Son of legendary former Ulster and Ireland senior International rugby player Paddy Johns, Chris is a native of Waringstown, Co. Down, however he lived the first four years of his life in England whilst his father was playing for Saracens. Chris is also half Canadian.

 

Chris only played rugby up until the age of nine, representing Lurgan Rugby Club, and his football journey started in secondary school when a goalkeeper was needed for the school football team and, because he was struggling with growing pains – Osgood Schlatter’s in his knees and Sever’s disease in his heels – he struggled to run at the time and ultimately ended up going into nets, and the rest is history. He went on to win the Schools’ Cup and was then scouted for Lisburn Youth. Such was the quality of the Lisburn Youth team, Chris found himself with few shots to save, so he moved to Dungannon United Youth at the age of 14.

 

Johns attended Banbridge Academy before he rejected Rangers, Celtic and Middlesborough to transfer from Dungannon Swifts’ Youth Academy to Southampton FC, where he played in the U18 and U21 teams alongside future Premier League players such as Calum Chambers, Harrison Reed and Matt Targett. Chris was with Southampton’s senior squad for three matches during a time where they were a top half Premier League side under Mauricio Pochettino, however he never made a First Team debut.

 

After four years with the Saints, Johns turned down an offer of a one-year deal from Colchester, instead opting to return home and get a degree behind him, and he signed for Bangor FC upon his return in September 2015, aged 21. Ultimately, he earned himself a degree in chemical engineering at Queen’s University. Chris played under Garth Scates for four months at Bangor in the Championship before moving to Coleraine in January 2016.

 

Oran Kearney brought Johns to The Showgrounds where he’d go on to keep 68 clean sheets in 194 appearances and enjoy a successful four-year spell with the Bannsiders. In his first full season at Coleraine, Johns played in the Irish Cup Final against Linfield when the Blues won 3-0 thanks to an iconic hat-trick from Andy Waterworth. In his second season, Coleraine were pipped to the title by Crusaders by a single point, however he got his hands on the Irish Cup this time around, defeating Cliftonville 3-1 in the final. Johns also won a League Cup during his time with Coleraine, coming out 2-1 victors against Crusaders in the 2019-20 final.

 

Chris Johns signed for Linfield on a two-year contract in August 2020 following the expiration of his Coleraine contract. The then 25-year-old replaced the outgoing Rohan Ferguson and was part of a quadruple signing upon the opening of the transfer window as he was joined by Conor Pepper, Navid Nasseri and Christy Manzinga.

 

Signing in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Johns played his first season in front of empty stadiums and sometimes limited, scattered crowds of around 500 people. Despite that, his first season at Windsor Park was one to remember as he won the League and Irish Cup ‘Double’. It was a great achievement for the Blues, particularly given they were still a Part-Time team going up against three Full-Time competitors amidst a hectic schedule in the last few months of the season after the start of the season was pushed back to October due to the pandemic. Chris made a memorable penalty save late on in a goalless draw away to rivals Glentoran during the split – a crucial save at the time – and he also came away with the Man of the Match award on the penultimate League matchday of the season as several great saves helped the Blues clinch the title away to Coleraine. The Blues defeated Larne 2-1 in the Irish Cup Final as Johns got his hands on the trophy for the second time in his career. He was named in the Team of the Year in his first season with Linfield.

 

The following season, during the summer of 2021, Linfield moved to a Full-Time training model which saw Johns return to Full-Time football for the first time since his Southampton days. Despite a season of transition where the Blues had lost stalwarts Mark Stafford, Mark Haughey and Andy Waterworth, and brought in several young players on loan, the Blues managed to retain the title. A key element in the Blues’ 56th title success was their mean defensive stats as Chris Johns recorded 24 clean sheets in 48 appearances, whilst only conceding 24 league goals across a competitive 38-match Danske Bank Premiership campaign. Chris was named in the Danske Bank Premiership Team of the Year in 2022. Incidentally, both title wins in Johns’ first two seasons at Linfield were clinched against his former team Coleraine.

 

After two titles in his first two seasons, Johns’ run came to an end as the Blues finished runners-up to Larne in the 2022-23 season. It was a long season for Linfield who played 62 matches in all competitions, remarkably exiting four competitions by way of penalty shoot-out defeats. The 22-23 season will mostly be remembered for the Blues’ heart-wrenching defeat to RFS in the play-off round of the UEFA Conference League on a night when Linfield were seconds away from becoming the first Irish League team to quality for the group stages of a European competition. Johns did add to his medal collection in this season, however, as the Blues lifted the League Cup with a 2-0 win over Coleraine.

 

The 2023-24 season was a similar tale for Johns and Linfield as they won the League Cup for the second year in a row, beating Portadown 3-1 in the final as the goalkeeper won the competition for a third time. Johns played an important part on the run to the final as he saved two penalties in a shoot-out win against Larne at Inver Park in the Quarter-Final.