Daniel Johnson (footballer)

Daniel Johnson

Johnson in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Daniel Anthony Johnson[1]
Date of birth	8 October 1992
Place of birth	Kingston, Jamaica
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Preston North End
Number	11
Youth career
0000–2009	Crystal Palace
2009–2011	Aston Villa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2011–2015	Aston Villa	0	(0)
2012	→ Yeovil Town (loan)	5	(0)
2014	→ Chesterfield (loan)	11	(0)
2014–2015	→ Oldham Athletic (loan)	6	(3)
2015–	Preston North End	62	(16)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:22, 21 October 2015 (UTC). † Appearances (goals)

Daniel Anthony Johnson (born 8 October 1992) is a professional footballer who plays for Preston North End as a midfielder. Johnson previously played for Aston Villa and had brief loan spells at Yeovil Town, Chesterfield and Oldham Athletic.

Career

Early career

Born in Jamaica, Johnson played for Crystal Palace as a schoolboy before moving on to Aston Villa's academy. Johnson's potential was recognised following the 2010–11 season. Extra responsibility was placed on Johnson when academy coach Tony McAndrew handed him the captain's armband. As well as leading Villa to the Barclays Premier Academy League Group B title, he was an inspiration during the FA Youth Cup campaign. A left-foot strike from the edge of the box in round four against Peterborough United crowned a true captain's performance and ignited a cup run that would see the young lions reach the semi-finals.^[2] His performances for the academy and reserve teams had already caught the eye of manager at the time Gerard Houllier. The Frenchman called up Johnson to Aston Villa's first team for the first time, where he was an unused substitute in Villa's 2–1 League Cup win over Burnley.^[3] In January 2011, the midfielder signed his first professional contract at Villa Park.

Johnson had another season of great progress in 2011–12, featuring in all but one of the title-winning reserve team's fixtures as well as making the first team bench for six Premier League games. In the reserve ranks, Johnson once again demonstrated his ability to supply goals from the central ground. He found the net five times, including a wonder strike in a 3–1 defeat against a Manchester United side featuring the likes of Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Tom Cleverley.^[4] That scoring knack was also replicated on the European stage during Villa's run to the quarter-finals of the NextGen Series. Johnson was the only player to feature in all seven of the club's NextGen games and he managed three goals in the process. Those strikes came in home and away wins against Fernabaçhe and in a 3–2 defeat by Rosenborg.^[5][6] In March 2012, he extended his contract to summer 2013 but he has still yet to make his official debut for Villa.^[7] On 13 June 2013, Johnson signed a new two-year deal keeping him at the club until 2015.

Loan moves

Johnson has made series of short loan moves to League One sides over the past three seasons. On 23 October 2012, Johnson joined Football League One side Yeovil Town on a month-long youth loan deal,^[8] and made his Football League debut as a substitute that evening in Yeovil's 3–1 victory over Shrewsbury Town.^[9]

Johnson joined Chesterfield on a three-month loan in August 2014 and made his debut in a 2–1 away win over Port Vale on 30 August.^[10] Johnson played 13 times for Chesterfield, becoming a first team regular.^[11]

On 10 November 2014 Johnson joined another League One side, Oldham, on a two-month deal until 5 January 2015.^[11]

Preston North End

On 23 January 2015, Johnson joined Preston North End for an undisclosed fee, believed to be £50,000, on a two-and-a-half year deal.^[12] Johnson started life off well at Preston scoring 8 goals in 18 appearances. Johnson and his team mates won promotion to the Championship on 24 May 2015, following a 4–0 win over Swindon Town in the play-off final at Wembley.

Honours

Preston North End

• League One play-offs: 2014–15

Career statistics

As of match played 21 October 2015^[13]

Club	Season	Division	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Aston Villa	2012–13	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Yeovil Town (loan)	2012–13	League One	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Chesterfield (loan)	2014–15		11	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	13	0
Oldham (loan)	2014–15		6	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	7	3
Preston	2014–15		20	8	0	0	0	0	3	0	23	8
Preston	2015–16	Championship	12	5	0	0	1	1	0	0	13	6
Career total			54	16	1	0	2	1	4	0	61	17

References

1. "Premier League Clubs submit Squad Lists" (PDF). Premier League. 25 October 2012.
2. "Aston Villa into FA Youth Cup semi finals after victory over Middlesbrough". Birmingham Mail. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
3. "Aston Villa 2–1 Burnley (after extra time)". BBC Sport. 27 October 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
4. "Smalling, Cleverley and Jones start as Manchester United reserves beat Aston Villa". Goal.com. 22 March 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
5. "NextGen Series report: Villa U19 4–0 Fenerbahce U19". Aston Villa Football Club. 28 September 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
6. "NextGen Series report: Rosenborg U19 3–2 Villa U19". Aston Villa Football Club. 9 November 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
7. "New Villa deal for Johnson". Sky Sports. 15 March 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
8. "Yeovil Town sign Aston Villa's Daniel Johnson on loan". BBC Sport. 23 October 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
9. "Shrewsbury 1–3 Yeovil". BBC Sport. 23 October 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
10. "Port Vale 1 – 2 Chesterfield". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
11. "Oldham Athletic sign Aston Villa midfielder Daniel Johnson". BBC. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
12. "Johnson leaves Villa for Preston in permanent deal". AVFC. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
13. Daniel Johnson career statistics at Soccerbase

External links

• Daniel Johnson career statistics at Soccerbase
• Daniel Johnson's profile at the Official Aston Villa site