Andrew Johnson (English footballer)

For other people with the same name, see Andrew Johnson (disambiguation).
Andrew Johnson

Johnson training with Fulham in 2008
Personal information
Full name Andrew Johnson[1]
Date of birth (1981-02-10) 10 February 1981[1]
Place of birth Bedford, England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1]
Playing position Striker
Youth career
Luton Town
000–1998 Birmingham City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2002 Birmingham City 83 (8)
2002–2006 Crystal Palace 140 (74)
2006–2008 Everton 61 (17)
2008–2012 Fulham 86 (13)
2012–2014 Queens Park Rangers 20 (2)
2014–2015 Crystal Palace 0 (0)
Total 390 (114)
National team
2005–2007 England 8 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Andrew Johnson (born 10 February 1981), also known as Andy Johnson, is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played for Birmingham City, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham and Queens Park Rangers. He was capped eight times for England. As of March 2016, Johnson was working at Crystal Palace as a club ambassador.[2]

Club career

Birmingham City

Johnson was born in Bedford, Bedfordshire,[1] and started his career at Luton Town's Academy. Initially his career was held back by the perception that he was too small to prosper as a top level striker. He moved on to Birmingham City, where he signed his first professional contract on 11 March 1998.[1] He missed a deciding penalty in the 2001 League Cup Final penalty shoot-out defeat to Liverpool.[3]

After only a few noteworthy appearances, he was sold to Crystal Palace in 2002, following Birmingham's promotion into the Premier League. Johnson was used as the makeweight in a transfer deal for Clinton Morrison, valued at £750,000 for the purposes of the transaction.[4]

Crystal Palace

Johnson in 2005

Whilst Johnson's arrival was not greeted with any real excitement at Crystal Palace, the transfer turned out to be an excellent move for both Johnson and Palace. He soon made himself very popular with Palace fans with a hat-trick in the 5–0 demolition of rivals Brighton & Hove Albion on 26 October 2002,[5] and then another, in the next match, at Walsall.[6]

However, manager Trevor Francis continued to play his preferred main strike partnership of Ade Akinbiyi and Dele Adebola, keeping Johnson and Palace legend Dougie Freedman on the left-wing and bench, respectively. When Francis was dismissed, and with the Eagles mid-table, he was replaced by Steve Kember,[7] who decided to partner Freedman with Neil Shipperley, while Johnson was left to play the role of support striker. The new strike partnership initially worked well, with Palace winning their first three games and topping the table. However, the good start to the season did not continue and, with Palace languishing in 20th place in November, Kember was dropped.[8]

Under the aegis of new manager and coach Iain Dowie, Johnson's all-round game improved. Now partnering Shipperley, Johnson ended the season as top scorer in the 2003–04 First Division season with 32 goals. Palace reached the play-offs and were promoted into the Premier League for 2004–05 after beating West Ham United 1–0 in the final – five months after they had occupied 19th place in the league.[9]

Despite Palace's relegation back into the Championship the following season, Johnson was the highest scoring English player with 21 goals and the second highest overall in the Premier League.[10] Johnson's tally of 21 Premier League goals was the most ever scored by a Crystal Palace player in the top flight and his form attracted the attention of England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson.[11] Although Johnson's detractors noted that 11 of these came from penalties rather than open play (a record for the Premier League), he himself won seven of the penalties.

Palace were relegated at the end of 2004–05 and Johnson requested a transfer prompting much speculation as to which club he might move to. However, on 2 August 2005, Johnson signed a new five-year contract with Palace and pledged to help them regain their place in the top flight.[12] Palace chairman Simon Jordan blamed Johnson's agent Leon Angel for pressurising Johnson into handing in the transfer request.[12]

Johnson was soon playing alongside Clinton Morrison, who had rejoined Palace from Birmingham for a fee of £2 million,[13] three years after Birmingham had bought him in a deal for £4.25m plus Johnson.[14] However, due to injury to Johnson, and Morrison's lack of form, the pairing was limited in the early part of the season. With a return to fitness and form, the two soon became Dowie's first choice pairing as the season progressed, with Dougie Freedman adding experience to the strike force.

Palace comfortably made it into a top-six position but in the play-offs failed to recover from a first leg defeat at the hands of Watford,[15] being beaten on aggregate in the semi-final.[16] Johnson scored 15 goals in the Championship that season.

