Samuel Luke Johnstone (born 25 March 1993) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

and the England national team. A product of the

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

academy, Johnstone spent time on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

with Oldham Athletic, Scunthorpe United,

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

, Yeovil Town,

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

, Preston North End and Aston Villa, before his transfer to West Bromwich Albion in 2018. He was an England youth international, winning caps at under-16, under-17, under-19 and under-20 levels.

Early life

Samuel Luke Johnstone was born on 25 March 1993 in Preston, Lancashire. His father is Glenn Johnstone, a former professional footballer. Johnstone's younger brother, Max, joined

as a youth-team player in September 2016.

Club career

Manchester United

Early career

Johnstone joined Manchester United at academy level from

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...

-based club Euxton Villa, after being spotted by club scout Colin Fairhurst. In the 2010–11 season, he was first-choice goalkeeper in the academy, after sharing the duties the previous season. On 26 July 2011, Johnstone joined League One club Oldham Athletic on

, as both of their first-choice goalkeepers were sidelined by injury. On 9 September, Johnstone joined League One club Scunthorpe United on a one-month loan after their first-choice goalkeeper Josh Lillis suffered a long-term injury. The following day, he made his debut in a 1–1 home draw against Sheffield United. On 19 October, Johnstone dislocated his finger during a training session, forcing Scunthorpe to search for an emergency goalkeeper once again. On 10 November, Scunthorpe extended the loan until 9 December, which was then extended to 10 January 2012. On 20 March 2013, Manchester United agreed for Johnstone to spend the rest of the 2012–13 season on loan to League One club

. He kept consecutive clean sheets in his first few matches and was first-choice goalkeeper during his loan. On 17 August, Johnstone was loaned to Championship club Yeovil Town for a period of three months. Johnstone made his debut on the same day in a 2–0 loss to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, but it was later confirmed that he had suffered a finger injury prior to his debut and returned to Manchester United for treatment.

2014–2017

On 31 January 2014, Johnstone was loaned to Championship club

for four weeks. With the first-choice goalkeeper Ross Turnbull injured, Johnstone made his debut the following day at the Keepmoat Stadium against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. On 4 April, Johnstone agreed a loan extension until the end of the 2013–14 season. On 27 October, Johnstone again joined Doncaster Rovers, with the club now in League One, on loan, initially until January 2015. On 12 January 2015, Johnstone joined his hometown club, Preston North End of League One, on loan until the end of the 2014–15 season. On 25 May, Johnstone kept a clean sheet in the 2015 League One play-off final as Preston won promotion to the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

with a 4–0 win over

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. On Manchester United's pre-season tour of the United States in July 2015, Johnstone played as second-choice goalkeeper ahead of Anders Lindegaard, covering for David de Gea while the Spaniard recovered from a knock. He started in the victories over Club América and

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

(playing the entire game) and came on as a second-half substitute against

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

in a 3–1 victory. After rumours of De Gea's potential transfer

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

caused the Spaniard to be dropped from the Manchester United squad, Johnstone was named on the bench behind Sergio Romero for the first game of the season against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. After De Gea returned to the United first-team, following the collapse of his move, Johnstone failed to make the bench again in 2015. On 31 December 2015, he re-signed for Preston on an initial 28-day loan, after Sunderland recalled

Jordan Pickford Jordan Lee Pickford (' Logan; born 7 March 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Everton and the England national team. Pickford began his career at Sunderland, and played for their academy, reserve ...

on the same day. He made his first appearance of his second stint at Preston in a 2–1 home win over Rotherham United on 2 January 2016. On 16 October 2016, Johnstone extended his contract at Manchester United until June 2018.

Loans to Aston Villa

On 5 January 2017, Johnstone joined Championship club Aston Villa on loan until the end of the 2016–17 season. He made his debut on 8 January 2017, in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

match against Tottenham Hotspur at

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

. During the period of this loan spell, he kept more clean sheets in the Championship than any other goalkeeper. In July 2017, he returned to Aston Villa on a loan deal until the end of the 2017–18 season.

