Johnstones’s journey to Wolves

On the day Sam Johnstone became the newest member of Gary O’Neil’s squad, wolves.co.uk reflects on the goalkeeper’s career path to Molineux.

A pictorial journey guides supporters through the highlights of the England international’s footballing career so far, which has seen the 31-year-old spend his entire career in his homeland.

20th April 2011 | Born in Preston, Johnstone came through the Manchester United academy having joined from Chorley-based club Euxton Villa, winning the FA Youth Cup with the Red Devils.

28th February 2012 | Johnstone represented England at U16s, U17s, U19s and U20s level during his teenage years, and was part of the Young Lions’ Euro U17 Championship winning side.

17th July 2012 | After graduating, Johnstone spent the 2011/12 season on two loan spells in League One, firstly with Oldham Athletic before moving to Scunthorpe United, before returning to United in summer 2012 where he was part of their first-team tour of South Africa.

23rd June 2013 | Johnstone made his debut for England U20s at the FIFA U20 World Cup, turning out for the first time in a 2-2 draw with Iraq, before the side were eliminated in the group stages.

17th August 2013 | Following a stint at Walsall, Johnstone joined Yeovil Town on a three-month loan, making his debut in a 2-0 loss to Burnley. However, injury saw the keeper return to United for treatment.

25th July 2015 | Johnstone spent two seasons on loan with Doncaster Rovers while also turned out for United in a 3-1 win over Barcelona in the International Champions Cup in California.

8th August 2015 | The keeper was named on a Premier League bench for the first time for United’s 2015/16 opener against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford.

16th January 2016 | Johnstone returned on loan to Preston North End having spent the first half of 2015 at his hometown club, where he had kept a clean sheet in the League One play off final.

5th January 2017 | After extending his United contract, Johnstone went on another loan, joining Championship side Aston Villa for the remainder of the 2017/18 season.

8th January 2017 | Just three days after signing for Villa, Johnstone made his first debut in an FA Cup match against Tottenham at White Hart Lane.

23rd September 2017 | Having made more clean sheets in the Championship than any other keeper during the first half of 2017, Johnstone returned to Villa Park for the 2017/18 campaign.

26th May 2018 | Johnstone’s final game for Villa was one to forget, as his side missed out on promotion to the Premier League in the play-off final against Fulham at Wembley Stadium.

4th August 2018 | The keeper made his first permanent move away from United two months later, heading across the West Midlands to join West Bromwich Albion for £6.5million.

11th May 2019 | Despite a positive season as Albion’s first choice stopper, it was a familiar ending as Johnstone’s side missed out on promotion in the play-offs, coincidentally against former club Villa.

26th June 2020 | Johnstone finally earns promotion to the top flight following football’s restart after the Covid-19 pandemic, as West Brom finish second in the Championship standings.

27th March 2021 | His form for Albion earned Johnstone a senior England call-up, as he was named in the Three Lions’ squad for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers against San Marino, Albania and Poland.

3rd May 2021 | Although West Brom were relegated after just one season back in the Premier League, Johnstone impressed between the sticks, winning the club’s Player of the Season awards.

6th June 2021 | Johnstone earns his first of four senior England caps to date as he keeps a clean sheet in the Three Lions’ 1-0 win over Romania in a Euro 2020 pre-tournament friendly.

25th April 2023 | The keeper spends two seasons with Crystal Palace in the Premier League, turning out 34 times for the Eagles, as the team secured two mid-table finishes.

13th October 2023 | Johnstone makes his first England appearance in two years as he keeps another clean sheet for his country, in a 1-0 friendly win over Australia at Wembley.

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