E. Johnson played one First Grade game for Wests which was the last premiership game of 1916. News reports indicated that he was brought into the game when Clarrie Tye went off injured.
Johnson was referred to as a “part-timer.” In other words, he was not a regular player for Wests. Why he was used in the match is unknown as Wests Second Grade was not playing that day. Therefore, Wests would have had plenty of reserves. It was noted that “regular Second Graders” Fred Large and Richard Swanson had already been called up to fill in for other injured players.
It would appear that the player Johnson was ‘roped’ into playing. This has created a problem as apart from him playing a League Cup game the following week, no other record has been found.
Therefore some caution needs to be applied in identifying this player. A search of records from the time would suggest that this player is most likely to be Edward Johnson of Enfield. This is largely based on location and his association with other people known to be connected with Wests.
