Joseph Alfred Johnson (4 April 1911 – 8 August 1983) 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 lea ...

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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

and

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

as well as the England national team.

Club career

Johnson was born in

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town in Lincolnshire, England with a population of 86,138 (as of 2021). It is located near the mouth on the south bank of the Humber that flows to the North Sea. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes dir ...

and began working as a

fishmonger A fishmonger (historically fishwife for female practitioners) is someone who sells raw fish and seafood. Fishmongers can be wholesalers or retailers and are trained at selecting and purchasing, handling, gutting, boning, filleting, displaying, ...

whilst playing amateur football with Cleethorpes Royal Saints and then Scunthorpe & Lindsey United before being spotted by Second Division

in July 1929. He broke into the side in making his debut in the 1931–32 season. Bristol City were having a terrible campaign winning just three of their first 32 games before the club fell into severe financial difficulties and put their entire squad up for sale.

visited Ashton Gate on 16 April 1932 and the Bristol directors desperate for funds told the Stoke board they could buy whoever they wanted. Manager

Tom Mather Thomas Mather (1888–1957), was an English football manager who managed in the Football League for Bolton Wanderers, Leicester City, Newcastle United, Stoke City and Southend United. Career Mather was assistant secretary of both Manche ...

singled out their young left winger Johnson and signed him for a mere £250. Johnson quickly took the place of the ageing Bobby Archibald and soon made an impression with the pace running up and down the left wing. With

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English Association football, footballer who played as an Forward (association football)#Outside forward, outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the Br ...

on the right wing Stoke had one of the best pairing of wingers in the country and he scored 15 times in 43 games in 1932–33 as Stoke won the Second Division title. He remained a key player in Stoke's forward line for the next four seasons and earned international recognition. He suffered an ankle injury on the opening day of the 1937–38 season and Stoke manager

Bob McGrory Robert Gerald McGrory (17 October 1891 – 24 May 1954) was a Scottish footballer who played in the Football League for Burnley and Stoke City with whom he later had a long spell as manager. McGrory played football with Dumbarton before joinin ...

decided to sell him to

for a fee of £6,500. Johnson spent nine years with the Baggies and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he guested for

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

and

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

. After the war he played for

Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...

and

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

and later ran a refreshment area in

Dartmouth Park Dartmouth Park is a district of north west London in the London Borough of Camden, north of Charing Cross. The area adjoins Highgate and Highgate Cemetery (to the north) and Kentish Town (to the south). Parliament Hill, London, Parliament Hill ...

, close to

the Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an All-seater stadium, all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F.C. ...

. He died in

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ), commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is northwes ...

in August 1983 at the age of 72.

International career

Johnson made his England debut against Ireland at Stoke's

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. Histor ...

. He went on to earn caps against Scotland, Norway, Sweden and Finland. He scored his two goals in the games against Sweden and Finland.

Career statistics

Club

Source:

International

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Joe 1911 births 1983 deaths English men's footballers England men's international footballers Stoke City F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players English Football League players Footballers from Grimsby Men's association football outside forwards 20th-century English sportsmen