In 2005, Johnson was voted into Palace's Centenary XI, the only player at the club at the time to be selected, and, together with Nigel Martyn, the only members of the XI then playing on a professional basis.

Everton

After Crystal Palace's failure to return to top-flight football, speculation about Johnson's future at the club began with a transfer to a Premier League club seeming highly likely. However, when an initial bid from Everton of £7.25 million was rejected, it looked more likely that the club would be able to keep Johnson for a further year after all. Nevertheless, the departure of manager Iain Dowie only increased the likelihood of Johnson's departure, and on 24 May 2006 Palace accepted an £8.5m million offer from Wigan Athletic for Johnson. This bid was matched by fellow Lancashire club Bolton Wanderers a day later, which was also accepted.

With Johnson having indicated a preference for a move to Merseyside, Everton, prompted by the two other bids, improved their offer to £8.6 million the following day. On 30 May 2006, he passed his medical and completed the move to Goodison Park, signing a five-year contract. Johnson's move set new club transfer records, both as Everton's most expensive purchase and Palace's most expensive sale. He stated that his reason for moving to Everton was the size and stature of the club and the size of the club's fanbase.

Johnson scored his first goal for Everton on his debut on 19 August 2006, in a 2–1 win over Watford. He continued a good start to his Everton career by scoring against Tottenham Hotspur away to end a 21-year victory drought there and then scoring twice in the 3–0 derby victory against Liverpool. Johnson was Everton's top scorer in the 2006–07 FA Premier League with 11 goals (and one in the FA Cup). However, Johnson was allegedly affected by allegations of simulation, going 13 matches without scoring a goal at one stage.

After a league match with Chelsea on 17 December 2006, Chelsea manager José Mourinho branded Johnson "untrustworthy" following a challenge with Chelsea goalkeeper Henrique Hilário. Everton issued a statement threatening legal action and calling on Mourinho to apologise,[17] which he did two days later.[18] Mourinho was not the first to air such sentiments about Johnson; former Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock also having accused Johnson of resorting to "gamesmanship" to win a penalty in a Premier League match between the two clubs.[19]

Everton manager David Moyes took the unusual step of contacting the Professional Game Match Officials Board in order to counter these accusations. The board's general manager Keith Hackett agreed that Johnson was being treated harshly and had been denied several clear penalties.

On 6 November 2007, Johnson signed a new five-year contract with Everton.[20] During the new season, Johnson scored some vital goals for Everton, including a Premier League winner away to West Ham. He scored Everton's first goal in the 2–1 away victory against Wigan Athletic, and was denied a winning goal at Blackburn Rovers, adjudged to have been offside.

Johnson scored twice in Everton's 6–1 thrashing of SK Brann in the UEFA Cup. He scored Everton's second and sixth goal and the last goal was a driven shot from outside the box. Johnson also scored in Everton's Round of 16 tie against Fiorentina. He picked up a groin injury in Everton's match at the Craven Cottage against Fulham.

Fulham

Johnson (left) playing for Fulham in 2009

In July 2008, Everton accepted an offer of "an eight figure sum" from Fulham for Johnson.[21] It was reported that problems had arisen from his medical, prompting a possible renegotiation of the fee,[22] but the move was completed on 7 August 2008, the player signing a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee, thought to be in the region of £10.5 million.[23] He made his debut for the club in a 2–1 win over Bolton Wanderers at Craven Cottage on 13 September 2008.[24] Johnson was sent off against West Ham United on 27 September 2008 for two bookable offences. He scored his first and second Fulham goals against Wigan Athletic on 29 October 2008.

Johnson finished the 2008–09 season with 10 goals helping Fulham to finish in seventh place and qualify for the UEFA Europa League. He made only 13 appearances for Fulham in 2009–10, scoring three goals, as he missed much of the season due to a troublesome knee problem. He also missed most of the early part of the 2010–11 season with injury. He made a good start to the 2011–12 season, scoring a Premier League hat-trick on 2 October in the 6–0 win over West London rivals Queens Park Rangers.[25] Johnson also scored twice in Fulham's 4–1 win over Wisła Kraków on 4 November 2011, putting them on the brink of securing a place in the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League.[26] These goals were Johnson's seventh and eighth in the UEFA Europa League; he also scored against NSÍ Runavík, Crusaders, RNK Split, Twente and Odense.[27]

Johnson's contract at Fulham expired in June 2012 and he was released after four years at the club.

