John Johnson leaves Bengaluru FC after five successful seasons

Bengaluru FC (BFC) defender John Johnson ends his contract with the inaugural Indian Super Cup champions.


Bengaluru, April 23: Bengaluru FC (BFC) defender John Johnson ends his contract with the inaugural Indian Super Cup champions. The 29-year-old English footballer has played more than 100 matches for Bengaluru FC since the 2013/14 season.

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BFC confirmed the news through their official Twitter account. The club posted on their Twitter account, "So we're finally saying it, the end of this season will be @John6Johnson's last at the club he loved and one that loved him back. We will always wish him well for the future. #ThankYouJohno".

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Johnson has been an integral part of the Bengaluru club since their inauguration in July 2013. While Northampton Town released him at the end of 2013/14 season, Johnson had signed with BFC on 16th July 2013 along with Kenyan centre-back Curtis Osano and became the first foreigners in the club's history.

In these five seasons, Johnson played a marvellous role for the club. During his stint at the club, BFC won two I-League trophies (2013/14 and 2015/16), two Federation Cups (2014/15 and 2016/17) and one Indian Super Cup (2018).

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Also, during Johnson's playing time, BFC became the first Indian football club to play AFC Cup final back in 2016. However, they had lost narrowly in the final game against Iraqi football club Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (lost by 1-0) as they finished runners-up in that tournament. In the next year (2017 AF Cup), they had played Inter-zone play-off final (double leg) against Tajikistan football club FC Istiklol where they had suffered a 3-2 loss on aggregate.

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In his final season (2017/18) with the club, BFC finished as runners-up in their inaugural Indian Super League season. They lost the trophy to Chennaiyin FC in the ISL final by a 3-2 margin.

Johnson had won the best defender of I-League award in his first season for BFC (2013/14). After the successful five seasons with BFC, Johnson is now going to join another successful ISL club, ATK. The Kolkata franchise has won the ISL trophy twice (2014 and 2016).