Jason Johnson (born October 9, 1990) is a Jamaican international

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 currently plays 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 ...

for

Monterey Bay FC Monterey Bay Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in Monterey County, California. The club was established on February 21, 2021, and is a member of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer league system ...

Career

College

After starting at Knox College and then Manchester High School in

Mandeville, Jamaica Mandeville is the capital and largest town in the parish of Manchester in the county of Middlesex, Jamaica. In 2005, the town had an estimated population of 50,000, and including the immediate suburbs within a radius of the total population w ...

, Johnson moved to the United States and enrolled at

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgini ...

in 2010 to play

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

. In his first with the

Rams In engineering, RAMS (reliability, availability, maintainability and safety)CAA CAA may refer to: Law * Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 of India ** Citizenship Amendment Act protests, Protests regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Act * Copyright transfer agreement, Copyright assignment agreement, to transfer copyright to ...

and CAA All-Rookie Team honoree. In his sophomore year in 2011, Johnson made 20 appearances and finished with a team leading 11 goals and one assist on his way to being named

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than 30 ...

All-Region third team and All-CAA second team. In 2012, Johnson made 21 appearances and led his team in goals scored with 13 and second on the team in assists with six on his way to being named

Atlantic 10 The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

's Offensive Player of the Year, First Team All-Atlantic 10 and NSCAA Mid-Atlantic All-Region Team.

Professional

Houston Dynamo

On January 3, 2013, Johnson signed a

Generation Adidas Generation Adidas is a joint venture between Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young professional soccer talent in the United States. The program, sponsored by Adidas, offers professional-ready players in the U.S. ...

contract with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

, making him eligible for the

2013 MLS SuperDraft The 2013 MLS SuperDraft was the fourteenth SuperDraft presented by Major League Soccer. The draft took place on January 17, 2013 in Indianapolis, Indiana at the Indiana Convention Center. The Colorado Rapids enjoyed returns from the 2013 draft, ...

. A couple weeks later, Johnson was selected 13th overall in the draft by

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establi ...

. On March 13, Johnson made his Dynamo debut, coming off the bench in a 3–0 loss to

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V. (), commonly known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club that competes in the Liga MX. It is located in northern Mexico and represents the urban area of La Comarca Lagunera, made up o ...

in leg 2 of the

2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League The 2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League was the 5th edition of the CONCACAF Champions League under its current name, and overall the 48th edition of the premier football club competition organized by CONCACAF, the regional governing body of Nor ...

quarterfinals. He made his MLS debut on May 8, coming on as a substitute in a 4–0 win over

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

. On September 8, Johnson scored his first goal for the Dynamo in a 4–1 loss to the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

. He ended his first season in Houston with 1 goal from 13 MLS regular season appearances. Johnson made one substitute appearance in the playoffs for the Dynamo, coming off the bench in a 2–1 loss to

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

in leg 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. He also made 4 appearances and scored 1 goal in the group stage for the 2013–14 CCL. During the 2014 season, Johnson made 8 substitute appearances for Houston in the MLS regular season as they failed to qualify for the playoffs. He also spent part of the season on loan to

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

side

Pittsburgh Riverhounds Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is an American professional soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1999 and beginning play in 1999, the club plays in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American so ...

, where he made 12 appearances, scored 1 goal, and had 1 assist. Although he started the 2015 season in Houston, Johnson did not play in any of Houston's first six games before being traded.

Chicago Fire

On April 13, 2015, Houston traded Johnson to the Chicago Fire for midfielder

Alex Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple pe ...

. Johnson made his Fire debut on May 9, 2015, when he entered as an 84th minute sub in a 2–1 loss against visiting

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

. He scored his first goal for Chicago on May 22, scoring in the 90+4th minute to give the Fire a 2–2 draw with the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

. On July 11, Johnson scored 2 minutes into stoppage time to give Chicago a 1–1 victory against the

Seattle Sounders Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club w ...

. He ended the season with 2 goals and 2 assists in 20 MLS regular season games for the Fire as Chicago finished 10th in the Eastern Conference, failing to qualify for the playoffs. Following the 2015 season, Johnson had his contract option declined by Chicago.

San Antonio FC

On February 16, 2016, Johnson signed with

side

San Antonio FC San Antonio FC is a professional soccer club based in San Antonio, Texas. It competes in the USL Championship, the second-highest level of the United States soccer league system, as a member of the Western Conference. History San Antonio F ...

. On April 3, Johnson scored twice in his San Antonio debut to help defeat

Seattle Sounders FC 2 Tacoma Defiance, formerly Seattle Sounders FC 2, is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Tacoma, Washington, Tacoma, Washington (state), Washington, U.S. that competes in the MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the Unit ...

3–0. He made 27 appearances and scored 3 goals during the USL regular season as San Antonio finished 11th in the Western Conference, failing to qualify for the playoffs.

Phoenix Rising

On November 15, 2016, Johnson reunited with manager

Frank Yallop Frank Walter Yallop (born 4 April 1964) is a British-Canadian professional soccer coach. Yallop is currently the head coach and sporting director of USL Championship side Monterey Bay FC. He played 13 years in England for Ipswich, including the ...