Queens Park Rangers

In June 2012, Johnson signed for Queens Park Rangers on a two-year contract.[28] Johnson made his debut as a substitute in the first game of the season at home against Swansea City.[29] Johnson made his first start away at Manchester City, providing an assist for Bobby Zamora's equalising goal.[30] On 17 September 2012, it was announced that Johnson was likely to miss the majority of the season with a cruciate ligament injury.[31] In August 2013, Johnson scored the winning goal in Queens Park Rangers' opening fixture of the Championship season against Sheffield Wednesday.[32] He was released on 1 July 2014 following the end of his contract.

Return to Crystal Palace

On 3 September 2014, Johnson signed a short-term contract with Crystal Palace on a free transfer, and was given some coaching responsibility with academy players.[33] He left the club at the start of January 2015 when that contract expired, having made a solitary appearance in the League Cup.[34]

On 30 March 2016, Johnson returned to Crystal Palace as an ambassador. His duties would again involve some coaching responsibility as well as involvement with the community.[2]

International career

Johnson was first capped for England at U20 level, being selected in the team for the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship alongside Stuart Taylor, Ashley Cole, Peter Crouch and Matthew Etherington. The team finished bottom of their group, losing all three games without scoring.

As the top English goalscorer in the 2004–05 Premier League, there were many calling for him to be selected for the full national team of England squad. Midway through the season, Johnson revealed that he would accept a call-up to the national team of Poland, after being eligible through his grandfather being born in Poland.[35] This subsequently hurried then England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson into giving Johnson his first call-up, to face the Netherlands on 9 February 2005, and he made his first appearance in that game, replacing Wayne Rooney in the 61st minute.

A second cap came when Johnson made his full debut for England, in a 2–1 friendly win over the United States, during England's tour of America in the summer of 2005. On 9 May 2006, Johnson was put on standby by Eriksson in his squad for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. He was also an unused substitute in the England B game against Belarus and the first team's wins over Hungary (who included former Palace team-mates Gábor Király and Sándor Torghelle in their side) and Jamaica.

When Steve McClaren was installed as England coach, Johnson got further opportunities to play for his country in the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers. Johnson made substitute appearances against Andorra (at Old Trafford on 2 September 2006) and away to Macedonia (on 6 September 2006). Johnson then made his first competitive start for England in the Euro 2008 qualifier with Israel.

Charity interests

In December 2007, Johnson, along with a host of other players, including Marcus Bent, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Titus Bramble, started celebrating goals by making an 'A' with his hands. It was later revealed that this was in fact the players' way of signalling the start of a new football-based community project scheme – The A-Stars! With the motto "if you dream it, you can achieve it", the idea is to enable young people to use the talents they have for good, in sporting work places. The co-founder of the charity was Queens Park Rangers defender Fitz Hall, who played with Johnson at Palace.

As of 2012, Johnson is also a patron of FFC Football for Cancer.

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Birmingham City 1998–99[36] First Division 300020—50
1999–2000[37] First Division 23100512[lower-alpha 1]0302
2000–01[38] First Division 344007300417
2001–02[39] First Division 23310212[lower-alpha 1]0284
Total 838101654010413
Crystal Palace 2002–03[40] First Division 28113033—3414
2003–04[41] First Division 422710343[lower-alpha 1]14932
2004–05[42] Premier League 37211100—3822
2005–06[43] Championship 331532102[lower-alpha 2]03917
Total 1407483775116085
Everton 2006–07[44] Premier League 32111120—3512
2007–08[45] Premier League 29610207[lower-alpha 3]43910
Total 61172140747422
Fulham 2008–09[46] Premier League 3174310—3610
2009–10[47] Premier League 8010004[lower-alpha 4]3133
2010–11[48] Premier League 2732000—293
2011–12[27] Premier League 203100013[lower-alpha 4]83411
Total 86138310171111227
Queens Park Rangers 2012–13[49] Premier League 300010—40
2013–14[50] Championship 172102000202
Total 202103000242
Crystal Palace 2014–15[51] Premier League 000010—10
Career total 39011420732123316475149
  1. 1 2 3 Appearances in First Division play-offs
  2. ↑ Appearances in Championship play-offs
  3. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Cup
  4. 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
England[52] 200520
200630
200730
Total80

