Samuel William Johnson (born 1 December 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club FC Halifax Town. He is the club's all-time record appearance maker.
Johnson turned professional at Port Vale in April 2011, and played on loan at non-League Stafford Rangers later in the year. He made his debut for the Vale in October 2012, and helping the club to secure promotion out of League Two in 2012–13. He was loaned out to Alfreton Town in November 2014, and FC Halifax Town in December 2015, and won the FA Trophy with Halifax in May 2016. He was loaned out to Gateshead in June 2016. He returned to Halifax on loan in January 2017 and joined the club permanently four months later after he helped Halifax to win promotion out of the National League North via the play-offs. He was named as Halifax's Player of the Year for the 2018–19 season. He again won the FA Trophy in 2023.
Career
Port Vale
Born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, Johnson started his career in the youth system at local club Stoke City, before being released at age 14. He quickly joined the city's other local professional club – Port Vale, after youth-team coach Mark Grew spotted his potential. In the 2010–11 season, he was handed a squad number after the club's number 1, Chris Martin, picked up a stomach bug. Aged only 17, he still towered over the rest of the dressing room at six-foot six. Johnson was not fazed by the prospect of a first-team debut, Grew comparing him to Paul Musselwhite in his unflappable, rather laid-back personality. In April 2011, he was offered a one-year professional contract at the club.
He spent September 2011 on loan at nearby Northern Premier League Premier Division club Stafford Rangers. He made his debut in a 5–4 defeat by Hednesford Town at Keys Park on 29 August, though manager Greg Clowes refused to blame Johnson for the five goals conceded. The loan was then extended into October. He then went on to concede just nine goals in his next ten matches, and returned to Vale Park having played a total of thirteen matches. He agreed a new one-year contract with the Vale in May 2012.
Chris Neal and Johnson were the club's only two professional goalkeepers in 2012–13. After Neal picked up a groin strain, manager Micky Adams had little recourse but to hand Johnson his debut on 9 October, in a Football League Trophy match with Walsall at the Bescot Stadium. Before the match, Adams said "We think an awful lot of him in terms of his development, but he's a first-year professional and he'll either sink or swim." Despite making "a string of important saves", he was unable to prevent the two Walsall goals in a 2–2 draw; however in a remarkable turn of events he saved three penalties and then went on to score the winning penalty as the 22nd penalty taker of the penalty shoot-out.
Vale secured promotion to League One at the end of 2012–13, and though Johnson did not feature in any league matches, he was named as the club's young player of the season. He signed a new two-year contract with the club in May 2013.
Johnson made his debut in the Football League on 30 November 2013, again away to Walsall, and impressed after keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 victory. After the match, Adams confirmed Johnson would keep goal in the absence of Chris Neal, who had injured his wrist in training. He played seven league matches before Neal recovered and was returned to the first team. He returned to the first team after Neal picked up another injury on 22 March.
Johnson started 2014–15 as the club's first-choice goalkeeper. Neal regained his first-team place after six matches, and Johnson was loaned out to Alfreton Town of the Conference Premier in November 2014 to gain more first-team experience. He played four matches for Nicky Law's Alfreton before a shoulder injury cut his loan spell short. He signed a new one-year contract with the Vale in June 2015.
As Neal picked up an injury in pre-season, Johnson was due to start 2015–16 as first-choice goalkeeper. However, manager Rob Page signed Jak Alnwick days before the opening match of the season after Johnson had a shaky pre-season, leaving Johnson as the club's third-choice goalkeeper. He joined National League club FC Halifax Town on 27 November 2015 on a one-month loan. His loan was extended to the end of the season after he gained a first-team place. He played a total of 25 league matches for the club but could not prevent Halifax from being relegated at the end of 2015–16. He did though play at Wembley Stadium in the 2016 FA Trophy Final, and kept a clean sheet as Halifax beat Grimsby Town 1–0.