David Johnson

Early career

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Johnson started his career with Manchester United as a trainee in 1992, but a knee injury suffered at the start of the 1992–93 season kept him out for over a year. After making his comeback in November 1993, he scored 12 goals in 22 competitive appearances for the club's youth teams, and was rewarded with a professional contract in July 1994. In 1994–95, he was part of the Manchester United youth team that won the FA Youth Cup. Johnson did not make any first-team appearances for Manchester United, but he did feature as an unused substitute in the club's 4–0 win at home to Galatasaray in the Champions League on 7 December 1994. Having failed to break into the Manchester United first team, he was released at the end of his contract in June 1995. Now without a club, Johnson was able to sign for Third Division club Bury on a free transfer a few days later. Over the next two years, Johnson scored 18 goals in 97 league appearances as the club secured successive promotions to the First Division.

Ipswich Town

Johnson's performances attracted the attention of fellow First Division side Ipswich Town, and on 13 November 1997, he joined the East Anglia club for a fee of £1.1 million. He made his debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers two days later, scoring Ipswich's only goal in a 1–1 draw. He went on to score a total of 22 goals for Ipswich that season, including his first career hat-trick in a 5–2 win over Oxford United on 24…

Born in Jamaica to an English mother, Johnson played for the England Schoolboys team by virtue of going to school in England. He was called up to the England U21 squad in December 1997 for a 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification play-off game against Greece, but remained an unused substitute. Johnson played his first senior international football in 1998, making a nine-minute cameo for the England B team under Glenn Hoddle in a 4–1 victory over Russia at Loftus Road. In 1999, Johnson was called up for his native Jamaica by Brazilian coach René Simões. He made his debut against Trinidad and Tobago on 28 March, coming on as a half-time substitute for Paul Hall in a 2–0 loss in Port of Spain, and then scored in a 3–0 victory over Paraguay in Kingston three days later, after coming on for Ricardo Fuller at half-time. He made another substitute appearance in May 1999, coming on for Theodore Whitmore in the 56th minute of Jamaica's 2–1 friendly defeat to Sweden in Stockholm. Another appearance followed in September 1999, with Johnson again replacing Whitmore shortly after the hour mark of Jamaica's 2–2 draw with the United States; Johnson scored Jamaica's second goal in the 79th minute. Despite appearing four times for Jamaica in friendly games, he was still eligible to play for another national team as FIFA's regulations at the time did not bind players to a nation until they had played a competitive game. As a British passport holder born outside the…

Club

Notes

International

Scores and results list Jamaica's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Johnson goal.

Johnson was married to Alison Johnson from 1995 to September 2009, when they separated after he had an affair. In July 2010, he was charged with causing more than £6,000 of damage to his ex-wife's home and car in West Bridgford, just south of Nottingham. During the trial, the court heard that Johnson often visited his former residence while drunk, but later expressed his intention not to drink again. In November 2000, television presenter Richard Keys was heard making a racially motivated comment about Johnson while broadcasting live on a Sky test channel. While discussing Johnson's potential eligibility to play for the Scotland national team with pundits Ray Wilkins and Graeme Souness, Keys referred to Johnson as a "choco jocko". The incident was brought to the public eye in February 2011, following Keys' departure from Sky for various other inappropriate remarks. Johnson is the father of fellow professional footballer Brennan Johnson who plays for Everton and Wales.