David Johnson (footballer, born 1951)

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For other footballers named David Johnson, see David Johnson § Association football.

David Johnson
Personal information
Full name David Edward Johnson
Date of birth (1951-10-23)23 October 1951
Place of birth Liverpool, England
Date of death 23 November 2022(2022-11-23) (aged 71)
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1967–1969
Everton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1969–1972 Everton 49 (11)
1972–1976 Ipswich Town 136 (35)
1976–1982 Liverpool 148 (55)
1982–1984 Everton 40 (4)
1984 → Barnsley (loan) 4 (1)
1984 Manchester City 6 (1)
1984
Tulsa Roughnecks
 17 (4)
1984–1985 Preston North End 24 (3)
1985–1986 Barrow
Naxxar Lions
Total 424 (114)
International career
1975–1980 England 8 (6)
Managerial career
1985–1986 Barrow
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

David Edward Johnson (23 October 1951 – 23 November 2022) was an English professional

Ipswich Town, Everton and other clubs,[1] as well as the England national team
.

Career

Everton

Johnson signed for Liverpool rivals Everton as a youngster and after showing his ability in early matches, Liverpool manager Bill Shankly pestered Everton counterpart Harry Catterick to sell the young striker, but was rebuffed.

Johnson made his Everton debut as a 19-year-old on 8 January 1971 in a 2–2 league draw with Burnley at Turf Moor. Later on in 1971 Johnson scored in a Merseyside derby game for Everton.

Ipswich Town

Johnson joined

£40,000). He made his Ipswich debut on 4 November 1972 at Portman Road in a 2–2 draw with Leeds United. His first goal for the club came on 2 December the same year in the 1–1 draw with Manchester City at Maine Road. By the end of his first season Johnson had helped Ipswich to the Texaco Cup final where they met East Anglian derby rivals Norwich City
. After the two legged final Ipswich emerged victorious, winning 4–2 on aggregate by winning both legs 2–1.

The following season Ipswich drew Spanish giants

S.S. Lazio. 4–0 down with just 20 minutes remaining, Johnson had the ball when Giancarlo Oddi
went to close him down. Oddi then put in a waist high challenge which left Johnson in a heap on the ground holding his groin. Johnson had to be stretchered off and missed the following three fixtures as a consequence.

Johnson returned from the injury for the return leg in Rome and took up his place on the bench. He watched as Lazio scored early and then again before half-time. A penalty was despatched by

Locomotiv Leipzig
4–3 on penalties after the sides had drawn 1–1 during normal and extra time.

Johnson scored 35 goals in his four seasons at the club as a battling, play-linking forward forging a productive partnership with

1980 European Championships but found himself behind Garry Birtles and the man that replaced him at Ipswich Paul Mariner
. He won eight caps scoring six times in those appearances.

In 1976

£
200,000 for Johnson did not want to move. However, after 137 league appearances for Ipswich he returned to Merseyside.

Liverpool

Johnson signed for Liverpool for a club record fee of £200,000.[2] He made his debut for the club on 21 August 1976 in a 1–0 league win over Norwich at Anfield. He scored his first goal a week later on the 28th, but his goal was not enough to prevent Birmingham City beating Liverpool 2–1 at St Andrews.

In his first season, he was a frequent substitute, vying for the right to partner Kevin Keegan with both John Toshack and David Fairclough. In his debut season Liverpool were chasing an historic treble of League championship, FA Cup and European Cup as the season drew to a close.

Johnson picked up his first domestic honour with the League title and was selected as Keegan's strike partner for the

1977 FA Cup Final at Wembley, but Liverpool lost 2–1 to Manchester United. Johnson made little impact and was substituted by Ian Callaghan
in the second half.

For the

1977 European Cup final against Borussia Mönchengladbach in Rome three days later, manager Bob Paisley
kept the team that had ended the match at Wembley, so Callaghan started and Johnson was on the bench. He picked up a medal as Liverpool won 3–1.

In April 1978, Johnson scored for Liverpool in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park – becoming the very first player to score for both clubs in the Merseyside derby.[3] As of 2018, only one other player – Peter Beardsley – has achieved this feat since.[4]

In 1979 and 1980 Johnson was a free-scoring centre forward as Liverpool regained and then retained the title, and in

West Ham United). However, a sign of things to come was in that first League Cup success. After the first game at Wembley ended 1–1, Johnson was on the bench for the replay because of Paisley's decision to try out the young Ian Rush. Rush did not score but played well, and the following year he was the regular partner to Kenny Dalglish
with Johnson being used less frequently.

Johnson did enough to win a final league championship medal in 1982 and also won the League Cup again, after getting the substitute's jersey for the final (against

Tottenham Hotspur
).

Return to Everton and loan to Barnsley

Johnson returned to Everton in August 1982 for £100,000. He did not see out his second season at Goodison after initially being loaned to Barnsley.

Later career

Johnson ended the 1983–84 season at

Barrow AFC
.

After playing

Johnson worked at Anfield, hosting in the corporate lounges. He could also be heard regularly on BBC Radio Merseyside as both a match summariser and also a regular contributor to the station's Red Alert programme aired on Fridays at 7.30 pm where he provided what was known during the show as "The Doc's Diagnosis".

Johnson died of throat cancer on 23 November 2022, at the age of 71.[5][6]

Honours

Ipswich Town

Liverpool

Individual

References

  1. ^ David Johnson on Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database profile
  2. ^ "1976/77 step back in time", Ipswich Town F.C. v Sheffield United F.C. programme, p. 21, 22 November 2003
  3. ^ James Pearce (25 September 2008). "David Johnson: I lived the dream with derby winners for Liverpool and Everton". Liverpool Banter. Liverpool Echo & Daily Post. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  4. ^ "Archive: Peter Beardsley". Mirror Football. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
  5. ^ Chris Bascombe (23 November 2022). "David Johnson, former Liverpool and Everton striker, dies aged 71". The Telegraph. Retrieved 23 November 2022. (subscription required)
  6. ^ "David Johnson obituary". The Times. 25 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  7. ISBN 0354 09018 6
    .
  8. ^ Lynch. The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. p. 143.
  9. ^ Pearce, Steve (18 March 2016). "Hall of Fame Awards 2016". Ipswich Town F.C. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.

External links

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