Tommy Johnson

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Johnson made his league debut against Middlesbrough on 18 February 1920, scoring both goals in a 2–0 win. He played in the first match at Maine Road, scoring against Sheffield United. In the 1925–26 season he reached the 20 goal mark for the first time, and scored his first competitive hat-trick in the FA Cup quarter-final against Clapton Orient. That season City reached the FA Cup Final, but lost 1–0 to Bolton Wanderers. The following season, Johnson was City's leading goalscorer with 25 goals as the club sought an immediate return to the top division. In the final match of that season, Johnson scored a hat-trick in an 8–0 victory against Bradford City, but Portsmouth's late goal denied City promotion on goal average by a margin of one two-hundredth of a goal. City won the Second Division in 1927–28, and Johnson finished joint-top goalscorer with Frank Roberts. In the first season back in the top division, Johnson scored five goals in a single match, a 6–2 win away to Everton. By March 1929 he had become only the third Manchester City player to score 30 goals in a season, and by the end of the season he had scored 38 goals in 39 league appearances, a club record which has been beaten once in 2023 by Erling Haaland.

In Their Own Story

In March 1930, with the club management believing him to be past his peak, Johnson was sold to Everton for £6,000. His departure sparked protests by Manchester City fans, resulting in a drop of 7,000 in the club's attendances. In total, Johnson scored 166 goals in 354 appearances for Manchester City. This tally includes 158 league goals, a record for a Manchester City player shared with Eric Brook, Johnson's successor as the team's all-time leading goalscorer in all competitions until Brook's record was broken by Sergio Aguero in 2017.

Reader's Guide

Tommy Johnson played for Manchester City from 1919 to 1930, making 354 appearances and scoring 166 goals. He held the record for most goals in a single season for the club with 38 in 1928–29, a record that stood until 2023. He also played for England, scoring 5 goals in 5 appearances.

Did You Know?

• Johnson scored a hat-trick against Port Vale a fortnight after his goalscoring debut in a war league match.
• The final match in his first run of league appearances was a 2–1 win against Liverpool at Hyde Road, attended by King George V.
• Johnson scored in the first match at Manchester City's new stadium, Maine Road, against Sheffield United.
• He scored five goals in a single match, a 6–2 win away to Everton, early in the 1928–29 season.
• Johnson became the FA Cup's first number 10 when Everton faced Manchester City in the 1933 FA Cup Final.