Paul Anthony Johnson (born 19 September 1955) is an English former

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 in

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 ...

for

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

and

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

. During his time at Stoke he is referenced by his full name to avoid confusion with another Paul Johnson who was at Stoke at the same time.

Career

Johnson was born in

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

and began his career with local side

progressing to the first team in 1976. At the same time another youth team player of the same name started to break into the first team. Johnson was the more successful of the two playing in 60 matches for Stoke before joining

in 1982. In the summer of 1978, Johnson was loaned to the second division American Soccer League side

Southern California Lazers The Southern California Lazers were an American soccer club based in Torrance, California that was a member of the American Soccer League. History The Lazers were formed in 1978 as an ASL expansion franchise in suburban Los Angeles and owned by ...

, for whom he made 24 appearances before returning to Stoke. He went on to play for non-league

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Paul English men's footballers Stoke City F.C. players Chester City F.C. players English Football League players 1955 births Living people Altrincham F.C. players Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Stoke-on-Trent