Ryan Johnson (footballer, born 1996)

Ryan Anthony Johnson (born 2 October 1996) is a footballer who plays for the National League club Hartlepool United.[3]

Ryan Johnson

Personal information
Full name	Ryan Anthony Johnson[1]
Date of birth	2 October 1996[2]
Place of birth	Birmingham, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2]
Position(s)	Defender
Club information
Current team	Hartlepool United
Number	15
Youth career
2006–2013	West Bromwich Albion
2013–2015	Stevenage
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2019	Stevenage	13	(0)
2014	→ Boreham Wood (loan)	1	(0)
2016	→ St Albans City (loan)	12	(2)
2017–2018	→ Boreham Wood (loan)	2	(0)
2018	→ Nuneaton Town (loan)	19	(0)
2018–2019	→ Kidderminster Harriers (loan)	19	(1)
2019–2020	Kidderminster Harriers	47	(1)
2020–	Hartlepool United	17	(4)
National team^‡
2015–2018	Northern Ireland U21	14	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:47, 23 January 2021 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:54, 16 October 2018 (UTC)

Johnson began his career in the youth set-up at West Bromwich Albion before joining Stevenage in 2013. He made his first-team debut in May 2014 and in doing so became the club's youngest ever player. Johnson has had two loan spells at Boreham Wood, as well as spending time on loan at St Albans City, Nuneaton Town and Kidderminster Harriers. He signed for Kidderminster on a permanent basis in January 2019. He has also represented Northern Ireland at U21 level.

Club career

Early career

Johnson started his career in the youth system of West Bromwich Albion, where he spent seven years as a schoolboy.[4] In summer 2013, he was offered a scholarship by West Bromwich, but opted to leave and join Stevenage, where he felt he had a better chance of playing first-team football.[4] Johnson trained regularly with the first-team straight away, alongside starting a two-year scholarship.[5] Johnson appeared numerous times on the bench throughout the 2013–14 season, making his professional debut on the final day of the season, on 3 May 2014, in a 2–0 away defeat to Brentford.[4][6] In doing so, he became Stevenage's youngest debutant in the Football League at the age of 17 years and 215 days.[4]

Loan spells

He played a peripheral role during the 2014–15 season, making all four of his appearances for Stevenage in the opening two months of the season.[7] This included being sent-off for two bookable offences within the space of six minutes in a 2–1 away loss at Bury on 16 September 2014.[8] A month later, on 24 October 2014, Johnson joined the Conference South club Boreham Wood on a one-month loan deal in order to "gain valuable first-team experience".[9] He made one appearance during the brief spell, as a 90th-minute substitute in Boreham Wood's 2–1 win over Maidenhead United on 10 November 2014.[10] He returned to Stevenage later that month and went on to appear for the club's development squad for the remainder of the season.[11] The 2015–16 season followed a similar course with Johnson appearing regularly in the match-day squad, but often as an unused substitute,[11] as he made seven appearances for the club during the season.[12]

Ahead of the 2016–17 season, Johnson was loaned to the National League South side St Albans City with teammate Dipo Akinyemi until January 2017.[13] The loan move came about after Johnson had spoken to the Stevenage manager Darren Sarll and informed him he wanted game-time.[14] He made his debut on the opening day of the new season, playing the whole match as St Albans secured a 2–0 home win over Concord Rangers at Clarence Park.[15] Johnson scored his first competitive goal in St Albans' 2–1 victory over Chelmsford City on 16 August 2016, heading in from close range from a corner.[16] He received a knee injury while on international duty in September 2016 and was ruled out of action for two months, returning to the St Albans first team at the start of December 2016.[17] In his second game back from injury, Johnson scored the opening goal in a 2–0 away win at Margate on 6 December 2016.[18] Johnson was recalled by Stevenage at the end of the month,[19] a month earlier than the initial agreement.[14] He made 12 appearances during the spell, scoring twice.[11] Despite returning to Stevenage earlier than planned, Johnson did not appear for the first team during the second half of the season.[11] In April 2017, he spent a week on trial at the Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, playing 77 minutes in the development team's 4–1 loss to Everton U23s.[20] No move materialised, and at the end of the month he enjoyed another week-long trial period, this time at Norwich City,[21] playing the whole match in a 0–0 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion U23s.[22]

Despite interest from Premier League and Championship clubs,[23] Johnson remained at Stevenage and in July 2017, before the 2017–18 season, he rejoined Boreham Wood on a season-long loan deal.[24] After two starting appearances in Boreham Wood's opening three fixtures,[25] Johnson did not appear again and the loan deal was cut short in December 2017.[11] In January 2018, Johnson was loaned once again, this time joining the National League North club Nuneaton Town for the remainder of the season. The move meant he was going to be playing under the manager Dino Maamria, who had previously coached him during his early years at Stevenage.[26] Johnson made his Nuneaton debut in a 2–0 loss to Brackley Town on 6 January 2018.[27] He was a mainstay in the centre of defence during his time at Nuneaton, making 19 appearances.[11]

Hartlepool United

On 29 September 2020, it was announced that Johnson had signed for Hartlepool United on a Short-Term contract.[3] On 30 October 2020, after a successful start to his Hartlepool career, Johnson extended his Hartlepool contract.[28] On 22 January 2021, Johnson signed a further contract extension to remain at the club until the end of the 2020-21 season.[29]

