Gary Stephen Johnson (born 28 September 1955) is a former football player and is currently manager at

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

. Johnson was formerly with

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

(as director of their youth academy), the Latvian national team,

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

in two spells,

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

and

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

. His son Lee is the head coach of Hibernian.

Playing career

Johnson signed for

as an apprentice at sixteen and turned professional at the age of eighteen. He then left Vicarage Road and moved to play football in Sweden for

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Association, ...

. After building up a successful football holiday business, Johnson then returned to England and played part-time football for Soham Town Rangers, Newmarket Town and

. After his playing career ended, Johnson spent the next six years training to earn his coaching badges and took his first managerial job at Newmarket Town in 1986.

Management career

Cambridge United

Johnson was the manager at Newmarket Town, when he was persuaded to join

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

in 1988. Appointed as assistant manager in 1990, Johnson helped John Beck organise the U's remarkable rise in the early 1990s, in which they came within two matches of becoming the first club to rise from the old Fourth Division to the

top flight Top Flight (April 15, 1929 – 1949) was an American U.S. Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. She was the leading American filly of her generation at two and three years of age. Background Bred in Kentucky by the very prominent horseman Harry ...

in successive seasons (Northampton Town having spent two seasons in both the third and second divisions before promotion to the first division in 1966). Johnson was briefly caretaker manager in late 1992 and then took charge from 1993 until 1995. Under Johnson's stewardship, the U's were contenders for a play-off place in Division Two in 1993–94, before eventually finishing tenth. The following season, many players were sold to balance the books and Johnson moved to take over at Kettering Town.

Kettering Town

After leaving Cambridge, Johnson took over as manager of

as the club introduced full-time football for the first time in the club's history. However, once the decision was made to revert to being a part-time club, Johnson moved to Watford as director of their youth academy by request of former England manager

Graham Taylor Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...

Latvia

He was approached by the Latvian football authorities for help, and became coach of their national team for two years from 1999 to 2001. Whilst coaching Latvia, he spotted the potential of

Marians Pahars Marians Pahars (born 5 August 1976) is a Latvian professional football manager and a former player. As a player, he spent the majority of his career operating as a striker for English club Southampton, where he played in the Premier League an ...

and recommended him to

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

's manager Dave Jones, who invited Pahars for a trial before signing him in March 1999. He also recommended

Igors Stepanovs Igors Stepanovs (born 21 January 1976) is a Latvian former professional footballer, who played as a defender, and the manager of the Latvia under-17 national team. Stepanovs played 100 international matches and scored four goals for the Latv ...

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

manager

Arsène Wenger Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (; born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Developme ...

. Johnson left the job after Latvia drew 1–1 with San Marino. He then returned to England and eventually took over as manager of non-league side

Yeovil Town

In his first year in charge at Huish Park, the Glovers won the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

by beating Stevenage 2–0 in the final at Villa Park as well as finishing third in the

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

; the following year they won the greater prize of the Conference championship by a record margin of seventeen points and topping the hundred goals mark too, winning promotion to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. Yeovil were immediately contenders in the League and after their debut season ended by missing out on the playoffs by goal difference, they were

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the fo ...

champions at the second attempt, scoring ninety goals in the process. During a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

game against

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

, Johnson's son ( Lee Johnson) accidentally scored a goal after attempting to play the ball back to Argyle's keeper (who had kicked the ball out because of an injury to a Plymouth player). In a show of good sportsmanship Gary Johnson told his players to allow Argyle to walk the ball into the net to level the score at 1–1, avoiding controversy. Yeovil went on to win the game 3–2, with Lee Johnson scoring a hat-trick.

Bristol City

Despite turning down an approach from

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

in the summer of 2005, Johnson became Bristol City's target when their manager

Brian Tinnion Brian Tinnion (born 23 February 1968) is an English former football player and manager. He made over 450 appearances for Bristol City, including a spell as player-manager where he is currently in the role of Academy Director. He started as a l ...

resigned that September. Yeovil agreed compensation terms and he became City's manager on 26 September 2005. Despite their lowly position of 22nd in the table, City's fortunes turned around under Johnson and a great run of form in the second half of the season saw them in play-off contention, eventually finishing ninth after a run of 55 points from 36 games. Johnson won the League One Manager of the Month award for April 2006. After an impressive 2006–07 season (including an 18 match unbeaten run), Johnson won the award again in March 2007 after successfully guiding his side to 16 points from seven games the previous month. This had set Bristol City in a good spot to contend for automatic promotion, which they sealed on 5 May 2007 with a 3–1 home win over

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

on the last day of the season. On 6 September 2007, Gary Johnson and assistant

Keith Millen Keith Derek Millen (born 26 September 1966) is an English football manager and former player who played as a centre back. He was most recently manager of Carlisle United. Millen was appointed as Steve Coppell's successor, after Coppell chose to ...

