Roger Johnson

At 41 years old, Roger Johnson has this physical status:

Career

Johnson spent time at Portsmouth and AFC Bournemouth before joining Wycombe Wanderers as a 15-year-old, where he learned through the club's youth system. In the final game of the 1999–2000 season against Cambridge United, he made his first-team debut against the club, becoming the youngest player to make a Football League appearance for the club at the age of 17 years and 8 days. Johnson made one substitute appearance and was on the bench when Wycombe defeated Leicester City in the FA Cup quarterfinals, and the FA Cup was also on the schedule. Johnson was both in and out of the team under new manager Tony Adams in 2003 and 2004, but he was also named Fans' Player of the Year Award.

Johnson became a regular on the team and was given the captaincy by new boss John Gorman in November 2004, as well as finishing second in the player of the year award to forward Nathan Tyson after his departure from one season (6 months).

Johnson, after 183 appearances and 22 goals for Wycombe, joined Cardiff City on July 4, 2006 for £275,000; Cardiff's local rivals Swansea City's £100,000 bid was turned down.

Johnson had a fruitful first year at Cardiff, and after being a regular replacement for the first six months, the team's new captain, Glenn Loovens, developed a strong lineup, but they didn't want to keep club captain Darren Purse out of the team. He began scoring goals in the 2007–08 season, as late winners against Norwich City and Hove Albion in the League and Brighton & Hove Albion in the League, as well as vital equalizers against Hull City and Preston North End. Johnson scored his second goal in Cardiff's thrilling 2–0 away win over Premier League Middlesbrough in the 2007–08 FA Cup quarter final, and his header against Bristol City in March 2008 was his seventh goal of the season. He appeared in all six of Cardiff's matches, losing 1–0 to Portsmouth, and was named Player of the Year by the club at the end of the season.

Both Ipswich Town and West Bromwich Albion's bids were turned down during the summer transfer window. Despite the admiration, Johnson stayed with the team into the new season, though Glenn Loovens, his centre-back, did leave to join Celtic. Cardiff defeated Southampton 21-0 on the first day of the season, with Johnson scoring a late winning goal against Southampton. Despite continuing changes in his defensive team, including Loovens, Purse, and new signing Gábor Gyepes, who forced his way into the team over Purse in November, Johnson played every minute of the season before being forced to leave the field in a 2–0 victory over Crystal Palace on April 11, 2009, after being struck in the chest by an elbow from Palace defender Claude Davis. Following the incident, Johnson was left in a hospital and also doing daily checks throughout the following week. Davies was found guilty of violent conduct by the Football Association and banned for three matches. Johnson was forced to miss the next match, a 3–1 victory over Burnley, but the Preston North End defeated Preston North End 6–0 the following week. For the second year in a row, he was named in the Championship Team of the Year, and was voted Player of the Year.

Cardiff accepted a £5 million bid from Birmingham City in June 2009, after two previous bids had been turned down. "Premier League football is the dream at the start of any footballer's career," Johnson, who was described by former teammate Tony Capaldi as "definitely captain material," signed a three-year contract with Birmingham on June 25, 2009. In Birmingham's first match of the season, he made "an outstanding debut" on his debut, a 1–0 loss at Manchester United. He was a member of Birmingham's 12 games unbeaten, a club record for the top flight; at Christmas, The Times' reporter Patrick Barclay described Johnson and defensive partner Scott Dann as "the players of 2009–10 so far"; and Johnson was dubbed a potential England player. Johnson scored his first goal for the club against Bolton Wanderers on August 29, 2010, and his second opened the scoring in the Second City derby against Aston Villa in January 2011.

Birmingham City defeated Arsenal 2–1 to win the 2011 Football League Cup Final after Johnson's header set up the first goal for Nikola igig. He was described as "an enthralling defensive presence throughout" by the Daily Telegraph.

Birmingham accepted a bid from Premier League team Wolverham Wanderers for Johnson on July 11, 2011. Johnson signed a four-year deal with Wolves just two days later. The fee was officially undisclosed, and the club denied that claims of a £7 million charge were inaccurate; the Wolverhampton-based Express & Star newspaper reported that the club had paid "a flat fee with no add-ons" of "just over £4 million."

Almost immediately before the new season, Wolves captain Mick McCarthy was handed over by Mick McCarthy, who was relieved of his duties. Johnson and his new crew were sacked in February 2012, after Johnson said that the players had let the manager down, despite Johnson's comment. Johnson was only in two further matches this season after assistant manager Terry Connor was promoted to fill the vacancy. He was disciplined by the club for turning up for training "unfit to perform properly," according to most, and the player apologised for his behavior but retained captaincy. Wayne Hennessey, his coworker, had an on-field altercation with him later this month.

With the club relegated back to the Championship, new manager Stace Solbakken brought Johnson back to the team. Solbakken was fired in January 2013, but although Johnson retained his position in the team, the team was relegated once more, implying Johnson had been relegated in each of the last three seasons.

In June 2013, when Kenny Jackett took over as Wolves' manager, it was announced that Johnson was available for transfer, but not issued with a squad number. During the summer transfer window, no one was interested, and Johnson joined Sheffield Wednesday on loan for three months on September 16th. He made 17 loan appearances before the deal came to an end, but Sheffield Wednesday caretaker boss Stuart Gray confirmed that he was trying to extend the loan agreement.

He joined West Ham United on loan for the remainder of the 2013–14 season, starting on January 6th. Johnson appeared in six games for West Ham, his first appearance for the club came on January 8, 2014, in a 6–0 away loss to Manchester City in a semi-final of the League Cup.

Johnson remained with Wolves, now back in the Championship, at the start of the 2014–15 season, after the club received no offers during the player's tenure. During the first half of the season, he was still waiting for a squad number and did not play any first team football. Johnson admitted that he trained in afternoons, away from the first team team, but that "would probably give up a fair amount of money if I just walked out." It was reported on February 2, 2015, the last day of the January transfer window, that his Wolves deal had been terminated by mutual consent.

Following Johnson's release of his Wolves contract, Johnson agreed to a deal with Charlton Athletic that will continue into the season until the end of the season. He appeared in 14 of Charlton's remaining 16 games.

Johnson was fired at the end of his deal on May 12, 2015.

Johnson joined Indian Super League Pune City for the 2015 tournament on August 18th.

Johnson resigned for Charlton Athletic on an 18-month deal on January 4th, 2016. In May 2017, he was released.

In October 2017, Johnson signed for Bromley, a National League club, on a short-term contract. He made his debut in an FA Cup fourth qualifying round match against Dover Athletic on October 14th, running until the 90th minute and assisting his team in a goalless draw. Johnson helped Bromley reach the FA Trophy final against Brackley Town at Wembley Stadium, but he conceded an own goal in the 95th minute. Bromley lost on a penalty shoot-out. While at Bromley, he obtained a UEFA A licence through the Football Association of Wales' coaching program. Johnson left the club on May 16th, 2019. He returned to the club as the team's under-23s manager in the following year. Johnson joined Andy Woodman as a mentor in April 2021.

Coaching career

Johnson was elected manager of Brackley Town in National League North on September 29, 2022.

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