, who was his coach in Chicago, at

Phoenix Rising FC Phoenix Rising Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 2014 as Arizona United Soccer Club, the team is a member of the USL Championship. History On March 13, 2014, Kyle E ...

for the 2017 season. He made his debut for Phoenix on March 25 in a 1–0 loss to

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, who play in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as well as i ...

. He scored his first goal for Phoenix on May 13 in a 2–1 win over OKC Energy. On July 15, Johnson scored twice to give Phoenix a 2–1 win over the

Colorado Springs Switchbacks Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC is a professional soccer team based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Founded in 2014, the team is a member of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The franchise is owned by Martin E ...

. On October 4, Johnson scored twice in a 4–3 victory against the

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: *Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. *Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the team ...

. He ended the regular season with 13 goals and 3 assists from 29 appearances as Phoenix finished 5th in the Western Conference. In the playoffs, Johnson and Phoenix lost on penalties to

Swope Park Rangers Sporting Kansas City II is a MLS Next Pro club affiliated with Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer. For the 2022 season they will play their home games at Rock Chalk Park at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, as well as Swope S ...

in the first round. Johnson scored his first 2 goals of the 2018 season on May 4 as Phoenix beat

LA Galaxy II LA Galaxy II is an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California, United States founded in 2014. It is the reserve team of the LA Galaxy. The team competes in MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the United Sta ...

4–3. He had another brace on June 13 in a 4–0 win over

Las Vegas Lights FC Las Vegas Lights FC is an American professional soccer team based in Las Vegas, Nevada, that plays in the USL Championship. The team made its debut in 2018 and plays its home games at Cashman Field. The team employs neon imagery in its crest a ...

. Johnson had 7 goals and 2 assists in 29 regular season games, helping Phoenix finish 3rd in the Western Conference. In the playoffs, he scored twice in 4 games as Phoenix reached the final, where they lost 1–0 to Louisville City. Johnson scored his first goal of the 2019 season in Phoenix's opening match on March 9, scoring 3 minutes into stoppage time to draw 3–3 with

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

. In early May, it was announced that Johnson would be out for over 4 months due to an injury. He returned to the field on September 7, coming off the bench in a 1–0 win against San Antonio. Johnson ended the regular season with 12 appearances, 3 goals, and 1 assist, helping Phoenix 1st in the Western Conference and top of the overall regular season table. He appeared off the bench in both of Phoenix's playoff games.

Louisville City

Johnson signed with Louisville City on July 27, 2020. He made his debut for Louisville on August 8, coming on as a substitute in a 1–1 draw with

Indy Eleven Indy Eleven is an American professional soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2013, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League in 2014, before moving to the United Soccer League in 2018. The franchise plays it ...

. he scored his first goal for Louisville on September 12 in a 3–0 win over

Saint Louis FC Saint Louis FC was an American professional soccer team based in St. Louis, Missouri. The team was founded in May 2014, and competed in the USL Championship. The team played their matches at West Community Stadium, a venue inside the World Wide ...

. During a shortened regular season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Johnson made 6 appearances and scored 1 goal. In the playoffs, Johnson made 2 substitute appearances and had 1 assist as Louisville reached the conference finals, where they lost 2–1 to the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Champions ...

Austin Bold

On February 23, 2021, Johnson joined

Austin Bold FC Austin Bold FC was an American professional soccer team located in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2017, the team made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. In 2021, Austin Bold FC announced it would be moving to Fort Worth, Texas leaving Circuit ...

for the 2021 season.

FC Tulsa

On August 2, 2021, Johnson was transferred to USL Championship side

FC Tulsa FC Tulsa is an American professional soccer team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma which competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. History The club was founded as Tulsa Roughnecks FC by Jeff and Dale Hubbard, bro ...

Monterey Bay

On July 1, 2022, Johnson signed with

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area and its major city at the south of the bay, San Jose. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by a ...

as a free agent. Johnson earned his first start for Monterey Bay on July 30, 2022, during a 1-0 victory over

Loudoun United FC Loudoun United FC is an American professional soccer team based in Leesburg, Virginia. The team was founded in 2018 as the reserve team of D.C. United and made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. History On July 18, 2018, the team was offi ...

. His contract option was declined by the club at the end of the season. After overcoming injuries and having a healthy preseason, Johnson was re-signed by Monterey Bay ahead of its 2023 season.

International

Johnson made his international debut for

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

on February 10, 2010 in a 2–1 defeat to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. He was also part of Jamaica's under-23 team in 2011 that failed to qualify for the

2012 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament The 2012 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship was the thirteenth edition of the CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted football tournament organized by CONCACAF to determine which men's under-2 ...

. He returned to the national team in 2013 and played in two friendlies against

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Source:

Honors

Phoenix Rising *

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

Regular Season:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Personal

Johnson holds a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

References

External links

*
VCU bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Jason 1990 births Living people Jamaican men's footballers Jamaican expatriate men's footballers Jamaica men's international footballers VCU Rams men's soccer players Houston Dynamo FC players Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC players Chicago Fire FC players San Antonio FC players Phoenix Rising FC players Men's association football forwards Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Houston Dynamo FC draft picks Major League Soccer players USL Championship players Jamaican expatriate sportspeople in the United States Louisville City FC players Austin Bold FC players FC Tulsa players Monterey Bay FC players