08 FA Cup quarter final,[10] and his header in the Severnside Derby match against Bristol City in March 2008 was his seventh goal of the season.[11] He played in all six of Cardiff's matches on their way to the FA Cup Final, in which they lost 1–0 to Portsmouth,[12] and at the end of the season he was awarded the club's Player of the Year award.[13]

The summer transfer window saw prolonged interest in Johnson; both Ipswich Town and West Bromwich Albion had bids rejected.[13][14] Despite the interest Johnson remained with the side into the new season although he did see his centre-back partner Glenn Loovens leave to join Celtic. On the opening day of the season, Johnson scored a late winning goal against Southampton as Cardiff came away with a 2–1 win. Despite continued changes in his defensive partner, having played alongside Loovens, Purse and new signing Gábor Gyepes, who forced his way into the side past Purse in November,[15] Johnson passed 100 appearances for the club, and had played every minute of the season[16] until he had to leave the field during a 2–0 victory over Crystal Palace on 11 April 2009, after being hit in the throat by an elbow from Palace defender Claude Davis. After the incident Johnson suffered breathing difficulties and was forced to spend two nights in hospital as well as having daily checks throughout the following week.[13][17][18] Davies was found guilty of violent conduct by the Football Association and banned for three matches.[19] Johnson was forced to miss the next match, a 3–1 win over Burnley, but returned for the 6–0 defeat to Preston North End the following week.[20] He was chosen as the club's player of the year for the second year running,[13] and was named in the Championship Team of the Year.[21]

Birmingham City

Playing for Birmingham, September 2009

In June 2009, after two previous bids had been rejected, Cardiff accepted an offer of £5m from Birmingham City.[16] Johnson, described by former teammate Tony Capaldi as "definitely captain material",[22] signed a three-year deal with the club on 25 June 2009, stating "Premier League football is the dream at the start of any footballer's career so I am pleased I have been given that chance with Birmingham and I can't wait to get started."[16] He made "an impressive debut" in Birmingham's first match of the season, a 1–0 defeat at Manchester United.[23] He was part of the Birmingham team which went 12 games unbeaten, a club record for the top flight;[24] at Christmas, The Times' correspondent Patrick Barclay described Johnson and defensive partner Scott Dann as "the players of 2009–10 thus far";[25] and Johnson was suggested as a possible England player.[24] Johnson scored his first goal for the club away against Bolton Wanderers on 29 August 2010,[26] and his second opened the scoring in the Second City derby against Aston Villa in January 2011.[27]

Johnson's header set up the opening goal for Nikola Žigić as Birmingham City defeated favourites Arsenal 2–1 to win the 2011 Football League Cup Final. The Daily Telegraph described him as "an inspiring defensive presence throughout".[28]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 11 July 2011, Birmingham accepted a bid from Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers for Johnson.[29] Two days later, Johnson signed a four-year contract with Wolves.[30] The fee was officially undisclosed, and the club claimed that reports of a £7m fee were inaccurate; the Wolverhampton-based Express & Star newspaper reported that the club had paid "a flat fee with no add-ons" of "just over £4m".[31]

Johnson was almost immediately handed the captaincy of Wolves by Mick McCarthy shortly before the start of the new season, relieving former captain Karl Henry of his duties.[32] The season proved problematic for Johnson and his new team though and McCarthy was sacked in February 2012, following which Johnson said the players had let the manager down.[33] After assistant manager Terry Connor was promoted to fill the vacancy, Johnson featured in only two further matches that season. During March 2012 he was disciplined by the club after turning up for training "unfit to train properly",[34] widely reported as being due to alcohol;[35] the player apologised for his conduct,[36] and retained the captaincy.[34] Later that same month, he had an on-field dispute with teammate Wayne Hennessey.[37]

With the club relegated back to the Championship, new manager Ståle Solbakken brought Johnson back into the team.[38] Solbakken was however dismissed in January 2013, and although Johnson retained his place in the team, once again the club were relegated, meaning Johnson had now been relegated in each of the last three seasons.[39]

With the arrival of Kenny Jackett as Wolves manager, it was announced in June 2013 that Johnson was available for transfer and he was not issued with a squad number.[40][41] No sale took place during the summer transfer window, and on 16 September, Johnson joined Championship club Sheffield Wednesday on loan for three months.[42] He made 17 loan appearances before the deal expired, but Sheffield Wednesday caretaker manager Stuart Gray confirmed that he was attempting to extend the loan agreement.[43]

On 6 January 2014 he joined Premier League club West Ham United on loan for the remainder of the 2013–14 season.[44] Johnson played six games in all competitions for West Ham, his first coming on 8 January 2014 in a 6–0 away defeat to Manchester City in a semi-final of the League Cup.[45]

