Sean Everet Johnson (born May 31, 1989) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for Major League Soccer club

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

and the United States national team.

Career

College and amateur

Johnson grew up in

Lilburn, Georgia Lilburn is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. The population was 14,502 at the 2020 census. The estimated population was 12,810 in 2019. It is a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. Geography Lilburn is located in western Gw ...

where he attended Brookwood High School. For a brief period he attended school in California where he played for his high school in Los Angeles County. He would graduate from there in 2005. Johnson moved to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

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 K ...

at the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

, where he earned Member of the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll and was named Team MVP in 2008. He left college early to enter the 2010 MLS SuperDraft as 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. ...

player. During his college years Johnson also played one season with Atlanta Blackhawks in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syst ...

Professional

Sean Johnson was drafted in the fourth round (51st overall) of the 2010 MLS SuperDraft by Chicago Fire. He was the last Generation Adidas player selected in that draft. He made his MLS debut on August 1, 2010, during a 3–2 victory over

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

after earning the starting spot over Andrew Dykstra. In his rookie season, he earned back to back "Save of the Week" honors. In 2013, he was named the Chicago Fire's Defender of the Year. He had an 11–9–7 record with the Fire, including with 6 clean sheets. On December 11, 2016,

Atlanta United Atlanta United FC, commonly known as Atlanta United, is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. Founded in 2014, Atlanta United began pl ...

acquired Johnson from the Chicago Fire for general allocation money. Later that day

New York City FC New York City Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in New York City that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the highest level of American soccer, as a member of the league's Eastern Conference. The club is co-owned b ...

acquired Johnson from Atlanta United in exchange for general allocation money and target allocation money. He made 206 total appearances for NYCFC and won the

2021 MLS Cup MLS Cup 2021 was the 26th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS) at the conclusion of the 2021 MLS Cup Playoffs. The soccer match was played on December 11, 2021, at Providence Park in Portland, Oregon, U ...

with the club as their starting goalkeeper. On January 27, 2023, Johnson signed a two-year contract with

International

Johnson holds United States and Jamaican citizenships. He had brief tryouts with the Jamaican under-17 team in 2005 and under-20 team in 2008. Johnson was selected to the United States men's national under-20 team in 2009. He appeared in one match in the 2009 CONCACAF U-20 Championship and later took part in three friendly matches. He also participated in the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup as an unused substitute. Johnson was a member of the under-23 national team that participated in the 2012 Olympic Games qualifying tournament. After an injury to

Bill Hamid Abdul Bilal "Bill" Hamid ( ; born November 25, 1990) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for D.C. United in Major League Soccer. Born in Annandale, Virginia, Hamid was the first D.C. United Academy player to s ...

, Johnson entered the game on the 39th minute of the last group match against El Salvador. Johnson earned his first senior cap for the United States national team entering as a halftime substitute in a friendly match against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

on January 22, 2011. Johnson was named one of three goalkeepers assigned to the United States's

2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 12th CONCACAF Gold Cup competition and the 22nd CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's fifty years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition began on 7 July 2013 at the ...

roster by coach Jurgen Klinsmann. He served as second choice keeper to

Nick Rimando Nicholas Paul Rimando (born June 17, 1979) is an American retired soccer player who last played as a goalkeeper for Real Salt Lake in Major League Soccer and the United States national team. He holds the Major League Soccer records for career ...

during a pre-tournament friendly against Guatemala and for the duration of the tournament. Johnson earned his first senior national team start on July 17, 2013, in the final match of the group stage, recording a clean sheet in a 1–0 victory against rival Costa Rica. During that game he made a key save in the 80th minute which led to the US's winning goal. The start officially cap-tied the dual-national Johnson to the United States.

Personal life

His parents, Everet and Joy Johnson, are of Jamaican and

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

descent.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honors

New York City FC *

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

United States *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

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 fa ...

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 s ...

Individual *

MVP:

* MLS All-Star:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

References

External links

*
Chicago Fire player profile
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Sean 1989 births Living people People from Lilburn, Georgia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area Soccer players from Georgia (U.S. state) African-American soccer players American soccer players Association football goalkeepers University of Central Florida alumni UCF Knights men's soccer players Atlanta Blackhawks players Chicago Fire FC draft picks Chicago Fire FC players New York City FC players Toronto FC players USL League Two players Major League Soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players United States men's international soccer players 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2022 FIFA World Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people