West Ham United Johnson was a product of the
West Ham United youth system managed by
Tony Carr from the age of nine, becoming a 15-year-old first year scholar in 2000. He signed a three-year professional contract with the club on 1 August 2001, close to his 17th birthday. In the
2001–02 season, he made regular appearances for
West Ham reserves, but was unable to break into the first team. He eventually signed an initial four-week loan deal with
local rivals Millwall on 17 October 2002, making his
First Division debut in an away loss against
Norwich City on 19 October. His loan was twice extended by a month, before he was recalled early to
Upton Park after having spent seven weeks at
The Den, his final appearance in a Millwall shirt coming in another away defeat to
Crystal Palace on 7 November. Johnson's
Premier League and West Ham debut came on 22 January 2003 in another away defeat to a London club, this time against
Charlton Athletic, when he came on for midfielder
Édouard Cissé. He made 15 league appearances and one
FA Cup appearance in
2002–03, becoming a more significant member of the West Ham team as the year went on.
Chelsea Two months after West Ham United's relegation, Johnson joined London rivals
Chelsea, signing on 15 July for a fee of £6 million. The first purchase under the ownership of
Roman Abramovich, he made his debut on 13 August in an away win against
Žilina in the
2003–04 UEFA Champions League, and his first Chelsea goal came in the corresponding home leg two weeks later. His league debut came on 17 August in an
Anfield win against
Liverpool, but he had to wait until 9 November for his first league goal, netting the opener of a 5–0 victory over
Newcastle United. He made 19 league appearances in
2003–04 as Chelsea finished as runners-up. He picked up a winner's medal when he came on as a second-half substitute for Chelsea in the
2005 League Cup final, a match which Chelsea won 3–2 against Liverpool after extra time. He also made 16 appearances, On his return to Chelsea, Johnson started the
2007 FA Community Shield, which Chelsea lost to
Manchester United, and the opening Premier League match of the season at home to Birmingham City.
Portsmouth On 31 August 2007, Johnson signed for Portsmouth on a four-year contract for a fee believed to be £4 million. He was handed a start in the first match after his transfer, a 3–1 defeat at
Arsenal, and became the club's regular right back. On 20 October, Johnson scored his first goal in over three years, against
Wigan Athletic in a 2–0 win, after dribbling from the halfway line. He helped reach the
2008 FA Cup final against
Cardiff City where Johnson played in a 1–0 victory. Shortly after Johnson's cup success, he and Portsmouth substitute goalkeeper
Jamie Ashdown had their winner's medals stolen from their hotel rooms. After the medals were not returned, the
FA remade medals for Johnson and Ashdown. On 22 November 2008, Johnson scored a 30-yard screamer with his left foot against
Hull City, a goal which won
Match of the Day's Goal of the Month award for November, and later won the
Goal of the Season award. Johnson seemed to have ended speculation that he would move to Liverpool for a rumoured amount of £9 million by signing a four-and-a-half-year contract with Portsmouth on 9 January 2009, although speculation once again suggested that Johnson could make a big money move to Liverpool in the near future; this was reaffirmed in late April 2009 On 22 April 2009, at the age of 24, Johnson was the youngest member of
The Times "Top 50 Portsmouth players" list. Johnson was included in the
PFA Team of the Year for
2008–09 despite Portsmouth finishing in the bottom-half of the Premier League, just seven points above the relegation zone.
Liverpool in 2009 A Portsmouth representative confirmed on 13 June 2009 that a "sizeable bid" had been received for Johnson, with Chelsea, Liverpool and
Manchester City being mooted as possible suitors. On 16 June 2009, Portsmouth agreed a bid believed to be £18.5 million from Liverpool. However, two days later Portsmouth confirmed they had also accepted a bid from Chelsea and it was up to the player as to who he wanted to join. Liverpool were believed to have tabled the £10 million bid on the basis that they were still owed £7 million by Portsmouth from the purchase of
Peter Crouch in the summer of 2008, with Liverpool willing to reduce the fee owed on signing Johnson. On 22 June 2009, Liverpool announced the transfer and on 26 June 2009, Johnson signed a four-year contract. Johnson made his Premier League debut on 16 August 2009 in a 2–1 defeat by
Tottenham Hotspur. On his home league debut for Liverpool on 19 August 2009, Johnson put in a man-of-the-match performance against
Stoke City scoring his first goal for the club while also getting an assist in a match where he caused countless problems for the opposition defence. On 29 August, Johnson scored his second goal for Liverpool in a 3–2 win against
Bolton Wanderers. On 30 December 2009, Johnson sustained a tear of the medial collateral ligament in his right knee during a league fixture against
Aston Villa, which then-Liverpool manager
Rafael Benítez said would keep him out of action for at least a month. On his return from injury in March, Johnson returned to form, scoring his third goal for the club against
Sunderland at Anfield. Johnson went on to make eight more appearances for the rest of the season, including helping Liverpool reach the semi-finals of the
UEFA Europa League where they were knocked out by
Atlético Madrid. Johnson played 35 times and scored three goals in his debut season with the Reds. Johnson held clear-the-air talks with Hodgson and the pair played down their dispute. Johnson scored his first goal of the
2010–11 Premier League on 20 November 2010 against West Ham United at Anfield in a 3–0 win, after returning from being out with a groin strain. On 5 January 2011, Johnson started and played the full 90 minutes against
Blackburn Rovers at
Ewood Park in a rather disappointing 3–1 defeat. Johnson then suffered an injury against
West Bromwich Albion at
The Hawthorns, but recovered before the end of the season to play in the final four matches of the season, including a 5–2 win over
Fulham at
Craven Cottage. Johnson made 35 appearances for Liverpool in 2010–11 as the team finished in 6th position. On 20 November 2011, Johnson scored a solo goal against his former club, Chelsea, at
Stamford Bridge after being set up by
Charlie Adam. This proved to be the decisive goal, with Liverpool winning 2–1. On 26 February 2012, he helped Liverpool to win their first trophy since 2006 as they won the
2012 League Cup final against Cardiff City, playing the full match, hitting the crossbar in the opening minutes and scoring his penalty in the penalty shoot-out, winning his first trophy for Liverpool. Johnson played 29 times in
2011–12 under the management of
Kenny Dalglish as Liverpool finished in 8th position but qualified for Europe due to their League Cup win. He played 43 matches in
2012–13 as Liverpool finished seventh and reached the round of 32 in the UEFA Europa League, losing out to
Zenit Saint Petersburg. On 29 November 2014 Johnson scored the only goal for Liverpool in a 1–0 victory over Stoke City. On 24 May 2015, Johnson announced that he would leave Liverpool at the end of the season. On 10 June, Johnson was released by the club.
Stoke City Johnson joined Stoke City on 12 July 2015, signing a two-year contract. He made his debut for Stoke on 9 August 2015 in a 1–0 defeat against his former club Liverpool. Johnson was
Mark Hughes's first-choice right back in
2015–16 until he suffered a season ending knee injury against
AFC Bournemouth on 13 February 2016. Johnson played 29 times for Stoke prior to suffering his injury and the team went on to finish in ninth position. Johnson signed a one-year contract extension with Stoke in April 2017. Johnson made 25 appearances in
2016–17, as Stoke finished in 13th position. Johnson struggled for playing time in
2017–18, making just ten appearances, as Stoke suffered relegation to the
EFL Championship. On 21 January 2019, Johnson announced his retirement. ==International career==