Johnson remained at Wolves, now back in the Championship, at the start of the 2014–15 season after the club received no offers during the close season for the player.[46] He was again not issued with a squad number and did not play any first team football during the first half of the campaign. In an interview on Soccer AM, Johnson revealed he trained during afternoons, away from the first team group, but "would probably give up a fair amount of money if I just walked out".[47] On 2 February 2015, the final day of the January transfer window, it was announced that his contract with Wolves had been terminated by mutual consent.[48]

Charlton Athletic

On 3 February 2015, following the termination of his contract with Wolves, Johnson signed a deal with Championship side Charlton Athletic to last until the end of the season.[49] He started 14 of Charlton's remaining 16 matches.[50]

On 12 May 2015, Johnson was released at the end of his contract.[51]

Pune City

On 18 August 2015, Johnson joined Indian Super League side FC Pune City for the 2015 tournament.[52]

Return to Charlton Athletic

On 4 January 2016, Johnson re-signed for Charlton Athletic on a 18-month contract.[53]

Club statistics

As of match played 2 May 2015
Club statistics
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Wycombe Wanderers 1999–2000[2] Division Two 1000000010
2000–01[4] Division Two 1000000010
2001–02[54] Division Two 7100002[lower-alpha 1]091
2002–03[55] Division Two 33300101[lower-alpha 1]0353
2003–04[56] Division Two 28230203[lower-alpha 1]1363
2004–05[57] League Two 42621103[lower-alpha 1]0487
2005–06[58] League Two 45710215[lower-alpha 2]0538
Total 15719616114118322
Cardiff City 2006–07[59] Championship 3220010–332
2007–08[12] Championship 4256141–527
2008–09[20] Championship 4553030–515
Total 119129181–13614
Birmingham City 2009–10[60] Premier League 3805000–430
2010–11[27] Premier League 3821061–453
Total 7626061–883
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2011–12[61] Premier League 2701000–280
2012–13[62] Championship 4221010–442
2013–14[45] League One 0000000000
2014–15[50] Championship 000000–00
Total 692201000722
Sheffield Wednesday (loan) 2013–14[45] Championship 1700000–170
West Ham United (loan) 2013–14[45] Premier League 400020–60
Charlton Athletic 2014–15[50] Championship 1400000–140
Career total 4563523223314151641
  1. 1 2 3 4 Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
  2. ↑ Three appearances in Football League Trophy, two in Football League Two play-offs

