Chris Johnson (born 1986) is an English

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

footballer, currently playing at

Fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

Centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

for Sale in

National League 1 National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...

. An outstanding player who can kick points, drop goals, and score tries, he is one of the most prolific scorers of all time in both

National League 2 North National League 2 North is one of three, level four leagues in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in the northern half of England, the North. The remainder of England is covered by the two counte ...

and

, with over 3,000 points spread across the two divisions from his time with

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

, Fylde and Sale. Johnson has also had a very successful representative career, winning the Bill Beaumont Cup five times with

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, and captaining the

England Counties XV England Counties XV is a representative rugby union team, formed in 2002, open to English players who play in the County Championship and the third tier (and below) of the English rugby union system. Players from the Premiership and RFU Champi ...

Career

Huddersfield

Growing up in Lancashire where he played junior rugby at

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

, upon finishing school Johnson moved across the Pennines to study at the

University of Huddersfield , mottoeng = Thus not for you alone , established = 1825 – Huddersfield Science and Mechanics' Institute1992 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £2.47 million (2015) , chancellor = George W. Buckley , vice_chancel ...

. While at university Johnson came to the attention of local rugby union side,

, who were playing in North Division 1 (now known as National League 3 North) and signed with them for the 2006–07 season. In 2008 Huddersfield finished runners up in the league to

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, south-east of Windermere and north of Lancaster. Historically in Westmorland, it lies within the dale of th ...

, qualifying for a promotion playoff against Midlands Division 1 runners up

Luctonians Luctonians Sports Club is an English sports club based in Kingsland, Herefordshire. The rugby union team currently plays in National League 2 West, the fourth tier of the English rugby union system, following their promotion from the Midlands ...

, with the Yorkshire side gaining home advantage due to a better comparable league standing. Johnson was outstanding in the playoff game at Lockwood Park, kicking 18 points in the 22–7 victory against Luctonians, and helping Huddersfield achieve a first ever promotion to the National Leagues. The 2008–09 season was the first for Huddersfield in National Division 3 North and they managed to finish 10th out of the 14 teams, way clear of relegation. Johnson also adapted well to the higher level with 248 points making him the third top scorer in the division, which included 7 drop goals across the season. Outside of the league, Chris starred in a Huddersfield side that made it to the semi-finals of the Yorkshire Cup, going out 6–13 to eventual winners

Leeds Carnegie Leeds Carnegie was a brand name used by several sports teams associated with the Carnegie School of Physical Education, now part of Leeds Beckett University. These include: Current * Leeds Carnegie Handball Club Changed name * Leeds Carnegie (ba ...

. This form saw Lancashire born Johnson selected by reigning county champions

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

as member of their 2009 Bill Beaumont Cup squad, although he could not help the side retain the cup. He also made his

debut in March 2009, starting in the 19–27 defeat to France Federale XV at the match at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

. The 2009–10 season saw National Division 3 North re-branded as National League 2 North as part of the RFU's changes to the English league system, which would also see the division increase by 2 teams to 16. Huddersfield ended the season in 11th while Johnson scored 327 points to one more finish as the third most prolific points scorer in the division. At the end of the season Johnson's form with his club side would once again see him called up by Yorkshire for the 2010 Bill Beaumont Cup. The 2010–11 season saw Huddersfield finish 8th in the league with Johnson becoming the top scorer in the division with 387 points, including a career best 15 tries. He also played a key role in Huddersfield winning the Yorkshire Cup for the first time in the club's history, scoring 15 points in a 25–18 win over Hull in the final held at York. The final act of Johnson's season saw him switch his county allegiance from Yorkshire to the county of his birth,

, and he was part of the squad that would win the 2011 Bill Beaumont Cup. 2011–12 would be Johnson's final season at the club and he went out on a successful note as he helped Huddersfield to a highest ever position in the league as they finished in 6th place. Once again he would also finish as top scorer in the league with 362 points. He was also picked once for Lancashire for the 2012 Bill Beaumont Cup, playing in the final at

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team play ...

in a 38 – 20 defeat to

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. Despite finishing runners up, Johnson had a fantastic tournament scoring 62 points, with 24 of those coming in the 54–33 victory away to former county side Yorkshire in front of 2,023 supporters at Scarborough – a record crowd for the ground.

