Johnson: Seth Art Maurice (Seth)

2001-2005 (Leeds Player Details)(Player Details)

Midfield

Born: Birmingham: 12-03-1979

Debut: v Tottenham Hotspur (h) (substitute): 04-11-2001

5’10” 11st (2005)

When he was young, Seth attended Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School, the same school as former Crewe striker Dean Ashton. Johnson began his career as a trainee with Crewe Alexandra, turning professional in 1996. He made his debut for Crewe when he came on as a substitute for Robbie Savage in a 2-0 defeat at Millwall on 21st September 1996. A hard working midfield player, Johnson's potential led Derby to offer £3 million for his signature in 1999. The transfer went through, but Johnson's loyalty to Crewe meant he insisted on staying to help their relegation fight, delaying his move to Derby by two months. In the end, Crewe avoided relegation by a single point. He represented England in the 1998 European Championship competition at Under-Eighteen level and scored a memorable goal against Russia in a 3-2 win in front of his own crowd at Gresty Road. He made eight appearances in the tournament which England were eliminated on goal difference in the Final Group games played in Cyprus before the play-off for the top four places. On transfer deadline day, March 1999, Crewe were Twenty-third in the Championship with nine games still to play. "We accepted the bid but Seth told us the deal was off because he didn't want to leave with us in so much trouble," said Gradi. "He stayed on and endeared himself to Crewe fans forever with that gesture. It was typical of him as a bloke." Crewe won three of their last four matches to finish one point, but four places, outside the relegation zone and Johnson left for the Rams on 18th May 1999 for a fee of £3 million, which was three times as much as Crewe had accepted in March. "I took a lot of pride in Seth deciding to stay," said Gradi. "The only trouble with kids is that they grow up and can change. Seth hasn't. He's become the man we hoped he would be." He scored seven times in a hundred and three appearances for Crewe of which seven were as a substitute. These were comprised of six League goals in ninety-two appearances of which three were from the bench, the other goal came from two starts in the F.A. Cup and he also started five League Cup games and played four other games as a substitute, without scoring. He went on to represent England at Under-Twenty-One level, while still at Crewe. He made his debut in the European Championship qualifiers, as a seventy-fifth minute substitute for Frank Lampard on 13th October 1998 in a 5-0 away win over Luxembourg in Greven Mecher. He was a seventy-ninth minute substitute for Wes Brown as England lost 1-0 at Portman Road to Czechoslovakia in a friendly on 17th November 1998. His third cap was at Pride Park in a 2-1 win over France on 9th February 1999 when his sixty-second minute free-kick was fired home from close range by Matthew Upton for the winner. He played three UEFA Championship Group matches, against Poland, in a 5-0 win at Southampton, on 26th March 1999, Sweden, at Huddersfield in a 3-0 win on 4th June 1999, and Bulgaria, in a 1-0 win in Vratsa, four days later. He was part of the team which contained Paul Robinson, Danny Mills, Michael Briges, Lee Bowyer and Alan Smith that defeated Denmark 4-1 at Valley Parade on 8th October 1999, in which Johnson was replaced by Michael Ball of Everton in the eighty-third minute. On 22nd February 2000 he picked up his eighth cap when he came on as a sixty-ninth minute substitute for Lee Naylor of Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 1-0 win over Argentina at Craven Cottage. He then added three more caps as he represented England in the European Championship, beating Yugoslavia 3-0 in a qualifier in Barcelona on 29th March 2000 and playing twice more in the Group qualifiers in Bratislava, Slovakia as England went down 2-0 to Italy on 27th May 2000 but beat Turkey 6-0 two days later in a game where he was replaced by Jon Harley after seventy-nine minutes. His twelfth cap came on 23rd March 2001 in a Group Nine UEFA 2002 Championship Qualifiers at Oakwell, Barnsley, in a 4-0 win over Finland when he was substituted by Mark Wilson of Manchester United in the sixty-first minute. He came on as a substitute for Wayne Bridge of Southampton in a 4-0 win over the Netherlands at the Madejski Stadium Reading in a fiendly on 14th August 2001 and then another substitute appearance in which he replaced Chadwick of Manchester United in the sixty-third minute in another Group Qualifier at the Riverside Stadium at Middlesbrough when England beat Albania 5-0 on 4th September 2001, brought him to his fifteenth and final cap