Crusaders’ Johnson talks about reaching 1,000 points and his time with the club
Last Sunday North Wales Crusaders’ full-back Tommy Johnson reached the notable landmark of 1,000 points for the club with three goals in his side’s defeat at Hunslet.
As one of the few remaining originals of the 2012 rebirth, it was a record that almost crept up on the 26-year-old.
“To be honest, I didn’t even know about it until a couple of weeks before,” he said.
“I don’t really keep track of things like that. It’s obviously nice and the fans have been really good. I’ve had good feedback off it and hopefully there is more to come.
“The squad is a lot different now to when we started off. It seems a long time since that first season and it’s been a bit of a journey. I’m enjoying my time at Crusaders and just want to keep going.
“At that time I was just happy to get a game. I think I actually started my first few games in the centres and someone told Clive Griffiths, ‘he’s actually a full-back you know’. I got switched and have been there since.”
Crusaders finished eighth in their first season in League 1, and then surprised everyone in 2013, a season Johnson still fondly remembers.
“It was a brilliant season that year, pretty much everything we touched turned to gold,” he added. “We had a really good squad. I remember winning the league and the Northern Rail Bowl.”
League restructure meant 2014 was going to prove challenging and unfortunately the team were relegated despite some notable results.
“I enjoyed that year – I got to test myself against teams like Leigh and although we held our own, four or five teams got relegated,” said Johnson.
The last couple of years have brought challenges of a different kind, with an almost never ending backdrop of wage cuts, player and stadium movement.
Even Johnson had the chance to move on, but instead opted to remain in Wrexham.
“It did cross my mind,” Tommy admitted. “But at the end of the day I just felt that it was the right thing to stay and I’m glad that I did to be honest.
“That is no disrespect to the lads that left the club, after all you have to do what is best for you. I just came to the decision to stay and I’m happy that I did.”
Back to the present and Johnson has been happy with his own personal form.
“We’ve been doing okay – we just need a bit of consistency to be honest,” he said. “We are playing well in patches but we’ve not put that many eighty minute performances together. We’ve got to get that going if we want that top eight.”
Crusaders travel to face Gloucestershire All Golds in League 1 on Saturday (7.00pm).