Fylde

In the summer of 2012, after six seasons with Huddersfield and over 1,800 points scored, Johnson decided to move back to Lancashire to sign for Fylde, playing one division higher in

. His first season in National League 1 saw him became a regular in a Fylde side that finished the 2012–13 season in 6th place, scoring 251 points (the 4th highest tally in the division). As well as playing league games, Johnson also took part in the Fylde side that reached the semi-finals of the Lancashire Cup, losing 24–25 to rivals

Preston Grasshoppers Preston Grasshoppers Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union team from Preston, Lancashire. The men's senior team play in the RFU National League 2 North, a level 4 league in the RFU league pyramid. History The club was founded on 28 Se ...

at home. Johnson was also called up to the Lancashire for the

2013 Bill Beaumont Cup The 2013 Bill Beaumont Cup, also known as Bill Beaumont Cup Division One, was the 113th version of the annual, English rugby union, County Championship organized by the RFU for the top tier English counties. Each county drew its players from ru ...

where he had an excellent tournament, scoring 36 points (the second highest in the competition), 15 of which came the final in a 35–26 victory against

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. He finished off the year by being selected for the

side on their tour summer tour of Belgium. He played against Belgium 'A', leading his side out as captain and scoring 28 points (including 1 try) in a 78–0 victory. A second appearance would follow as he scored a try in a 57–5 win over

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

to cap off a very successful season. The 2013–14 season with Fylde saw his club finish an excellent 3rd in the league with Johnson once more one of the top scorers in the league with 272 points including 10 tries. Consistent good performances with Fylde saw Johnson come to the attention of Premiership side,

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...

, and he was picked to play for the Jets development side, making his A-League debut in October 2013, scoring a try and drop goal in a 40–19 win against Northampton Wanderers at

Heywood Road Heywood Road is a rugby stadium in Sale, Greater Manchester, England, which has been the home ground of rugby union side Sale F.C. since 1905. It was the home ground of spin-off professional club Sale Sharks until they moved to Edgeley Park, St ...

. At the start of 2014 Johnson captained England Counties XV as they lost very close games against France Federale XV and an Irish Club XV. His season finished with for Lancashire at the

2014 Bill Beaumont Cup The 2014 Bill Beaumont Cup, also known as Bill Beaumont Cup Division One, was the 114th version of the annual, English rugby union, County Championship organized by the RFU for the top tier English counties. Each county drew its players from ru ...

, finishing as the competition's top scorer with 60 points as his county retained the trophy with a 36–26 victory over last year's finalists, Cornwall. The 2014–15 season saw Fylde drop one place down to finish 5th in the league, with Johnson ending up as the second highest scorer in the division with 252 points (behind Richmond's Rob Kirby). Johnson would also return to action with England Counties XV at the start of 2015, scoring 7 points in a 37–3 victory against a Scottish Club XV in front of 1,200 supporters at Fylde's

Woodlands Memorial Ground Woodlands Memorial Ground is a rugby stadium in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England. It is the home of Fylde Rugby Club and was the home of the Blackpool Panthers between 2006 and 2010. The Northern Rail Nines group matches, quarter and semi ...

. He was even better in the next game for Counties as he bagged all 24 points in a 24 – 15 win against France Federale XV at

Périgueux Périgueux (, ; oc, Peireguers or ) is a communes of France, commune in the Dordogne departments of France, department, in the administrative regions of France, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Périgueux i ...

. The year would finish with Lancashire at the

2015 Bill Beaumont Cup The 2015 Bill Beaumont Cup, also known as Bill Beaumont Cup Division One, was the 115th version of the annual, English rugby union, County Championship organized by the RFU for the top tier English counties. Each county drew its players from ru ...

, scoring 21 points as his side reached their fourth successive final, only to lose 18–13 against Cornwall, who avenged the two previous final defeats. The 2015–16 season was the last for Johnson at Fylde, scoring 215 points from 25 games as his side finished in 6th place. He also made further appears for England Counties in a 27 – 57 defeat against Scottish Clubs XV at

Netherdale Netherdale is a sports complex in Galashiels, Scottish Borders, consisting of two adjacent stadiums used for rugby union and football. The rugby ground is the home of Gala RFC and was formerly used by the professional Border Reivers team. It host ...

