Ben Johnson (born 5 April 1981) is a former professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

player who played for the

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL).

Football career

Originally from the former St.Mary's, Johnson was snapped up late in the 1999 AFL Draft, no.62 overall. He started his career with a bang, kicking 3 goals on debut for the

Magpies Magpies are birds of various species of the family Corvidae. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent cr ...

, however, he settled as most first-year players and struggled to play-out in consistent fashion, being dropped mid-season. He established himself as a tough running half-back who could play a key tagging role on the last line of defence. He could find the ball and his kicking that looked ordinary, was efficient. Johnson became a key player during the 2002 and 2003 Grand Final seasons. He finished top 6 in the

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

and was recognised as a top senior player wearing Gavin Brown's number 26. He had over 300 disposals in both the seasons, and played all 25 games in 2003 following 23 games in 2002. In 2004 however, he had his best year. He was a regular best player in the side, and despite the Magpies loss in form, his increased. He once again played all possible games, and he averaged over 17 touches. He finished equal 2nd in the

behind winner

James Clement James Clement (born 4 September 1976) is a former professional Australian rules footballer for Collingwood and Fremantle in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was selected in the All-Australian Team on two occasions, represented Austr ...

by 5 votes, and also polled the most

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as Charlie), is awarded to the best and fairest player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the f ...

votes for the club, with 10. In 2005 he had an interrupted season, with injury concerns after a concussion mid-season, and also a rumoured dispute with coach

Mick Malthouse Michael Raymond Malthouse (born 17 August 1953) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach, who played for the St Kilda Football Club and Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). After finishing his playing career, ...

. He only played 13 games, and ended a 77 consecutive games streak. His 2006 season would be one of his best after a poor 2005, playing all 23 games, and providing great run out of the back line. His dash was recognised early during the year, as he would be at the top of the league in metres gained. Johnson would be awarded the

ANZAC Day Medal The Anzac Day match is an annual Australian rules football match between Collingwood Football Club, Collingwood and Essendon Football Club, Essendon, two clubs in the Australian Football League, held on Anzac Day (25 April) at the Melbourne Cr ...

for being best on ground in the match against

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

, despite being called "Craig Johnson" by the announcer of the medallion. Johnson continued his form consistently through the season, giving him another second place in the

Copeland Trophy The E.W. Copeland Trophy is an Australian rules football award given by the Collingwood Football Club to the player adjudged best and fairest for Collingwood during the year. The Copeland Shield, as it was formerly known, was donated by Ern Cop ...

and averaging more than 23 disposals. He also polled 11

votes. In Round 20, 2007, Johnson received a six match suspension for making forceful front-on contact with

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Daniel Bell Daniel Bell (May 10, 1919 – January 25, 2011) was an American sociologist, writer, editor, and professor at Harvard University, best known for his contributions to the study of post-industrialism. He has been described as "one of the leading ...

which ended his finals campaign. His career was on the rocks in 2008 before rebounding to reach some of his best form in the latter stages of 2009 despite suffering a broken leg in the round three loss to Geelong. Johnson enjoyed a strong 2010 season, culminating in becoming a member of Collingwood's 15th VFL/AFL Premiership. His finals series was particularly memorable, slotting the Magpies' seventh goal on the run, sidestepping

Cameron Ling Cameron Ling (born 27 February 1981) is a former Australian rules footballer and three-time premiership player who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A tagger at and , Ling was also a premiership-win ...

late in the first quarter of the 2010 Preliminary Final victory. He managed to nullify long-standing rival

Stephen Milne Stephen Milne (born 8 March 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A small forward, he held the record for the most games played by a play ...

in both the Grand Final and the Grand Final Replay. Johnson booted Collingwood's second goal of the Replay, and was the only remaining player from

's first match as coach of Collingwood (round one, 2000, against Hawthorn). Ben Johnson retired on 15 July 2013. Following his retirement, at the beginning of 2014 Johnson presented Marley Williams with his number 26 guernsey, reenacting Gavin Brown's presentation of the guernsey to him in 2001.

Personal life

In August 2006 Johnson was involved in a drunken brawl outside a hotel in Port Melbourne with then-teammate

Chris Tarrant Christopher John Tarrant (born 10 October 1946) is a retired English broadcaster, television personality, radio DJ and stand up comedian. He is best known for presenting the ITV children's television show '' Tiswas'' from 1974 to 1981, and th ...

. Both players were fined $5,000 by Collingwood. Johnson was later charged with recklessly causing injury and unlawful assault and appeared before a Magistrate in 2007 but avoided conviction due to his heavy involvement in community service with the TAC.

Statistics

:Ben Johnson's player profile at AFL Tables
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2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

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2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

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2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

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2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

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2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

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2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

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2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

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2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

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2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

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2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

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2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

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2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

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2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Ben 1981 births Living people Collingwood Football Club players Collingwood Football Club premiership players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Northern Knights players VFL/AFL premiership players