DOB: 25 January 1935
Died: 10 November 2016
Debut: Round 3, 1955 against Footscray at MCG
Last Game: Semi Final 1962 against Carlton at MCG
From: Epping
Number: 14 (1955-1962)
Honours
Premiership Player - 1955, 1956, 1957, 1960
Grand Final team - 1958
Best First Year Player - 1955
Life Member - 1962
Games: 118
Goals: 9
Career Statistics
| Wins | Draws | Losses | Winning % |
| 85 | 3 | 30 | 72.03 |
Johnson was offered £1000 contracts by both Fitzroy and Collingwood in 1952 but refused both as he was a Melbourne supporter and signed for the Demons for free instead. He joined the playing list in 1953, already wearing number 14, but missed the year doing national service, before debuting in the Reserves in 1954.
1955 saw Johnson break into the senior side and win the Best First Year Player award in a premiership side. Originally a back pocket, by the time he played in the winning 1957 flag he was also playing at centre-half forward. That year he had missed a month with a knee injury.
Known as 'Phantom' because he did what he needed to do with minimal fuss, Johnson missed the 1959 finals campaign, but returned in a back pocket for 1960. He missed five weeks early in 1961 due to an ankle injury but returned to play the rest of the season, including Melbourne's two losing finals.
After battling an elbow injury early in the season, Johnson retired after 1962 and was named a life member that year. In 1963 he returned to Epping in the Diamond Valley League and was premiership captain/coach of Epping, and in 1964 was playing coach for Port Fairy in the Hampden League.
In 2004 Johnson He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 2004 as a member of the 1956 Melbourne premiership team, and was awarded the Order of the Medal of Australia in 2006 for his service to the community through charity fundraisers organised by his business Crown Mushrooms.
His twin brother Dick also trialled with the Demons in 1953.
| Year | Games | Goals | Brownlow |
| 1955 | 13 | 0 | 3 |
| 1956 | 20 | 1 | 0 |
| 1957 | 17 | 3 | 0 |
| 1958 | 18 | 3 | 0 |
| 1959 | 15 | 1 | 0 |
| 1960 | 18 | 1 | 0 |
| 1961 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 1962 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Media
Herald - 18/03/1953
Age - 24/05/1961
Inside Football - 08/05/1986
Links
Boyles Football Photos
Demonwiki image gallery
Wikipedia profile