, as well as appearing for Lancashire at the

2016 Bill Beaumont Cup The 2016 Bill Beaumont Cup, also known as Bill Beaumont Cup Division One, was the 116th version of the annual, English rugby union, County Championship organized by the RFU for the top tier English counties. Each county drew its players from ru ...

as his side failed to make the final for the first time in eight years.

Sale FC

In the summer of 2016, after four seasons with Fylde, over 900 points scored for the club, and multiple county championship triumphs with Lancashire, Johnson decided to sign for Sale FC, playing one division below in

. Reasons given for the move were that Johnson wanted to cut down on travel (Sale FC were closer to where he worked) and that his new club had more potential for winning silverware in the future. Although he was relegated to reserve kicker behind team-mate Luke McGovern he featured in all of Sale's games as they finished second to league champions

Caldy Caldy is a small, affluent village on the Wirral Peninsula, England, south-east of West Kirby. It is part of the West Kirby & Thurstaston Ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and is in the parliamentary constituency of Wirral West. At the ...

. Unfortunately for Johnson his team were unable to grab promotion at the second chance of asking as they lost their promotion playoff game at home to

National League 2 South National League 2 South (known before September 2009 as National Division Three South) was a level four league in the English rugby union system until the end of season 2021–22. It was one of two leagues at this level, with its counterpart, N ...

runners up

Old Elthamians Old Elthamians Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union club based in Chislehurst in SE London-Kent. Due to financial difficulties they withdrew from National League One, the third tier of English club rugby, in August, 2021. Upon retur ...

. The disappointment of missing out on promotion was tempered as Johnson was called up to the

who went on to win the

2017 Bill Beaumont Cup The 2017 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 1 was the 117th version of the annual, English rugby union, County Championship organised by the RFU for the top tier English counties. This was the first season it would be officially known ...

. He started the final and kicked two conversions as his side beat Cornwall 19–8 at

for the counties 24th title and the first since 2014. His second season (2017–18) at Sale FC was an excellent one. With Luke McGovern leaving the club, Johnson once again became the main kicker. He was ever present in the Sale FC that went on to become champions of National League 2 North, contributing 324 (second highest in league) as his club finished five points clear of runners up

Sedgley Park Prestwich ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England, north of Manchester city centre, north of Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford and south of Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury. Historic counties of Eng ...

to gain promotion to

. Promotion was followed by more silverware as Johnson scored 55 points for Lancashire during the

2018 Bill Beaumont Cup The 2018 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 1 was the 118th version of the annual, English rugby union, County Championship organised by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) for the top tier English counties. Each county drew its players fr ...

, including 22 points in the 33-16 win over

in the final.

Second spell at Huddersfield

Although Johnson started the 2018–19 season with Sale FC in

, in November 2018 he decided to drop down a league and return to play for former club,

, after an absence of six years. The reasons for him leaving were due to family commitments and the greater amount of travel required in National League 1. Despite not playing a full-season, he still managed to finish in the top 5 scorers in the league, scoring 222 points, and helping Huddersfield to a best-ever 4th place finish.

Second spell at Sale FC

In June 2019, Johnson resigned with Sale FC, once more playing in

for the 2019-20 season.

Season-by-season playing stats

Club

County/Representative

Honours and records

Club

Huddersfield *

North 1 North Premier was a level five league in the English rugby union system, with the fourteen teams drawn from across Northern England. The other leagues at this level were London & South East Premier, Midlands Premier and South West Premier. The ...

Midlands 1 Regional 1 Midlands (until 2022–23 known as Midlands Premier and up until 2016–17 known as National League 3 Midlands) is a level five semi-professional league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. When ...

promotion play-off winner: 2007–08 * Yorkshire Cup winner: 2011 Sale FC *

champions: 2017–18 Yorkshire *Represented county in Bill Beaumont Cup: 2009, 2010 Lancashire * Bill Beaumont Cup winner (5): 2011,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Personal

top points scorer (2):

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

(387 points), 2011–12 (362 points) * Bill Beaumont Cup top points scorer (2): 2014 (60 points), 2018 (55 points) *Capped by

: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016

Notes

References

External links

Huddersfield RUFCFylde RugbySale FC RugbyLancashire RFUEngland RFU
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Chris Living people English rugby union players 1986 births Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union centres Fylde Rugby Club players Sale Sharks players Lancashire County RFU players Huddersfield R.U.F.C. players