Stephen Anthony Johnson (born 23 June 1957) is an English former 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 played as a striker. He played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for six different clubs and also played in non-league football and abroad.

Playing career

Johnson played non-league football for

Bangor City Bangor City Football Club () was a Welsh football club from the City of Bangor, Gwynedd. Founded in 1876, Bangor City have been founder members of the North Wales Coast League, the Welsh National League, the North Wales Combination, the W ...

and

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

before being signed by

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

side Bury in November 1977.''Player Memories'', Chester City v. Rochdale matchday programme; 26 February 1994; pg. 24 He spent six years at

Gigg Lane Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, Gi ...

and then had a relatively short spell with

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

before moving to

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

in February 1984. 13 months later Johnson joined

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

for £40,000, but he could not settle in the area and returned north by rejoining Rochdale on loan and then reuniting with his former Wigan manager Harry McNally at Chester City in March 1986 in a further loan deal. Johnson's aerial power was a welcome asset to Chester's attack and he scored six times in the final 10 games of the season to seal promotion from

Division Four The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier L ...

. Johnson then spent two years with Scunthorpe until he joined Chester on a permanent basis ahead of the 1988–89 season. He played regularly alongside Carl Dale in the Chester attack as they narrowly missed the Third Division play–offs. During his spell at Chester, his all action playing style earned him the nickname 'Mean Machine'. After spending the summer months playing in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

, Johnson joined

for a third time to bring the curtain down on his league career. He later played for

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

, where he made a scoring

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

debut on 1 September 1990, and in October 1990 he made one league appearance for

Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

. He also played for non-league teams

Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...

, Radcliffe Borough, Castleton Gabriels, Caernarfon Town and

Haslingden Haslingden is a town in Rossendale, Lancashire, England. It is north of Manchester. The name means 'valley of the hazels' or 'valley growing with hazels'. At the time of the 2011 census the town (including Helmshore) had a population of 15,9 ...

, while working as a financial advisor.

Honours

Chester City

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier ...

runners-up: 1985–86

External links

Iron Alphabet profile

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Steve 1957 births Living people Footballers from Liverpool English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Bangor City F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Bury F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Limerick F.C. players Cork City F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Radcliffe F.C. players Rochdale Town F.C. players Caernarfon Town F.C. players Haslingden F.C. (1969) players English Football League players League of Ireland players National League (English football) players English expatriate men's footballers