Damien Michael Johnson (born 18 November 1978) is a Northern Irish football coach and former international player. Sincce 2019 he has been first team technical coach & head of player development at Blackburn Rovers. He began his career with Portadown in his native Northern Ireland from whom he signed as a trainee for Blackburn Rovers and spent seven years with the club, as well as spending time on loan with Nottingham Forest. He moved to Birmingham City in 2002, where he spent the next eight seasons and became the club's captain. Johnson was transferred to Plymouth Argyle in 2010, spent the 2010–11 and 2011–12 season on loan to Huddersfield Town, and finished his playing career with Fleetwood Town in 2012–13. He played for his country at schoolboy and youth levels before representing the Northern Ireland senior team over an eleven-year period, earning 56 caps. Club career Blackburn Rovers His first English team was Blackburn Rovers, for whom Johnson signed as a trainee, from Portadown in 1997, making his debut in the League Cup on 30 September 1997, a 1–0 defeat to Preston North End, in which he picked up a yellow card. Loaned to Nottingham Forest on 28 January 1998, Johnson played in five games, and, despite accruing a yellow card in his last February appearance, performed well for the team. Blackburn won the 2002 League Cup Final a few days before Johnson left the club. Despite not being part of the squad for the final Johnson had contributed to a few games earlier in the cup run, including scoring a goal against Manchester City. Birmingham City Having dropped down the pecking order at Blackburn and out of contract at the end of the season, Johnson signed for Championship club Birmingham City on 8 March 2002. The fee was officially undisclosed, but later reported on Birmingham's website as £50,000. In September 2004, he signed a new three-year contract. He was voted Birmingham's Player of the Year for 2005–06. Johnson was named the Birmingham City captain for the 2006–07 season but in one of his first games as captain, he angered fans when he first threw his captain's armband and then his shirt on the floor when he was substituted late on. On 28 October, his jaw was broken in two places after he was elbowed in the face by West Bromwich Albion defender Paul Robinson. Despite the injury, he played