both signed -year contract extensions keeping them at the club until 2010. In the 2007–08 season, he kept Bristol City in the top six of the Championship for almost the entire season and in the top two for a long time; the team were the surprise package of the season. Bristol City eventually lost the play-off final to Hull City at Wembley and were not promoted to the Premiership. Johnson made his players stay on the pitch after the match and watch the Hull City players celebrate as a motivational experience for the next campaign. In the summer before the 2008–09 season, he broke the club record for a transfer fee in signing 21-year-old

Nicky Maynard Nicholas David Maynard (born 11 December 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Macclesfield. He began his career at Crewe Alexandra, following over a decade in the club's Academy, and scored on his senior debu ...

from

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

for £2.25 million. Bristol City's once-famous chant of 'Johnson says bounce around the ground' was inspired by Gary Johnson who was quoted to saying in an interview before a league game that he wanted the fans bouncing around. In September 2008, Johnson signed a new five-year contract with Bristol City, to keep him at the club until 2013. The club ended the season with another top ten finish and on 18 March 2010, with the club comfortably in mid table, the club issued a statement that Johnson had "left his post as manager of Bristol City by mutual consent".

Peterborough United

He was appointed manager of

on a two-year contract on 6 April 2010. With the club lying outside the playoff positions, Johnson left Peterborough on 10 January 2011. The reasons are that the manager and the chairman could not agree future policy.

Northampton Town

On 4 March 2011, Johnson was announced as the new manager of

signing on a -year deal. His first season in charge almost saw the club relegated from the

. At the time of Johnson's appointment Northampton had only lost one of their previous seven games, but a disastrous run, in which the club went eleven games without a win, saw them slip down the table. Under Johnson they had only managed to pick up six points, and it was only by beating

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

in the penultimate game of the season that they secured their survival. Northampton Town and Johnson parted company by mutual consent on 14 November, the team having secured just four wins in the new campaign.

Yeovil Town

On 9 January 2012, Johnson returned to former club

, replacing

Terry Skiverton Terence John Skiverton (born 26 June 1975) is an English former footballer who enjoyed a long playing career at Yeovil Town for 11 years, appearing 382 times in all competitions, before becoming their manager and subsequently, assistant manager ...

who became Johnson's assistant. The Glovers, with Johnson at the helm, produced an impressive run of form with thirty points in nineteen games to reach safety with two games still left to play. The 2012–13 season started well for Johnson at Yeovil where in early September, his side remained unbeaten in

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

after four games and were top of the table as well as progressing in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

and narrowly losing 4–2 to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

in the

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

in the second round. There then followed six successive league defeats before the manager turned things round. On 29 December 2012, Yeovil Town beat

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

2–1 at

Fratton Park Fratton Park is a football ground in Portsmouth, England, which is the home of Portsmouth F.C. Fratton Park remains as the only home football ground in Portsmouth FC's entire history. The early Fratton Park was designed by local architect A ...

which was the start of a run of eight consecutive League One wins, a club

record. Johnson was nominated for the January Manager of the Month award but missed out with

Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hi ...

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

the eventual winner. On 6 May 2013, Yeovil defeated

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

2–1 on aggregate to reach the League One play-off final. On 19 May 2013, Johnson led Yeovil to a 2–1 victory over

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

in the League One play-off final at Wembley Stadium which resulted in them being promoted to the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

for the first time in the club's history. On 4 February 2015, with Yeovil bottom of the League One table Johnson was relieved of his duties.

Cheltenham Town

On 30 March 2015, Johnson was appointed as manager of

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

, with the club bottom of the table two points from a position of safety. Despite Cheltenham's failure to avoid relegation, Johnson's contract was extended until the end of the 2016–17 season. The next season was a great success as the Robins won the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

championship title and an instant return to

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

, the first time a relegated team had won the National League title since 1989, and Johnson became only the second manager to win multiple National League titles. On 21 August 2018, Cheltenham Town announced they had 'parted company' with Johnson four games into the new season.

Torquay United

On 13 September 2018, Johnson was appointed as manager of

. He went on to guide them to the National League South title with three games remaining. On 4 July 2019, Johnson signed a new contract at

Managerial statistics

Honours

Manager

Yeovil Town *

play-offs: 2012–13 *

: 2004–05 *

: 2002–03 *

: 2001–02 Bristol City *

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

runners-up: 2006–07 Cheltenham Town *

: 2015–16 Torquay United *

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

: 2018–19 Individual * League One Manager of the Month: April 2006, March 2007

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Gary 1955 births Living people Footballers from Hammersmith English footballers Association football midfielders Walton & Hersham F.C. players Tooting & Mitcham United F.C. players Soham Town Rangers F.C. players Newcastle Town F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players English football managers Cambridge United F.C. managers Kettering Town F.C. managers Latvia national football team managers Yeovil Town F.C. managers Bristol City F.C. managers Peterborough United F.C. managers Northampton Town F.C. managers Cheltenham Town F.C. managers Torquay United F.C. managers English Football League managers National League (English football) managers Expatriate football managers in Latvia Cambridge United F.C. non-playing staff