How Sheffield Wednesday hit the jackpot with £250k signing who had ups and downs | OneFootball

Jermaine Johnson stayed in South Yorkshire for over seven seasons

Sheffield Wednesday struck gold with the shrewd signing of Bradford City's Jamaican winger Jermaine Johnson, who ended up staying in South Yorkshire for over seven seasons.

Johnson impressed during a brief spell at Valley Parade where he scored four goals in 27 League One games. He had signed for the Bantams from Jamaican side Tivoli Gardens a year earlier - in 2006.

The fee paid by Wednesday was apparently well above the £250k bid that Derby County had tabled earlier that winter window.

According to Sky Sports, Johnson had a clause in his contract that allowed him to enter negotiations with other clubs if a fee above a certain amount was made.

Johnson was a fan favourite at Hillsborough

Jermaine Johnson's ability to produce moments of magic made him a genuine fan favourite during his time at Wednesday.

The winger possessed lightning pace and was capable of scoring some screamers - his solo effort against Blackburn Rovers being a good example of his individual brilliance.

Johnson's quality was recognised at international level, and he earned 74 caps for Jamaica in total throughout his career, but it wasn't all smooth sailing for the Reggae Boyz regular.

In 2008, referee Mike Dean had Johnson brought back onto the pitch to send him off, after the player angrily kicked a bottle and started pushing Wednesday's coaching staff when being brought off in the Steel City derby against Sheffield United.

Johnson later apologised via the Owls' official club website, saying: "I would like to apologise to everybody associated with Sheffield Wednesday for my behaviour after being substituted against Sheffield United.

"I was caught up in the occasion and frustrated at being substituted," he added.

Seven years of equally good and bad times for Johnson at Sheffield Wednesday

Perhaps the biggest low point of Johnson's time in a Wednesday shirt came when the club were relegated to League One after a final day draw against Crystal Palace.

This was the first time the Owls had dropped to the third tier since 2005, but Johnson remained loyal to Wednesday and stuck with them during this obviously difficult period.

That resulted in the Jamaican being part of the team that secured promotion back to the second-tier in 2012 - beating Wycombe Wanderers 2-0 at Hillsborough.

That season (11/12), Johnson had netted four league goals in 24 appearances.

Difficult to get the value for money Johnson provided in football now

Looking back on Johnson's seven-and-a-half-year stint at Sheffield Wednesday, the £250k plus sum made by Brian Laws must surely be one of the club's best signings since the turn of the millennium.

The winger provided consistently entertaining performances across both the second and third-tiers of English football, scoring a total of 31 goals and managing 24 assists for Wednesday in 215 appearances.

Johnson went on to play for Indy Eleven in the United States after leaving the Owls in 2014, before returning to the club he played for before joining Bradford - Tivoli Gardens.

For Sheffield Wednesday fans who witnessed Johnson play for the club, his signing will probably be looked at with fondness for years to come - and it's nice that Liam Palmer and Barry Bannan are among the current players displaying the same sort of loyalty the Jamaican once did when things got rough.