THE COCA-COLA Kid’s cousin was an instant hit when he joined seventh-from-bottom Brighton on loan from second-placed League One rivals Leeds United in October 2008.
Bradley Johnson, who’d heard about the Seagulls from his relative Colin Kazim-Richards, scored twice on his debut as the Seagulls turned round a 2-0 half-time deficit to beat Leicester City 3-2.
“I hadn’t played for two months and Micky (Adams) asked if I was fit and I admitted I wasn’t match fit, but he said he would throw me in anyway,” Johnson recounted.
“The two goals I scored gave me great confidence as a player, but the win helped everyone,” he said. “On the night, the fans were immense and the result gave us all a good boost.”
In an Argus interview in March 2021, Johnson recalled: “I was a young boy from Leeds coming into a struggling team against a team who were flying so it was a bit daunting for me.
“I didn’t know what to expect but, as debuts go, I don’t think it could have gone any better.
“Anyone who knows me knows I like a shot and I’ve always had that since a young age. Some don’t go where planned but thankfully on that night they did.”
Albion had failed to score in their three previous games, against Hereford, Peterborough and Hartlepool, and soon found themselves 2-0 down to City courtesy of two Matty Fryatt goals.
Adams hauled off a somewhat better known loanee – the ineffective Robbie Savage – at half-time, along with wideman Kevin McLeod, and the changes galvanised the Albion in the second half.
Right-back Andrew Whing reckoned the withdrawal of Savage might have helped Johnson to shine. “Maybe he’d felt a bit in Robbie’s shadow up until that point,” he told Spencer Vignes. “But he really stepped up in the second half and scored twice, one of them an unbelievable strike. We needed a spark and that was it.
“Bradley deserved a lot of credit that night. He’d come to us from Leeds and he just took responsibility, scored twice and got us back into it. He really made an impression.”
After Johnson’s pair of long range strikes past David Martin in the Leicester goal, City defender Jack Hobbs sealed a memorable comeback for the Seagulls when he diverted Joe Anyinsah’s cross past his own ‘keeper.
It was a tad ironic that Johnson should have scored against Leicester too because at the start of that year he came very close to signing for them but couldn’t agree terms and ended up at Leeds instead.
Five days after his impressive Albion debut, Johnson was on the scoresheet again as Adams’ side beat Millwall 4-1 at the Withdean Stadium (Glenn Murray, two, and Dean Cox, the other scorers).
Kazim-Richards, whose £250,000 transfer from Bury to Brighton had been paid for via fan Aaron Berry winning a competition organised by the soft drink giant, had already moved on to Fenerbahçe in Turkey via Sheffield United by the time Johnson arrived in Sussex.
But he said: “My cousin Colin had played there so I knew Brighton and I knew a few lads, and that it was a good place to be. But it was Micky that really sold the place to me and I just wanted to play. That is all I wanted to do; I didn’t look at the side’s league position. I just wanted to be a part of what Micky spoke about and help the club beat relegation.”
Unfortunately, the mini revival in the autumn of 2008 didn’t continue although Johnson was on the winning side again when, in his 10th and last game for the Albion, two Nicky Forster goals earned a 2-0 win at Swindon Town, spoiling Danny Wilson’s first game in charge of the Robins (Peter Brezovan was in goal for Town).
By then, Johnson, who’d lost his place at Leeds following an injury, had scored four times for the Albion (some records show he scored twice in a 4-2 home defeat to MK Dons, others that the second Brighton goal was netted by Stuart Fleetwood).
Somewhat gallingly, Johnson was next seen at Withdean less than three weeks into the new year – back in the fold with Leeds as they took all three points in a 2-0 win on 17 January 2009.
“When I was out on loan, Leeds were struggling and when I went back Gary McAllister got the sack. Simon Grayson came in and I didn’t know where my future lay, but Grayson told me I had a part to play and it was down to me to train hard and prove myself,” he said.
“He was true to his word, and I kept my head down, then I ended up coming back to Brighton and played against them for Leeds. It was a bit surreal to be in the away dressing room, but that is football.”
Johnson became a regular at Elland Road for the next two years and was part of the Leeds side who won promotion to the Championship in 2010, as well as earning headlines in memorable FA Cup ties against Premier League opposition.
In particular, in a third round replay against Arsenal at Elland Road in January 2011, Johnson scored a spectacular goal for the home side although they lost the tie 3-1.
Having spent five years on Arsenal’s books as a promising youngster, it was a bittersweet moment for Johnson who said afterwards: “It was a goal I’m not going to forget. I’m an Arsenal fan myself and so are all my family.”
On the transfer list at the time because he couldn’t agree a new deal with Leeds, he eventually got the chance he craved to play in the Premier League that summer when he moved to newly promoted Norwich City, where his teammates included Elliott Bennett and Andrew Crofts.
It was Canaries boss Paul Lambert who sold the club to him at the time but he also sang the praises of his successor, Chris Hughton.
“Hughton did come in with a different style of play,” he told pinkun.com. “He was very tactical. He was mindful that we were playing in the Premier League against good players whereas Paul Lambert wouldn’t care, if we were playing Manchester United, he’d say ‘if they score two, we’ll score three’.
“Different approaches, different ideas and different philosophies. People weren’t happy with the way he played but we finished 11th. I can only speak for myself, but I really enjoyed my time there and Chris is a great manager.”
He added: “Credit to him when he got the sack because he stuck by his morals and got Brighton promoted.”
After three seasons in the Premier League, the 2014–15 Championship season was one of Johnson’s most successful seasons with the Canaries: he became vice-captain to Russell Martin, appeared in 44 of the 46 league matches (including one appearance as a sub) and scored 15 goals.
He was voted fans’ Player of the Year and was part of the side that won the play-off final 2-0 against Middlesbrough to ensure City won back their Premier League place.
However, unable to get a place in Alex Neil’s side back among the elite, he switched to Derby County for £6m in September 2015.
That was the start of seven more seasons in the Championship: after 140 appearances over four years with the Rams, he moved on a free transfer to Blackburn Rovers, where he made 86 appearances over three seasons.
He eventually left Ewood Park at the end of the 2021-22 season and in the summer of 2022 joined MK Dons on a free transfer.
Johnson scored both goals as MK Dons turned round a disappointing start to the season by beating Port Vale 2-1 in their fourth match.
Born in Hackney on 28 April 1987, Johnson was on Arsenal’s books from 1997 to 2002 but was released aged 15.
“Like any kid, being released from a club was horrible and I didn’t really feel like going back on a round of trials with other professional clubs, so instead I just played locally in Leyton.
He went to Ryman Premier side Waltham Forest but when he was 17 was invited for a trial at Cambridge United. He signed on a non-contract basis for eight months and was then offered a professional contract.
But Northampton Town had been tracking him. “They made me a counter-offer which I accepted and that is where my career began,” he said.
That was in May 2005, and after he had been out on loan to gain experience at Gravesend & Northfleet and Stevenage Borough, he became a regular starter under Stuart Gray and his performances attracted scouts from clubs further up the league.
When that aforementioned move to Leicester fell through in January 2008, a few days later Leeds stepped in and paid a £250,000 fee for him.
He played in the same Leeds side as Casper Ankergren that lost the 2008 League One play-off final 1-0 to Doncaster, but picked up a back injury in pre season that led to him being sidelined. Although he returned to fitness, the side was doing well in his absence which meant he was unable to force his way back in. And then the chance to play competitive football was presented by the Albion.
In parallel lines 