Adam Johnson

Middlesbrough

Early career

At the age of 12, Johnson was taken in by Middlesbrough's youth academy, having previously attended Newcastle United's Centre of Excellence between 1995 and 1997. He and his Boro teammates David Wheater, Tony McMahon and Andrew Taylor were part of the squad that won the 2003–04 FA Youth Cup. He made his senior début aged 17 on 17 March 2005 in the UEFA Cup in the 1–0 defeat away to Sporting CP which saw the club eliminated 4–2 on aggregate in the last 16, replacing Doriva for the last 11 minutes. Almost six months later, on 10 September, he made his Premier League debut, and first senior start, deputising for the injured fellow academy product Stewart Downing in a 2–1 home win against Arsenal. For much of the first half of the 2005–06 season, he was on the bench as an unused substitute, mainly in the UEFA Cup matches. He made his second start in the competition against Litex Lovech on 15 December and set up Massimo Maccarone's first goal in a 2–0 win. For the rest of the season, he remained in the team's matchday squads, albeit as Downing's deputy or an unused substitute. Johnson's first goal for Middlesbrough came in a midweek Premier League match away to Bolton Wanderers on 3 May 2006, opening the scoring in a 1–1 draw with "a mazy run from the left flank before curling in a deflected shot". He was playing due to Middlesbrough's involvement in the 2006 UEFA Cup Final, which was to be played a week later as Steve McClaren…

A former England under-19 international, Johnson was called up for the under-21 team at the 2009 UEFA U21 Championships in Sweden. He scored once in qualification and again in the first leg of the qualification play-offs against Wales U21s as the Young Lions narrowly won 5–4 on aggregate to qualify for the tournament. During the tournament, he started in two of the three group stage matches. He won the man of the match award in the final group stage match against Germany that ended in a 1–1 draw and converted his penalty in the semi-final shoot-out win against Sweden. In late February 2010, Johnson was named in the senior squad for the first time in Fabio Capello's 30-man shortlist for the upcoming March friendly against Egypt in May, but did not make the final 23. Two months later, Capello named Johnson in his preliminary 30-man 2010 FIFA World Cup squad. Johnson made his England debut on 24 May in a FIFA World Cup warm-up match, a 3–1 friendly victory against Mexico at Wembley Stadium. Johnson came on as a late substitute for James Milner. The following week Capello announced his final 23-man squad, and Johnson failed to make the cut. England's first match after the 2010 FIFA World Cup was against Hungary at Wembley Stadium. Johnson was named in the starting line-up for the first time, making his full England debut and playing the entire match. He scored his first international goal on 3 September 2010 against Bulgaria in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier, which England won 4–0.…

Johnson attended school, and the academies of Sunderland and Middlesbrough, with Dale Roberts, who went on to play as a goalkeeper. Roberts died by suicide on 14 December 2010, which Johnson subsequently described as "the worst day of my life". Before his imprisonment, Johnson lived in Castle Eden, County Durham. He has a daughter, born in January 2015, with his former partner Stacey Flounders. In February 2016, while giving evidence at his trial, Flounders announced that she and Johnson had separated, claiming that he had confessed to infidelity with other women. During his imprisonment in 2017 he sold his home, Tollgate Lodge, for £1.7 million. It was purchased by Durham and England cricketer Ben Stokes. Upon his release from prison he returned to live in Castle Eden, in a seven-bedroom home he had built during his imprisonment. He and Stacey Flounders later reconciled, and had a second child, a son, who was born in July 2021.

Johnson was born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, and brought up in Easington, County Durham, in North East England. He played for Cleveland Juniors Football Club and attended Easington Community Science College. Upon seeing Johnson score two goals at a Wembley Stadium seven-a-side school match, Johnny Haynes told Johnson he was "a great little player" with "a lovely left foot".