David Johnson (footballer born 1976)

For other people named David Johnson, see David Johnson (disambiguation).

David Johnson

Personal information
Full name	David Anthony Johnson
Date of birth	15 August 1976 (1976-08-15) (age 35)
Place of birth	Kingston, Jamaica
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Playing position	Forward
Youth career
1992–1994	Manchester United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1994–1995	Manchester United	0	(0)
1995–1997	Bury	97	(18)
1997–2001	Ipswich Town	131	(55)
2001–2006	Nottingham Forest	148	(46)
2002	→ Sheffield Wednesday (loan)	7	(2)
2002	→ Burnley (loan)	8	(5)
2005	→ Sheffield United (loan)	4	(0)
2007	Hucknall Town	8	(4)
Total		403	(130)
National team
1998	England B	1	(0)
2003–2005	Jamaica	5	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

David Anthony Johnson (born 15 August 1976 in Kingston, Jamaica) is a retired footballer.

He is now working behind the scenes at Nottingham Forest. In March 2007 he signed for Conference North side Hucknall Town.^[1] In the summer of 2007 he was forced to quit all football due to injury.^[2]

Biography

Johnson started his career off with Manchester United as a trainee, but was released in 1995 after helping them win the FA Youth Cup. With United did not make a first team appearance, but did feature as an unused substitute in the Champions League against Galatasaray.

He then moved to Bury, where he began his professional career. He scored 25 goals in just over 80 appearances before being bought by Ipswich Town for £1 million. During his time at Gigg Lane, he helped Bury win two successive promotions which took them from Division Three to Division One.

He scored 24 goals in his first season with the club. He continued to score on a regular basis for them until David Platt then purchased him for Nottingham Forest in 2001 for £3.5 million^[3].

Johnson only managed three goals in his first 19 appearances for the Reds, but in his second season (2002–03) with the club, he scored 29 goals in 46 games. This goalscoring feat helped propel Forest into the play-offs (where they eventually lost out to Sheffield United).

He went on to score another eight goals in 17 appearances before he suffered a career threatening injury when he broke his leg in two places. It kept him out of action for almost a year.

When he returned to action, he only managed six goals over 30 appearances which saw him drop down the pecking order. Gary Megson put him on the transfer list when Forest where relegated to League One. Unlike the other four who were put on the list with him, Johnson managed to return to the first team and scored three goals in 12 starts. Then, just after he scored his 50th goal in a Forest shirt, he sustained another career threatening injury.

This time it was for a back problem in which he had to have two operations. It was a dislodged spinal disk in his back that had also trapped a nerve and it kept him out of action since early December and did not play for the rest of the season. He scored 50 goals in just under 120 appearances for Forest. He has had a variety of different hair styles during his time at Forest, including short hair, dreadlocks, afro, shaven and even bleach blonde but his most recent is the dreadlocks tied back in a pony tail.^{[citation needed]}

Despite there being doubts over his Forest career, he was on the road to recovery and was reassured by the club that he will see out the rest of his contract. He was forced to retire, due to the advice of the doctors, after the back problem continued.

Johnson later played for and coached East Midlands Counties League club, Dunkirk.^{[citation needed]}

His international career has been notable by the fact that he played for Jamaica against United States, before being invited to join the Welsh squad. Injury prevented him from playing, and in the meantime he pledged his future to Scotland before it was confirmed he was ineligible to play for them. He was also considered to play for England during his Ipswich days, making one appearance for the England B team.

Johnson, along with former Nottingham Forest player James Beaumont now works for Umbro in sports sponsorship helping pro footballers tie up sponsorship deals with them.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ Johnson joins Hucknall Town
2. ^ Johnson quits
3. ^ "Forest complete £3.5m Johnson deal". BBC Sport. 12 January 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/nottm_forest/1112136.stm. Retrieved 17 August 2011. 

External links

• David Johnson career stats at Soccerbase

Persondata
Name	Johnson, David Anthony
Alternative names	Johnson, David
Short description	Football (soccer) player
Date of birth	15 August 1976
Place of birth	Kingston, Surrey, Jamaica
Date of death
Place of death