Cardiff City hit the bullseye with 6-figure defender transfer – Swansea City were gazumped in the process | OneFootball

Cardiff City financially gazumped Swansea City to sign defender Roger Johnson, and it paid off for the Bluebirds.

In the summer of 2006, Cardiff City brought in defender Roger Johnson in a deal that would not only net them a major profit in the market, but also deliver them an excellent centre-back, whilst irritating their arch-rivals Swansea City.

Ashford-born Johnson had come through the academy at Wycombe Wanderers and went on to make nearly 200 appearances for the Chairboys between 2000 and 2006.

In that time, he had established himself as one of the more highly regarded centre-backs in League Two, and his performances in the fourth-tier, for a Wycombe side that had reached the play-off semi-finals, earned him plenty of Championship interest.

It was to be Cardiff who would win the race for the then 23-year-old, and it would be a deal that the Bluebirds would make millions from, as well as some bragging rights.

Cardiff City gazumped Swansea City to Roger Johnson transfer

In the summer of 2006, Swansea City, who had just been losing play-off finalists to Barnsley in Cardiff, were seeking to pursue a move for Roger Johnson and the Jacks had made an offer of £100,000 to Wycombe.

However, Swansea’s south Wales rivals Cardiff eventually gazumped their old foes, with the Bluebirds signing Johnson for a fee of £275,000.

Swansea had already begun to develop their so-called ‘Swansalona’ reputation, with a possession-based style of football, and playing out from the back was to be key, with Johnson an excellent exponent of that style.

A no-nonsense defender himself, Johnson had a level of technical ability that would often make him stand out above the rest, especially in League Two, and was the reason for so much interest in his services.

After Cardiff had finished firmly in the middle-of-the-table in the 2005/06 campaign, Dave Jones was tasked with pushing them towards promotion, however it never quite came to fruition, despite the performances of Johnson.

Cardiff City were underachievers but Roger Johnson showed his quality

In three seasons with Cardiff, Johnson proved to be an instrumental figure in a Cardiff side that consistently flattered to deceive with back-to-back mid-table finishes in 2007 and 2008 followed up by a push for promotion in 2009.

In contention for the top two for much of the campaign, Cardiff eventually slipped out of the top six and the play-off places with just one point collected in their final four games, missing out on a play-off finish on the final day of the campaign.

That underperformance was in spite of the performances of Johnson, who was actually named their Player of the Season in two of those three seasons, whilst also being the driving force behind Cardiff’s memorable run to the FA Cup final in 2008, in a run in which they kept clean sheets in the fifth round, quarter-finals and semi-finals.

The quarter-final one of Johnson’s most famous performances for the club as he scored at the Riverside Stadium against then-Premier League side Middlesbrough in a 2-0 win to help send City to Wembley.

Known for his ball-playing abilities but also as a determined and talismanic figure in both boxes, Johnson gained plaudits from all round and he was named in the Championship’s Team of the Year in the 2008/09 season, despite Cardiff finishing seventh.

Johnson had proven to be a major success story of a signing, despite Cardiff’s frustrations in the Championship, and he was even more of a success when the Bluebirds managed to cash in on him for a fee believed to be £5 million to Birmingham City.

Johnson went on to be a key man for both Blues and then Wolverhampton Wanderers, winning the 2011 League Cup with the former, once again showcasing his abilities as a defender.

Cardiff as a team never quite got what they wanted during the three seasons that Johnson was there but, individually, he proved himself to be of sheer class and defensive tenacity, as recognised by the club in terms of the awards given to him, and the eventual profit they made on him.