Damien Johnson

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Damien Johnson
Personal information
Full name Damien Michael Johnson
Date of birth November 18, 1978 (1978-11-18) (age 29)
Place of birth    Lisburn, Northern Ireland
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current club Birmingham City
Number 22
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1997–2002
1998
2002–
Blackburn Rovers
Nottingham Forest (loan)
Birmingham City
059 (3)
006 (0)
182 (4)   
National team2
1999– Northern Ireland 048 (0)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 09:45, 12 May 2008 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 09:45, 12 May 2008 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Damien Michael Johnson (born November 18, 1978 in Lisburn) is a Northern Irish international football midfielder who currently plays for Birmingham City.

Contents

[edit] Club career

[edit] Blackburn Rovers

His first team was Blackburn Rovers, for whom Johnson signed as a trainee in 1997, making his debut in the League Cup on September 30, 1997, a 1–0 defeat to Preston North End, in which he picked up a yellow card.

Loaned to Nottingham Forest on January 28, 1998, Johnson played in five games, and, despite accruing a yellow card in his last February appearance, performed well for the team.

[edit] Birmingham

On March 8, 2002, Johnson moved to Birmingham City and in September 2004, he signed a new three-year contract.

Johnson was named the Birmingham City captain for the 2006–07 season but in one of his first games as captain, he angered fans when he first threw his captain's armband and then his shirt on the floor when he was substituted late on.

On October 28, 2006, Johnson's jaw was broken in two places after he was elbowed in the face by West Brom defender Paul Robinson during a tackle that has since drawn criticism.[1] Despite the broken jaw, Johnson played on until the final whistle.

He has since signed a new 3 year deal that will keep him at Birmingham City until 2010.

At the opening of the 2007–08 season he injured his hamstring in a pre-season friendly. Further injuries followed, and Johnson regained fitness only in December. He played his first league game on December 15, 2007, replacing the suspended Mehdi Nafti.

Currently Damien Johnson has made more appearances than any other team-mate for Birmingham City.

[edit] International career

Johnson earned his first call-up to the Northern Ireland national football team on May 29, 1999, when he came on as a substitute in the 1–0 away win against the Republic of Ireland. Further appearances as substitute followed against Finland, Luxembourg, Malta, and Hungary, before he made his first full appearance versus Yugoslavia at Windsor Park, Belfast, in August 2000.

On March 28, 2007, he made his 46th appearance for Northern Ireland, in the home European Championship Qualifying victory (2–1) over Sweden. A valuable player in his national team, Johnson is also hugely popular with the "Green and White Army" of Northern Ireland fans, not least for his 100% effort and commitment.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "Birmingham skipper fractures jaw", BBC Sport, 2006-10-29. Retrieved on 2007-04-10. 

[edit] External links