Honours

Birmingham City

Crystal Palace

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 221. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
  2. 1 2 "AJ Named Club Ambassador". Crystal Palace F.C. 30 March 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Blues shot down as Liverpool lift cup". BBC Sport. 25 February 2001. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  4. ↑ "£20m or Duff stays at Blackburn – Souness". Irish Independent. Dublin. 23 July 2002. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  5. ↑ "C Palace 5–0 Brighton". BBC Sport. 26 October 2002. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  6. ↑ "Walsall 3–4 C Palace". BBC Sport. 28 October 2002. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  7. ↑ "Palace appoint Kember". BBC Sport. 23 May 2003. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  8. ↑ "Symons steps in as Eagles boss goes". League Managers Association. 6 November 2003. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  9. 1 2 "Crystal Palace 1–0 West Ham". BBC Sport. 29 May 2004. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  10. ↑ "Barclays Premier League Stats: Top Goal Scorers – 2004–05". ESPN FC. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  11. ↑ "Andrew Johnson". Crystal Palace F.C. Archived from the original on 3 May 2012.
  12. 1 2 "Johnson commits future to Palace". BBC Sport. 2 August 2005. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  13. ↑ "Morrison completes Palace return". BBC Sport. 25 August 2005. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  14. ↑ "Birmingham net Morrison". BBC Sport. 30 July 2002. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  15. ↑ "Crystal Palace 0–3 Watford". BBC Sport. 6 May 2006. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  16. ↑ "Watford 0–0 C Palace (agg 3–0)". BBC Sport. 9 May 2006. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
  17. ↑ "Everton want Mourinho retraction". BBC Sport. 18 December 2006. Retrieved 18 December 2006.
  18. ↑ "Mourinho makes apology to Johnson". BBC Sport. 20 December 2006. Retrieved 20 December 2006.
  19. ↑ "Warnock frustrated by 'gamesmanship'". Evening Standard. London. 22 October 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  20. ↑ "Johnson signs long-term Everton contract". Daily Mail. London. 6 November 2007. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
  21. ↑ Scott McLeod (28 July 2008). "Blues accept AJ offer". Everton F.C. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
  22. ↑ Gary Jacob (2 August 2008). "Window watch". The Times. London. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
  23. ↑ "Fulham sign Johnson from Everton". BBC Sport. 7 August 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2008.
  24. ↑ Russell Barder (13 September 2008). "Fulham 2–1 Bolton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
  25. ↑ Dillon, Andrew (3 October 2011). "Fulham 6 QPR 0". The Sun. London. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  26. ↑ "Report: Fulham v Wisla Krakow". ESPN FC. 3 November 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  27. 1 2 "A. Johnson". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  28. ↑ "QPR sign Ryan Nelsen and Andrew Johnson". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  29. ↑ "QPR 0–5 Swansea". BBC Sport. 18 August 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  30. ↑ "Manchester City 3–1 QPR". BBC Sport. 1 September 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  31. ↑ "QPR's Andy Johnson could miss most of the season with injury" BBC Sport. 17 September 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  32. ↑ "Championship: QPR beat Sheffield Wednesday 2–1 at Loftus Road". Sky Sports. 3 August 2013.
  33. ↑ "Andrew Johnson rejoins Crystal Palace". Crystal Palace F.C. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  34. ↑ "Johnson released from Palace". Crystal Palace F.C. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  35. ↑ Yeend, Simon (22 October 2011). "Tigerish Martin Jol roars defiance". Daily Express. London. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
  36. ↑ "Games played by Andrew Johnson in 1998/1999". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  37. ↑ "Games played by Andrew Johnson in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  38. ↑ "Games played by Andrew Johnson in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  39. ↑ "Games played by Andrew Johnson in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  40. ↑ "Games played by Andrew Johnson in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  41. ↑ "Games played by Andrew Johnson in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  42. ↑ "Games played by Andrew Johnson in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  43. ↑ "Games played by Andrew Johnson in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  44. ↑ "Games played by Andrew Johnson in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  45. ↑ "Games played by Andrew Johnson in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  46. ↑ "Games played by Andrew Johnson in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  47. ↑ "Games played by Andrew Johnson in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  48. ↑ "Games played by Andrew Johnson in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  49. ↑ "Games played by Andrew Johnson in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 August 2013.
  50. ↑ "Games played by Andrew Johnson in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  51. ↑ "Games played by Andrew Johnson in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  52. ↑ "Johnson, Andy". National Football Teams. Retrieved 21 September 2016.

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