Johnstone on van der Sar tutorials and England ambitions

This interview was originally published in the Crystal Palace v Brentford programme.

“I just found it boring to watch football,” Sam Johnstone says baldly. It’s not the most standard answer for a professional footballer.

Johnstone is looking back at his introduction to the sport. As the son of a professional goalkeeper, Glenn, football was readily available to him. His brother, Max, would also become a professional in future years, but for this trio of Johnstone goalkeepers, football was refined to physical enjoyment.

“It was on the street, in the park, on the PlayStation,” the Palace ‘keeper explains, revealing that he didn’t follow a team or watch matches as a child. “I probably didn’t really get into football until I was seven- or eight-years-old, when I went to my first proper team back home in Preston.

“It helped with my dad having that background. He would do the sessions with me, training. Weekends we’d spend in the park with my brothers, my dad, playing football, in goal, messing around but training – getting practice in. [Playing] wasn’t pushed upon me or not pushed upon me.”

Like many shot-stoppers Johnstone began outfield, playing in defence and falling into goal while filling the vacant position on rotation one day. He enjoyed “jumping around and diving about,” so stayed between the sticks indefinitely.

But once he’d settled on a position football became a more serious pursuit. His family had their impact – in more than one way.

“Once I’d gone into being a goalie, [Dad] was there to help and guide me in the right way, and that has lasted to this day.

“[When I was first scouted] it was actually a scout that had scouted my dad when he was younger. It was pretty crazy. He is someone I still keep in touch with now, the scout [Colin Fairhurst].”

Fairhurst offered Johnstone a trial with Manchester United, 30 miles south of his hometown Preston. “You obviously know how big Man United is,” the now-30-year-old remembers of joining the club after four Premier League titles in five seasons.

“It was huge. I remember my first session, I came off and was like: ‘Oh my days. These are so good.’ To be honest, even my age group then at 10-11, they’d been there since seven or eight.

“So I wasn’t a latecomer, I was still young, but for that group they’d been together and I had a lot of catching up to do and learning. They saw something in me that kept me there until 25.”

That’s a succinct way of covering 15 years, 10 loan spells to seven clubs, and the start of an England youth career.

At a young age United entrusted Johnstone with first-team training, and began his professional experience on loan early.

He recalls: “The goalie coach Eric Steele, I was 15/16 and he would, once or twice if the timing was right, allow me to go up and train with [Edwin] van der Sar, [Tomasz] Kuszczak, Ben Foster.

“To do that at that age is an eye-opener. I was amazed by it. That was always good and they were always good with me.

“It is [intimidating] at that age. You want to do well in front of them and the coach, so it is. But I think I kind of liked that and it gets the best out of me.”

If Johnstone was training with big-name professionals at 15, he was also playing with stars of the future. His Academy teammates included Jesse Lingard, Michael Keane, Paul Pogba and Ravel Morrison – and future Palace man Zeki Fryers.

Perhaps unsurprisingly they won the FA Youth Cup in 2010/11, beating Sunderland 6-3 on aggregate in the final. Johnstone played both legs, calling the competition “massive”.

“That's a great tournament at that age group. We had an unbelievable age. At that age there’s a big pressure on it because it’s important and a massive cup to win. We had some great experiences.

“We had a very good age group that was a pleasure to be with for many years. It’s good memories, good experiences, and something you look back on and it’s something you don’t forget.”

From here Johnstone began his first loan spell, joining Oldham Athletic aged 18. It was to be the first of 10 such moved as the ‘keeper amassed 131 appearances drafted out to clubs across League One and the Championship.

“[There were] a lot of learning curves and playing in front of crowds – you need to get points on the board so you’re not relegated. There’s a lot of different pressure there compared to academy football or reserve team football.

“The loans were good for me: I had promotion on there for my hometown club [Preston North End], played at Wembley, played in the Championship play-off final, all these experiences help you along the way.”

Johnstone had been thrown from success and protection in United’s youth system into the sort of football that sustained or ended careers. His next step took him into a new scrap altogether: a relegation battle.

The ‘keeper joined his first permanent club in 2018 when putting pen to paper with West Bromwich Albion, helping them back to the Premier League at the second time of asking.

Once there, Johnstone enjoyed a Player of the Season-winning campaign, but couldn’t prevent the Baggies from dropping back to the Championship in 2020/21.

“It’s hard because I hate losing and conceding goals,” he says. “But on the other hand I was making some good saves, we got some valuable points at Liverpool away, City away, Man United at home, against these big teams where I’d made saves.”

But Premier League football brings international recognition, and in March 2021 Johnstone earned his first England call-up. Three months later he made his debut against Romania, and with three caps to his name was listed in Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2020 squad.

He says adding to that collection is the next target, and that while the Premier League attracts call-ups, the England setup has changed under Southgate.

“It’s always an aim. It was an unbelievable feeling and, to be honest, I always said to myself I need to be in the Premier League to have a chance of going with England. I’d missed out on a few occasions.

“It shows that if you’re doing well and you’re good there’s a chance to be called up into the squad. Conor Gallagher while he was here gets into the squad along with the other two [Marc Guéhi and Tyrick Mitchell] and that’s great for them and Crystal Palace.

“It means everyone knows if they do well they have a chance of being called up into the England squad. That’s a great thing, a great thing the manager has put out there because lads are hungry then to get called-up, do well for the club, benefit the club and then go with England.

“I was going down the long road to St George’s nervous. I knew everyone, the majority of the staff I knew, majority of the players I knew. It’s just that quality, the best players with England that you’re going to train with. I knew I would have to be on my game.

“Adrenaline takes you through that and I just needed the first one or two sessions out of the way to be in and fine. But… everyone welcomed me and was great. It was brilliant and such a high standard to train with.”

With Vicente Guaita already in place at the club Johnstone had his work cut out to secure a starting berth. But like every ‘keeper he was aware of the challenge, and willing to take it on.

“You’re competing for one spot and whoever plays the rest have to be supportive and that’s the way it goes,” he says. “Everyone knows that and we work together every day and it’s competitive. We push each other and that’s the way it is. We’re so used to being away from the outfield players but the other thing we’re used to is only one of us can play.”

From not watching football to joining England at the Euros, Sam Johnstone has had quite the journey already. If anyone’s prepared to keep pushing forwards, it’s him.