Seth Johnson
Encyclopedia
Seth Art Maurice Johnson (born 12 March 1979) is a former England international
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 footballer, who is currently without a club after his second spell as a player with Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...

 ended in 2007.

Playing career

When he was young, Johnson attended Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School
Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School
Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School is a Secondary School and Sixth Form Centre located in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire.A Specialist Science College and designated Training School which has also been accredited with both Sportsmark and Artsmark awards, the school consistently performs well in academic...

. He began his career as a trainee with Crewe Alexandra
Crewe Alexandra F.C.
Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional football club based in Crewe, Cheshire. Nicknamed The Railwaymen due to the town's links with the rail industry, they currently play in Football League Two, the fourth tier of English football, and are based at the Alexandra Stadium.The club...

, turning professional in 1996. A hard working midfielder
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

, Johnson's potential led Derby to offer £3 million for his signature in 1999. The transfer went through, but Johnson's loyalty to Crewe meant he insisted on staying to help their relegation fight, delaying his move to Derby by two months. In the end, Crewe avoided relegation by a single point. His continued progress led to a solitary appearance for England, against Italy
Italy national football team
The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...

 in November 2000, and further interest in his services. Big spending Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...

 ultimately paid £7 million to acquire Johnson in 2001, but a series of horrendous injury problems restricted him to just 54 league appearances in four years at Leeds. Leeds also decided not to play Seth when he returned to full fitness as part of Seth's transfer deal with Derby was on appearances and Derby were due another payment which Leeds couldn't afford at the time so Seth was left out.

Johnson was released by Leeds in August 2005. Johnson returned to Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...

 in 2005, where the fans' favourite successfully resurrected his career and played his final game for the club at Wembley Stadium, where he helped the club win promotion to the Premier League. However, during the play off final Johnson injured his knee, a huge blow to his chances of playing with Derby in the Premier League the next season. He was released from his contract in June 2007, along with seven other players.

There was an interesting anecdote about Johnson's negotiations with Leeds: In his personal terms negotiations with Peter Ridsdale
Peter Ridsdale
Peter Ridsdale is an English businessman who is currently the Chairman of Football Operations at League Two club Plymouth Argyle. Ridsdale was previously the chairman of Leeds United, Barnsley and Cardiff City.-History:...

 (then Leeds Chairman) Johnson and his agent agreed in advance to hold out for £13k a week, but Ridsdale's opening offering was in the region of £30k. When the agent balked, Ridsdale increased the offer by several thousand. Ridsdale denies some of this, claiming Johnson was given “£10,000 less than has been rumoured.”

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK