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David Johnson (Footballer)David Johnson (born Merseyside, England, 23rd October 1951) was a talented goalscorer who was part of the successful Liverpool side of the 1970s and 1980s. Ironically, Johnson signed for Liverpool's deadly rivals Everton as a youngster and after showing his ability in early matches, Liverpool manager Bill Shankly pestered Everton counterpart Harry Catterick to sell the young striker, but was rebuffed. Johnson scored in a Merseyside derby game for Everton in 1971 and would do the same for Liverpool a decade later, thereby putting him a tiny select group of players to have scored for both clubs in the derby. His career progressed individually but Everton's standards as a club were declining in the 1970s and Johnson joined Ipswich Town in 1972 who were managed by Bobby Robson. In 1976, Liverpool got their man (though Shankly never did - he had retired two years earlier) and Johnson went to Anfield. In his first season he was a frequent substitute, vying for the right to partner Kevin Keegan with both John Toshack and David Fairclough. He and Liverpool were chasing an historic "treble" of League championship, FA Cup and European Cup as the season drew to a thrilling close. Johnson picked up his first domestic honour with the League title and was selected as Keegan's striker partner for the FA Cup final at Wembley, but Liverpool lost 2-1 to Manchester United and Johnson made little impact to the extent that he was replaced by Ian Callaghan in the second half. For the European Cup final against Borussia Monchengladbach in Rome three days later, manager Bob Paisley kept the team which ended the match at Wembley, so Callaghan started and Johnson was on the bench. He got on, however, meaning that he picked up a medal as Liverpool won 3-1. The following year Johnson was in the side which retained the European Cup but lost both the League title and the League Cup final to Nottingham Forest. In 1979 and 1980 he was a free-scoring centre forward as Liverpool regained and then retained the title, and in 1981 he played as Liverpool won their third European Cup and their first League Cup. However, a sign of things to come was in that first League Cup success - after the first game at Wembley ended 1-1, Johnson was on the bench for the replay against West Ham United due to Paisley's decision to try out a young goalscorer called Ian Rush. Rush never scored but played well, and the following year he was the regular partner to Kenny Dalglish with Johnson being used less frequently. Johnson did enough on a personal level to win a final title medal in 1982 - also winning the League Cup again after getting the substitute's shirt for the final - before he returned to Everton. He retired a few years later after spells at Manchester City, Preston North End and in the USA. He has kept a low profile since giving up playing. He also won eight caps for England, memorable scoring twice in a 3-1 victory over world champions Argentina at Wembley, a game which saw the first appearance in England of Diego Maradona. Johnson, David
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