International career

Johnson was first called up to represent Northern Ireland at U21 level in September 2015, when he played the whole match in a 2–1 loss to Scotland U21s in a 2017 UEFA European U21 Championship qualifier.[30] Three days later, on 8 September 2015, he scored his first international goal in a 1–1 away draw with Iceland U21s in Reykjavík, scoring with a powerful header from a corner.[31] He went on to make four appearances, scoring once, as Northern Ireland finished bottom of the qualification group.[11][32] He remained a mainstay in the centre of defence for the U21s for their 2019 UEFA European U21 Championship qualifiers.[11] Johnson scored his second goal at U21 level when he opened the scoring in a 4–2 home win over Estonia U21s on 10 October 2017.[33]

Career statistics

As of match played 19 April 2019

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Stevenage	2013–14[34]	League One	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2014–15[7]	League Two	4	0	—		0	0	0	0	4	0
	2015–16[12]	League Two	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
	2016–17[11]	League Two	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2017–18[25]	League Two	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2018–19[35]	League Two	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	0
Boreham Wood (loan)	2014–15[36]	Conference South	1	0	0	0	—		—		1	0
St Albans City (loan)	2016–17[37]	National League South	12	2	—		—		1[lower-alpha 1]	0	13	2
Boreham Wood (loan)	2017–18[25]	National League	2	0	—		—		—		2	0
Nuneaton Town (loan)	2017–18[11]	National League North	19	0	—		—		—		19	0
Kidderminster Harriers	2018–19[11]	National League North	33	1	2	0	—		1[lower-alpha 2]	0	36	1
Hartlepool United	2020-21	National League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Career total			80	3	2	0	0	0	2	0	84	3

1. Appearance in Herts Charity Cup
2. Appearance in FA Trophy

References

1. "Retained List 2015-16" (PDF). English Football League. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
2. "Ryan Johnson". 11v11. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
3. "Pools sign Ryan Johnson". Hartlepool United Football Club. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
4. "Former West Brom starlet reveals why he quit Hawthorns to pursue career at Stevenage after making club history". Hertfordshire Mercury. 4 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
5. "Boss Graham Westley won't splash the cash as he targets Sky Bet League Two promotion charge for Stevenage FC next season". Hertfordshire Mercury. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
6. "Brentford 2–0 Stevenage". BBC Sport. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
7. "Games played by Ryan Johnson in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
8. "Bury 2–1 Stevenage". BBC Sport. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
9. "Ryan Johnson joins Boreham Wood on loan". Stevenage F.C. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
10. "Boreham Wood 2–1 Maidenhead United". Soccerway. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
11. "Soccerway – Ryan Johnson". Soccerway. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
12. "Games played by Ryan Johnson in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
13. "Duo join St Albans on loan". Stevenage F.C. 1 August 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
14. "Ryan Johnson thanks St Albans City for everything they did for him but is ready to push on with Stevenage". Hertfordshire Advertiser. 27 January 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
15. "St Albans City 2–0 Concord Rangers". Soccerway. 6 August 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
16. "St Albans City 2–1 Chelmsford City". Soccerway. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
    - "St Albans City v Chelmsford City". St Albans City F.C. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
17. "Ryan Johnson's return from injury a boost for St Albans City and Stevenage". Hertfordshire Advertiser. 8 December 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
18. "Margate 0–2 St Albans City". Soccerway. 10 December 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
19. "St Albans City – Ryan Johnson". St Albans City F.C. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
20. "Stevenage defender enjoys week with Tottenham Hotspur". The Comet. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
    - "Everton U23 4–1 Tottenham Hotspur U23". Soccerway. 10 April 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
21. "Flown from the nest – Ryan Johnson". Flown From The Nest. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
22. "Norwich City U23s 0 Brighton U23s 0 – Stevenage defender features as young Canaries warm up for semi-final". Eastern Daily Press. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
    - "Norwich City U23 0–0 Brighton & Hove Albion U23". Soccerway. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
23. "Tottenham keeping tabs on Stevenage defender Ryan Johnson after successful stint at Hostpur Way". The Evening Standard. 12 April 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
24. "Ryan Johnson: Boreham Wood sign Stevenage defender on loan". BBC Sport. 14 August 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
25. "Games played by Ryan Johnson in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
26. "Ryan Johnson joins Nuneaton Town". Stevenage F.C. 5 January 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
    - "Stevenage FC youngster had no doubts about Boro deal". Coventry Telegraph. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
27. "Nuneaton Town 0–2 Brackley Town". Soccerway. 6 January 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
28. "RYAN JOHNSON EXTENDS HIS CONTRACT". Hartlepool United Official Site. 30 October 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
29. "Johnson extends contract". Hartlepool United FC. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
30. "Northern Ireland U21 1–2 Scotland U21". Soccerway. 5 September 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
31. "Iceland U21 1–1 Northern Ireland U21". Soccerway. 8 September 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
32. "NIFG – Ryan Johnson". NIFG. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
33. "Northern Ireland U21 4–2 Estonia U21". Soccerway. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
34. "Games played by Ryan Johnson in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
35. "Games played by Ryan Johnson in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
36. Ryan Johnson at Soccerway. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
37. "Ryan Johnson – St Albans". St Albans City F.C. Retrieved 5 March 2018.

External links

• Ryan Johnson at Soccerbase