Sam Johnson (footballer, born 1993)

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Sam Johnson
Personal information
Full name Sam Garyahzon Johnson
Date of birth (1993-05-06) 6 May 1993 (age 30)
Place of birth Monrovia, Liberia
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Bodens BK
Number 9
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)
2021 Sabah 10 (2)
2021 Mjällby AIF 5 (1)
2022 Aksu 5 (0)
2023 Vasalund 1 (0)
2023– Bodens BK 9 (0)
International career‡
2011 Liberia U23 8 (6)
2015–2019 Liberia 16 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17 November 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 September 2019 (UTC)

Sam Garyahzon Johnson (born 6 May 1993) is a Liberian footballer who plays as a forward for Swedish club Bodens BK.[1]

Career[edit]

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.[2]

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.[3]

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.[4] After the season, he was awarded the title of "best midfielder" in the league Härnösand played in.[5]

Before the 2013 season Johnson trialed with second tier Superettan club Jönköpings Södra IF but was turned down.[6] Instead he signed a three-year deal with third tier club IK Frej.[7] 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.[8]

Sam Johnson made his Allsvenskan debut for Djurgården in the 1–2 loss against Elfsborg on 5 April 2015.[9] He got his first Allsvenskan goal in the 1–2 loss against Hammarby on 13 April.[10] 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.[11] 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 14 July 2017 he was removed from the club's first squad.

On 4 February 2019 Real Salt Lake announced that they had signed Johnson to a Designated Player contract.[12] On 31 October 2020, it was announced that Salt Lake and Johnson had mutually agreed to terminate his contract with the club.[13]

Johnson signed with Mjällby AIF in Sweden in August 2021.[14] On 23 April 2022, Mjällby announced his transfer to FC Aksu in Kazakhstan.[15]

International career[edit]

Johnson played with the Liberia under-23 team in 2011 for which he scored six goals in eight games.[16][17]

He made his senior international debut for the Liberia on 14 June 2015, in their 2–1 defeat to Togo.[18]

Career statistics[edit]

As of match played 6 August 2028[19][20]
Club Season League Cup[a] Continental Other[b] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Assyriska IF 2011 Division 2 Södra Svealand 5 1 – – – 5 1
Juventus IF 2012 Division 3 Södra Svealand 10 4 – – – 10 4
Härnösands FF 2012 Division 2 Norrland 9 5 – – – 9 5
IK Frej 2013 Division 1 Norra 25 5 4 1 – – 29 6
2014 Division 1 Norra 25 12 2 1 – 2 0 29 13
Total 50 17 6 2 0 0 2 0 58 19
Djurgårdens IF 2015 Allsvenskan 29 10 3 0 – – 32 10
2016 Allsvenskan 12 7 3 0 – – 15 7
Total 41 17 6 0 0 0 0 0 47 17
Wuhan Zall 2016 China League One 11 6 0 0 – – 11 6
2017 China League One 15 5 0 0 – – 15 5
Total 26 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 26 11
Vålerenga 2018 Eliteserien 21 11 4 1 – – 25 12
Real Salt Lake 2019 Major League Soccer 24 9 1 0 – 2 0 27 9
2020 Major League Soccer 7 1 0 0 – 3 0 10 1
Total 31 10 1 0 0 0 5 0 37 10
Sabah 2021 Malaysian Super League 10 2 0 0 – – 10 2
Mjällby AIF 2021 Allsvenskan 5 1 0 0 – – 5 1
2022 Allsvenskan 0 0 2 0 – – 2 0
Total 5 1 2 0 - - - - 7 1
Aksu 2022 Kazakhstan Premier League 5 0 1 0 – – 6 0
Career total 213 79 20 3 0 0 7 0 240 82
  1. ^ Includes the Svenska Cupen, Norwegian Football Cup, and U.S. Open Cup
  2. ^ Includes appearances in the Division 1 promotion playoffs, MLS Cup Playoffs, and MLS is Back Tournament

International[edit]

As of 9 September 2019[18]
National team Year Apps Goals
Liberia 2015 6 0
2016 3 1
2017 0 0
2018 3 1
2019 4 1
Total 16 3

International goals

Scores and results list Liberia's goal tally first.[18]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 29 March 2016 Antoinette Tubman Stadium, Monrovia, Liberia  Djibouti 2–0 5–0 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
2. 11 October 2018 Stade Alphonse Massemba-Débat, Brazzaville, Congo  Congo 1–1 1–3 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
3. 4 September 2019 SKD Stadium, Monrovia, Liberia  Sierra Leone 3–1 3–1 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

References[edit]

  1. ^ Sam Johnson at Soccerway Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ ""Folk fattar inte hur jag har lidit..."". Aftonbladet. (subscription required)
  3. ^ "Talangen: "Min pappa dog när jag var 13 år"". Expressen. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  4. ^ "Förre HFF-stjärnan målskytt i derbyt". Allehanda. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  5. ^ "Norrlands bästa spelare i tvåan utsedda". Unibet. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  6. ^ "J-Södra säger nej till flera provspelare". Jnytt.se. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  7. ^ "Årets mittfältare i Norrlandstvåan klar för IK Frej Täby". IK Frej. Archived from the original on 19 April 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  8. ^ "Anfallare klar för Djurgården". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  9. ^ "Johnsons tårar: "Vill ge något till fansen"". Expressen.
  10. ^ "Djurgårdens derbymålskytt besviken: "Göra mål när mitt lag förlorar – jag räknar inte de målen"". FotbollDirekt.
  11. ^ "Utländska klubbarna som rycker i Johnson – Djurgårdens skyttekung bekräftar". FotbollDirekt. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  12. ^ "Real Salt Lake Signs Liberian Forward Sam Johnson as a Designated Player". Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  13. ^ "Real Salt Lake and striker Sam Johnson mutually agree to terminate contract | MLSSoccer.com".
  14. ^ Holmberg, Henric (4 August 2021). "Officiellt: Mjällby värvar Sam Johnson". fotbollskanalen. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  15. ^ "Sam Johnson lämnar Mjällby AIF" (Press release) (in Swedish). Mjällby AIF. 23 April 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  16. ^ "Liberia U23 football game results against Nigeria". Shout Africa. 18 April 2011. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  17. ^ "Spisstalent på prøve". Haugesunds Avis. 10 June 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  18. ^ a b c "Sam Johnson — National Football Teams". National Football Teams. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  19. ^ "Eliteprospects.com – Sam Johnson". Eliteprospects. 15 April 2015. Archived from the original on 18 February 2015.
  20. ^ 约翰松 at sodasoccer.com Retrieved 2016-11-02 (in Chinese)

External links[edit]

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