Honours

Club

Cardiff City

Birmingham City

Individual

Personal life

Johnson was born in Ashford, Surrey.[1] He attended St Michael's Middle School in Colehill, Dorset, [63] and then Queen Elizabeth's School, Wimborne Minster.[64] Together with his brothers, Johnson supported Chelsea; he held a season ticket for ten years.[65] As of 2010, Johnson and his wife at the time Melissa had a daughter named Brooke.[66]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hugman, Barry, ed. (2005). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2005/2006. Queen Anne Press. p. 220. ISBN 978-1-85291-662-6.
  2. 1 2 3 Soccerbase omit Johnson's debut appearance, against Cambridge United on 6 May 2000, attributing it to another player: "Cambridge v Wycombe Saturday 6th May 2000". Chairboys on the Net. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
    "Wycombe results: 1999/00". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Roger Johnson". Chairboys on the Net. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Games played by Roger Johnson in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  5. ↑ "Cardiff beat Swansea to Johnson". BBC Sport. 4 July 2006. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  6. ↑ "Norwich 1–2 Cardiff". BBC Sport. 1 September 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  7. ↑ "Cardiff 1–0 Brighton (aet)". BBC Sport. 14 August 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  8. ↑ "Hull 2–2 Cardiff". BBC Sport. 1 December 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  9. ↑ "Preston 1–2 Cardiff". BBC Sport. 29 December 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  10. ↑ Dulin, David (9 March 2008). "Middlesbrough 0–2 Cardiff". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  11. ↑ "Cardiff 2–1 Bristol City". BBC Sport. 22 March 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  12. 1 2 "Games played by Roger Johnson in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Phillips, Terry (16 May 2009). "Cardiff City set to offer skipper's armband to Roger Johnson". Wales Online. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  14. ↑ "Bluebirds reject bids for Johnson". BBC Sport. 7 June 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  15. ↑ Phillips, Terry (24 December 2008). "Cardiff City are going up, insists Roger Johnson". Western Mail. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  16. 1 2 3 "Johnson completes Birmingham move". BBC Sport. 25 June 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  17. ↑ "Johnson eager for Cardiff return". BBC Sport. 14 April 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  18. ↑ "Roger Johnson on mend, but Cardiff City boss Dave Jones still fuming". South Wales Echo. 17 April 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  19. ↑ "Davis guilty of violent conduct". BBC Sport. 17 April 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  20. 1 2 "Games played by Roger Johnson in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  21. ↑ "Championship Team of the Year". The Football League. 27 April 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  22. ↑ "Birmingham City signing is 'captain material'". Birmingham Mail. 30 June 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  23. ↑ Jolly, Richard (16 August 2009). "Wayne's World is now key to United". ESPN FC. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  24. 1 2 "Fresh fortunes at St Andrew's". FIFA. 15 January 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  25. ↑ Barclay, Patrick (24 December 2009). "Polished duo Roger Johnson and Scott Dann put case for the defence". The Times. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  26. ↑ Whyatt, Chris (28 April 2010). "Bolton 2–2 Birmingham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  27. 1 2 "Games played by Roger Johnson in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  28. ↑ Wilson, Jeremy (27 February 2011). "Arsenal v Birmingham City: player ratings". The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  29. ↑ "Wolves close in on Johnson". ESPN FC. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  30. ↑ "Roger Johnson completes move from Birmingham to Wolves". BBC Sport. 13 July 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  31. ↑ "Wolves quids in on Roger Johnson and Jamie O'Hara deals". Express & Star. Wolverhampton. 23 July 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
  32. ↑ "Johnson the new captain". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 2 August 2011. Archived from the original on 8 August 2011.
  33. ↑ "Wolves captain Roger Johnson blames players for Mick McCarthy sacking". The Telegraph. 15 February 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  34. 1 2 "Johnson stays as captain". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 9 March 2012. Archived from the original on 11 March 2012.
  35. ↑ Percy, John (7 March 2012). "Roger Johnson puts his Wolves future in doubt after turning up drunk for training". Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
    "Wolves star Roger Johnson in booze shame". Express & Star. Wolverhampton. 8 March 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
    O'Rourke, Pete (8 March 2012). "Johnson makes Wolves apology". Sky Sports. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  36. ↑ "Club statement". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 8 March 2012. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012.
  37. ↑ James, Stuart (3 April 2012). "Wolves warn Wayne Hennessey and Roger Johnson about conduct". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  38. ↑ "Stale Solbakken happy to let Roger Johnson take a lead role". Express & Star. Wolverhampton. 8 December 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  39. ↑ Ripley, Dan (3 May 2013). "Third time unlucky: Wolves' Johnson set to suffer relegation THREE years running". Daily Mail. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  40. ↑ "Four players transfer listed". Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. 24 June 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  41. ↑ Evans, Gregg (19 July 2013). "No squad numbers for Karl Henry, Stephen Ward, Roger Johnson and Jamie O'Hara". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  42. ↑ "Sheffield Wednesday: Roger Johnson signs from Wolves". BBC Sport. 16 September 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  43. ↑ "Sheffield Wednesday: Roger Johnson signs from Wolves". Yorkshire Post. 6 January 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  44. ↑ "West Ham sign defender Roger Johnson from Wolves on loan". BBC Sport. 6 January 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  45. 1 2 3 4 "Games played by Roger Johnson in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  46. ↑ "Wolves: Roger Johnson was never close to a move says Kenny Jackett". Birmingham Mail. 5 September 2014.
  47. ↑ "Roger Johnson: I'm at Wolves for the money". Express & Star. 1 November 2014.
  48. ↑ "Roger Johnson: Wolves terminate former skipper's contract". BBC Sport. 2 February 2015.
  49. ↑ "Roger Johnson: Charlton sign defender after Wolves exit". BBC Sport. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  50. 1 2 3 "Games played by Roger Johnson in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  51. ↑ "Charlton announce list of released players". Charlton Athletic FC. 12 May 2015.
  52. ↑ "FC Pune City Sign English Defender Roger Johnson". NDTV Sports. 18 August 2015.
  53. ↑ "Roger Johnson: Charlton Athletic re-sign central defender". BBC Sport. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  54. ↑ "Games played by Roger Johnson in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  55. ↑ "Games played by Roger Johnson in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  56. ↑ "Games played by Roger Johnson in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  57. ↑ "Games played by Roger Johnson in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  58. ↑ "Games played by Roger Johnson in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  59. ↑ "Games played by Roger Johnson in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  60. ↑ "Games played by Roger Johnson in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  61. ↑ "Games played by Roger Johnson in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  62. ↑ "Games played by Roger Johnson in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  63. ↑ "Wolves player returns to St Michael's". Stour & Avon Magazine. This is Dorset. 5 July 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  64. ↑ Wadley, Ian (17 May 2008). "Roger hoping for a Wembley win". Daily Echo. Bournemouth. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  65. ↑ Moxley, Neil (26 December 2009). "'I keep the Shed End in my loft', says Birmingham's very own Chelsea fan Roger Johnson". Daily Mail. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  66. ↑ Chamberlain, Zoe (2 May 2010). "Melissa Johnson: I was a WAG before I became Blues' Roger Johnson's wife". Sunday Mercury. Birmingham. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/25/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.