Henry Edward Johnson (19 November 1897 – 20 October 1962) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

in the 1920s for

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 ...

and

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

Football career

Johnson was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, and first came to prominence when playing for the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in 1919. He started his professional football career with

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

for whom he made only two first-team appearances, from where he was loaned to

Darlaston Darlaston is an industrial town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. It is located near Wednesbury and Willenhall. Topography Darlaston is situated between Wednesbury and Walsall in the valley of the River T ...

of the Birmingham & District League. In April 1921, together with his Darlaston teammate John Cooper, he moved on a free transfer to the south coast to join

, then playing in the

Football League Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

. He made his first-team debut for the "Saints" on 10 December 1921, taking

Len Andrews Leonard Thomas Alford Andrews (9 December 1888 – 21 January 1969) was an English professional Association Football, footballer who played as an Striker (association football), inside forward. During his career he had two spells with both Sout ...

' place at

Inside-right Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

in a 1–0 victory against

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

. In the following match, Johnson scored twice in an 8–0 "thrashing" of

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 ...

, with

Arthur Dominy Arthur Albert Dominy (11 February 1893 – 23 September 1974) was an English professional footballer, who played as an inside-forward, and football manager, spending most of his career with Southampton. Playing career Southampton He played his ...

also scoring twice and

Bill Rawlings William Ernest Rawlings (3 January 1896 – 25 September 1972) was an English footballer. A centre-forward, he scored more than 196 goals in 367 league games in a 15-year career. He began his career with Southampton in 1918, who were elevated f ...

scoring four. This remains Southampton's highest margin of victory in a Football League match. Despite this early success, Johnson was unable to maintain any consistent form, and after nine matches he lost his place back to Andrews. He was recalled to the team in March, following the sale of

Fred Foxall Frederick Howard Foxall (2 April 1898 – 17 June 1926) was an English professional footballer who played as an outside left for various clubs in the 1920s. Playing career Foxall was born in Stourbridge, and signed for Aston Villa in 1914, bu ...

as part of a four-player exchange deal, but after two matches he was dropped in favour of Ken Boyes. After a run of four matches without a victory, manager

Jimmy McIntyre James Alfred McIntyre (31 October 1881 – 1954) was an English footballer who became manager at Southampton, Coventry City and Fulham. Playing career McIntyre was born in Wednesbury, Staffordshire. He was a journeyman player of some repute, ...

recalled Johnson for the match against Aberdare Athletic with Johnson scoring the only goal. The team went on to win five of the last seven matches, enabling the Saints to take the

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

goal average A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

over

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, ...

. For Southampton's first season in the Second Division, McIntyre preferred

Jack Elkes Albert John "Jack" Elkes (31 December 1894 – 22 January 1972) was an English professional footballer who played as an inside left for various clubs between the two world wars. Playing career Elkes was born in Snedshill, Oakengates, Shropshi ...

inside-right Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

; Elkes had arrived from Birmingham in March as part of the exchange deal with Foxall, but had broken his

collar bone The clavicle, or collarbone, is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately 6 inches (15 cm) long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on the left and one on the righ ...

in his second appearance. Johnson only made sporadic appearances during the 1922–23 season as cover for the other forwards, with five of his nine appearances coming in the last three weeks of the season. With Elkes having moved on to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

in the 1923 close-season, McIntyre recalled the ageing

at the start of the next season, before handing the No. 10 shirt to Johnson after four matches. Johnson was to make only eleven appearances before losing his place to Cliff Price in February 1924. Shortly afterwards, Johnson was transferred to

. At the

Loftus Road Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers. In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...

club, Johnson took up a more central role, replacing

Dick Parker Richard Parker (14 September 1894 – 1 January 1969) was an English professional footballer who made over 200 appearances as a centre forward in the Football League. He is best remembered for his three-year spell with Millwall, for whom he sc ...

centre-forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. In the 1924–25 season, Johnson was the club's top-scorer with ten league goals as Rangers finished just above the Third Division South re-election places. During the following season, Johnson lost his place to Daniel Burgess, only making nine appearances. In the summer of 1926, Johnson returned to the Midlands, finishing his football career back in the Birmingham & District League with

Cradley Heath Cradley Heath is a town in the Rowley Regis area of the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England approximately north-west of Halesowen, south of Dudley and west of central Birmingham. Cradley Heath is often confused with the ...

Honours

Southampton *

champions: 1921–22

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Henry 1897 births Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands 1962 deaths English men's footballers Men's association football forwards English Football League players Coventry City F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Darlaston Town F.C. players Cradley Heath F.C. players 20th-century British Army personnel