which saw him replaced in the seventy-seventh minute of a friendly against Portugal by Jermain Defoe in a 1-0 defeat at the Britannia Stadium, Stoke, by Portugal on 16th April 2002. His continued progress led to a solitary appearance for England, against Italy on 15th November 2000, when he came on as a substitute for Gareth Barry in the seventy-second minute and further interest in his services by several interested clubs. Johnson's combative and whole-hearted displays at Derby made him extremely popular with the club's fans but led inevitably to transfer rumours. Early in his third season in the Midlands, and a little under a year after his international debut, Johnson was on the move again. After scoring twice in eighty-one appearances for Derby, of which two were from the bench, comprising two goals in seventy-three starts in the League, one substitute game in the F.A. Cup and six starts and one game from the bench in the League Cup, big spending Leeds United ultimately paid £7 million to acquire Johnson on 18th October 2001, but a series of horrendous injury problems restricted him to hardly achieving fifty appearances in four years at Leeds. He had been frequently linked with Leeds United but on 10th October 2001 their chairman, Peter Ridsdale, said the rumours "have certainly got nothing to do with us", adding: "I can assure you there is absolutely nothing happening." Seven days later Johnson signed for Leeds. "We have been tracking him for some time," said Ridsdale. The fee was £7m, rising to £9m depending on his future success at club and international level. The story of Johnson's contract negotiations with Leeds have passed into legend, a chilling damnation of Ridsdale's spendthrift regime. It goes as follows: Johnson had been earning £5,000 a week at Derby and his agent told him he wouldn't settle for less than £13,000 a week at Leeds. Ridsdale's opening gambit, however, surprised them both. "Right, I'm sorry, I can only offer you £30,000 a week," he said. Around the table jaws dropped in genuine shock. "Oh, all right then," said Ridsdale, filling the silence, "£37,000." The story is untrue. Ridsdale says it is "a myth", that he had seen Johnson's contract at Derby and his actual offer was "two grand more than what [he was] getting" there. Johnson's agent, Leon Angel, said: "We went into that meeting with a figure in mind for what we wanted. We negotiated and I can tell you we didn't get everything we wanted. In other words, it was a perfectly normal negotiation." Johnson said he had just signed a new contract with Derby. "So I was on decent money there and, if you go to a team that's top of the league, you're not going to go for less money. But I wasn't going there for the money, that wasn't even an issue for me." It had been hoped that Johnson might take over the midfield anchor role which the injured David Batty had performed with distinction, but unfortunately Johnson had disciplinary problems and a mounting susceptibility to injury. With the club approaching financial meltdown in the mid-season of 2002-03, a fee was agreed with Middlesbrough and he was sent-up to the north-east, but such were the concerns about his knee problems that the transfer fell through. Such was United’s dirth of fit midfielders at that time that he was welcomed back by then Manager Terry Venables. He only made three starts in the League in 2002-03 and only four in 2004-05 as he spent more time in the treatment room than on the playing field. He was released by Leeds in August 2005. It was believed they did this due to clauses in the deal when signing him, whereby they had to pay a further fee to Derby after he had started fifty League games, but also due to his excessively large £37,000 a week wages, which Leeds couldn't afford after their financial crisis. Johnson returned to Derby County where the fans’ favourite successfully resurrected his career and played his final game for the club at Wembley Stadium, where he helped the club win promotion to the Premier League. However, during the play off final Johnson injured his knee, which was a huge blow to his chances of playing with Derby in the Premier League the following season. He made fifty-four starts for Derby in his second spell there and another eleven off the bench, and scored four times. This comprised four League goals in forty-seven starts and ten from the bench and three F.A. Cup starts, one start and one game from the bench in the League Cup and four starts in the play-offs. On the 1st June 2007, it was announced that he, along with seven other players had been released. Apart from his one full England Cap, he represented his country eight times at Youth level and fifteen times at Under-Twenty-one level.