Sam Johnson

Left Forward - Free Agent
16 Dec 2027
Thursday
Process

Marked for Sam Johnson

56 Edition

The San Diego Football Club Sentinel

23 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Words exchanged at San Diego Football Club

Christopher McVey and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Transfer targets

Deadline beats San Diego Football Club to Luke Pruter

The clock did what Columbus Crew would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.

The dugout

No hiding place for Nathan Ordaz

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nathan Ordaz, and the manager let it.

The dugout

San Diego Football Club keep their word to Onni Valakari

Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.

The dugout

Kieran Sargeant is still being punished for one mistake

Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.

The dugout

Aníbal Godoy asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Market

San Diego Football Club put Anders Dreyer up for sale

The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Anders Dreyer may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.

Market

Sam Johnson leaves for nothing

Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Sam Johnson leaves San Diego Football Club the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.

Looking ahead

San Diego Football Club travel to St. Louis CITY SC

Next up on the road: St. Louis CITY SC, position 6. The supporters who go will talk about it all week and the ones who do not will check their phones at ten to five.

In brief

Back issues
20 Edition

The San Diego Football Club Sentinel

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Pedro Soma is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

Tempers go at San Diego Football Club

Sam Johnson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The dugout

Manu Duah asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief

19 Edition

The San Diego Football Club Sentinel

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A falling-out at San Diego Football Club

Luca Reyna and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A step back for Bryce Duke at San Diego Football Club

Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.

The dugout

Sam Johnson gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

Onni Valakari knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at San Diego Football Club, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

The CJ dos Santos question follows San Diego Football Club around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with CJ dos Santos’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

The dugout

The manager comes out for CJ dos Santos

Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. CJ dos Santos has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.

In brief

13 Edition

The San Diego Football Club Sentinel

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Words exchanged at San Diego Football Club

Sam Johnson and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Squad

Anders Dreyer named player of the week

One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Anders Dreyer has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.

The dugout

Manu Duah knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at San Diego Football Club, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

6 Edition

The San Diego Football Club Sentinel

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

San Diego Football Club are still strangers to each other

7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

Squad

A falling-out at San Diego Football Club

Sam Johnson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Pedro Soma named in the team of the month

A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Pedro Soma is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

In brief

5 Edition

The San Diego Football Club Sentinel

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

San Diego Football Club sell their best player to Angers SCO

$17.5M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.

Squad

6 saves: CJ dos Santos was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

The terraces

Supporters turn on the $17.5M sale of Elias Achouri

He is going to Angers SCO, the club has $17.5M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.

Player ratings

Vintage Aníbal Godoy — 8.09

At 36 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.09, and nobody on the pitch better.

Match

San Diego Football Club see off St. Louis CITY SC

Three points for San Diego Football Club, 2‑1 the final word against St. Louis CITY SC in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

Sam Johnson signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sam Johnson and San Diego Football Club agree another 3 years.

The dugout

A satisfied Cameron Zardes

“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Cameron Zardes could afford to be generous.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Manu Duah

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Tempers go at San Diego Football Club

Luca Reyna was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

In brief