Sam Johnson (footballer, born 1993)

Sam Johnson (born 6 May 1993) is a Liberian footballer who last played for Real Salt Lake as a forward.

Sam Johnson
Personal information
Full name Sam Garyahzon Johnson
Date of birth (1993-05-06) 6 May 1993
Place of birth Monrovia, Liberia
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
New Dream FC
Nimba FC
2011 Assyriska IF 5 (1)
2012 Juventus IF 10 (4)
2012 Härnösands FF 9 (5)
2013–2014 IK Frej 50 (17)
2015–2016 Djurgårdens IF 41 (17)
2016–2017 Wuhan Zall 26 (11)
2018 Vålerenga 21 (11)
2019–2020 Real Salt Lake 34 (10)
National team‡
2011 Liberia U-23 8 (6)
2015– Liberia 16 (3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12 October 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23 September 2019 (UTC)

Career

Johnson started out playing for his village team before joining Liberian third division side New Dream FC. With them he scored two goals in a cup game against Liberian Premier League club Nimba FC who were so impressed by his performance that they ended up signing him.[1]

In 2011 Johnson travelled to Norway to trial with FK Haugesund. He impressed the Norwegian club, but only enough for them to offer him a youth contract, so he instead signed with Swedish club Dalkurd FF. He would however only stay there for a couple of months due to work permit problems. Johnson remained in Sweden though and played for fourth tier club Assyriska IF KF during the second half of the 2011 season.[2]

For the first half of the following season Johnson stepped down one division and played for fifth tier club Juventus IF before once again returning to the fourth tier when playing for Härnösands FF during the fall.[3] After the season, he was awarded the title of "best midfielder" in the league Härnösand played in.[4]

Before the 2013 season Johnson trialed with second tier Superettan club Jönköpings Södra IF but was turned down.[5] Instead he signed a three-year deal with third tier club IK Frej.[6] In his second season with them Johnson, who was now playing as forward, became their top goalscorer as the club was promoted to Superettan. In December 2014 Allsvenskan club Djurgårdens IF announced that they had signed Johnson on a four-year deal.[7]

Sam Johnson made his Allsvenskan debut for Djurgården in the 1–2 loss against Elfsborg on 5 April 2015.[8] He got his first Allsvenskan goal in the 1–2 loss against Hammarby on 13 April.[9] After a successful first top flight season where Johnson scored a total of 10 times Djurgården turned down a 22 million SEK bid from french Ligue 1 club Bordeaux the following winter.[10] In the summer of 2016 Johnson was sold for a 30 million SEK.

Then he joined Chinese side Wuhan Zall. He played a crucial part in the club's relegation battle, scoring six goals in 11 appearances and helping the club to finish sixth in China League One. On July 14, 2017 he was removed from the club's first squad.

On February 4, 2019 Real Salt Lake announced that they had signed Johnson to a Designated Player contract.[11] On October 31, 2020, it was announced that Salt Lake and Johnson had mutually agreed to terminate his contract with the club.[12]

International career

Johnson played with the Liberia U23 National Team in 2011 for which he scored six goals in eight games.[13][14] In 2015, he started playing for the Liberia national football team.[15]

Career statistics
As of 6 October 2018[16][17]
Club Season League Cup[lower-alpha 1] Continental Other[lower-alpha 2] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Assyriska IF 2011 Division 2 Södra Svealand 51–––51
Juventus IF 2012 Division 3 Södra Svealand 104–––104
Härnösands FF 2012 Division 2 Norrland 95–––95
IK Frej 2013 Division 1 Norra 25541––296
2014 Division 1 Norra 251221–202913
Total 50176200205819
Djurgårdens IF 2015 Allsvenskan 291030––3210
2016 Allsvenskan 12730––157
Total 41176000004717
Wuhan Zall 2016 China League One 11600––116
2017 China League One 15500––155
Total 26110000002611
Vålerenga 2018 Eliteserien 211141––2512
Career total 16266163002018069
  1. Includes the Svenska Cupen and Norwegian Football Cup
  2. All appearances in the Division 1 promotion playoffs

International
As of 9 September 2019[15]
Liberia
YearAppsGoals
201560
201631
201700
201831
201941
Total163

International goals
Scores and results list Liberia's goal tally first.[15]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 29 March 2016Antoinette Tubman Stadium, Monrovia, Liberia Djibouti2–05–02017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
2. 11 October 2018Stade Alphonse Massemba-Débat, Brazzaville, Congo Congo1–11–32019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
3. 4 September 2019SKD Stadium, Monrovia, Liberia Sierra Leone3–13–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification

References
  1. ""Folk fattar inte hur jag har lidit..."". Aftonbladet. (subscription required)
  2. "Talangen: "Min pappa dog när jag var 13 år"". Expressen. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  3. "Förre HFF-stjärnan målskytt i derbyt". Allehanda. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  4. "Norrlands bästa spelare i tvåan utsedda". Unibet. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  5. "J-Södra säger nej till flera provspelare". Jnytt.se. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  6. "Årets mittfältare i Norrlandstvåan klar för IK Frej Täby". IK Frej. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  7. "Anfallare klar för Djurgården". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  8. "Johnsons tårar: "Vill ge något till fansen"". Expressen.
  9. "Djurgårdens derbymålskytt besviken: "Göra mål när mitt lag förlorar – jag räknar inte de målen"". FotbollDirekt.
  10. "Utländska klubbarna som rycker i Johnson – Djurgårdens skyttekung bekräftar". FotbollDirekt. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  11. "Real Salt Lake Signs Liberian Forward Sam Johnson as a Designated Player". Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  12. https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/10/31/real-salt-lake-and-striker-sam-johnson-mutually-agree-terminate-contract
  13. "Liberia U23 football game results against Nigeria". Shout Africa. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  14. "Spisstalent på prøve". Haugesunds Avis. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  15. "Sam Johnson - National Football Teams". National Football Teams. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  16. "Eliteprospects.com – Sam Johnson". Eliteprospects. 15 April 2015. Archived from the original on 18 February 2015.
  17. 约翰松 at sodasoccer.com Retrieved 2016-11-02 (in Chinese)
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