Johnson was the son of Fosse treasurer and benefactor Joseph Johnson and featured for the club during its early amateur days but continued into the era of competitive football as well.
An inside-left, he was one of four sons of Joseph who all played for Fosse as an amateur but he was the only one to continue into Fosse's inaugural fixtures at Mill Lane and Filbert Street in the Midland League and FA Cup. He scored a solitary goal for the club.
His stay in the professional game didn’t last long and he swapped trades to own his own shoe manufacturing firm in Leicester in the 1920s. As well as featuring for Fosse, he went on to play for local sides Leicester Banks and Leicester YWCA.