West Bromwich Albion

On 3 July 2018, Johnstone signed a four-year contract with newly relegated Championship club West Bromwich Albion, for a transfer fee reported by ''

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

'' to be an initial £6.5 million. He was part of the West Brom team that lost to Aston Villa in the EFL Championship play-off semi-finals on penalties in May 2019. However, the following season, Sam Johnstone helped the club gain automatic promotion to the Premier League for the 2020–21 season. Despite some criticism from fans, Johnstone kept his place as West Brom's first-choice goalkeeper and went on to have a great season despite the club being relegated that year. Sam Johnstone produced a number of 'world class' saves throughout the season, securing vital points for the club on numerous occasions. On 15 December 2020, Johnstone produced two stoppage-time saves to deny İlkay Gündoğan and Raheem Sterling to secure a 1–1 draw for the club away at the home of future Premier League Champions,

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. Johnstone also played well against former club Manchester United and reigning champions Liverpool, securing 1–1 draws against both. His fine form resulted in a trio of club awards at the end of the season, winning the Supporter's Player of the Year, Player's Player of the year and PFA Community Champion Award for his work off the field. West Brom were relegated again after the 2020–21 season, and

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

approached them with a £10 million offer for Johnstone, which was rejected. With the club stuck mid-table in the Championship, Johnstone didn't extend his contract.

Crystal Palace

On 21 June 2022, Johnstone agreed to join Crystal Palace on a free transfer as backup to

Vicente Guaita Vicente Guaita Panadero (; born 10 January 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Celta. He appeared in 176 La Liga matches over eight seasons with Valencia and Getafe, as well as a season on ...

. He made his debut in a 2–0

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

win against Oxford United on 23 August. He made his first Premier League appearance for Palace against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

on 9 April 2023, and was praised for his performance in the 5–1 win. Coincidentally, the last time Palace had scored five goals in a game had been against Johnstone's West Brom in December 2020.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 30 August 2024,

signed Johnstone on a four-year deal for a reported fee of £10 million.

International career

Johnstone was a part of the victorious England under-17 squad at the 2010 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. He made his debut for the England under-19 team against

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

in September 2010. On 28 May 2013, he was named in the 21-man squad for England under-20s at the

2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the nineteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. It ran from 21 June to 13 July 2013. At the FIFA Executive Meeting in Zürich on 3 March 2011, ...

. He made his debut on 23 June in England's first match of the tournament, a 2–2 draw with

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. He played in England's three matches at the tournament as they were eliminated at the group stage. On 18 March 2021, Johnstone received his first call-up to the England senior team when he was named in the 26-man squad for their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. He was named in the 26-man squad for

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

, along with fellow goalkeepers Jordan Pickford and Dean Henderson, and made his debut on 6 June in England's final pre-tournament friendly, a 1–0 win over

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

at the

Riverside Stadium The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since its opening in 1995. It has an all-seated capacity of 34,742, although provisional planning permission is in place to expan ...

. Johnstone was not included in England's squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

but was recalled for the team's UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers against

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

and

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

in June 2023. On 13 October 2023, he made his first international appearance in two years, keeping his fourth clean sheet in four

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

as England beat

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1–0 at

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Preston North End * Football League One play-offs:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

West Bromwich Albion *

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

second-place promotion: 2019–20 England U17 *

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

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 ...

England *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

runner-up:

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Individual *West Bromwich Albion Supporters' Player of the Year: 2020–21 *West Bromwich Albion Players' Player of the Year: 2020–21

References

Infobox statistics *England U16: *England U17: *England U19: *England U20: Specific

External links

Profile
at the Crystal Palace F.C. website
Profile
at the Football Association website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnstone, Sam 1993 births Living people Footballers from Preston, Lancashire English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Manchester United F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players England men's youth international footballers England men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2020 players 21st-century English sportsmen