With it being confirmed Daniel Johnson has played the last of his 336 games for Preston North End, fans were understandably devastated to hear of his departure. He’s been a key part of the club since joining from Aston Villa for just £50,000 in January 2015.
Manager Ryan Lowe was also sad to see him go, saying “He’ll go down as a legend at the football club and rightly so because he’s a very talented footballer.”
DJ was a popular character among his teammates as well, and captained the team on many occasions, as did long-time teammate Alan Browne who is now the only remaining player from the 2015 League One play-off winning side.
Many of Johnson’s teammates were quick to pay tribute to his service for the club, adding that they will miss him on and off the pitch. Taking to Instagram to pass on their best wishes to DJ, Greg Cunningham, Brad Potts, and Ryan Ledson were just some of the players to comment on the recap video the club put out to commemorate Johnson’s time at the club.
Ledson said ‘Some great memories on and off the pitch the last 5 years. What a player, and more importantly what a man’.
Greg Cunningham added ‘An amazing servant for this club, both on and off the pitch, you’ll be hugely missed bud.’ To which Johnson replied ‘GC, I’ll be here all day, but goes without saying it’s been a pleasure my guy.’
Brad Potts commented on DJ’s special left foot ‘That magic lefty. Gonna (sic) be a huge miss on and off the pitch. Good luck brother. 50 grand, 50 grand’. Johnson replied ‘A real pleasure Bradley, thank u (sic) my brother’
Alan Browne posted how sad he was to see ‘another good one go’ alongside some nice pictures of the duo. Browne has seen so many of his teammates leave in recent years, perhaps disappointed that Preston couldn’t convince DJ to stay.
Cameron Archer commented on the post saying ‘what a duo’, whilst Alvaro Fernandez said ‘magic x 2!’.
An emotional few days at the club with the passing of Craig Brown and the departure of Daniel Johnson. Let’s hope there’s some positive news coming soon.