Andy Johnson is revered by Crystal Palace fans. He scored 85 goals in 160 appearances for the club, including a memorable hat-trick against rivals Brighton in his first season, and he almost single-handedly kept them in the Premier League in 2004-05, with 21 goals – second only to Thierry Henry – but his greatest achievement at the club may still be to come. Two years ago he was appointed as the club’s ambassador and last month he became an Honorary Patron of the club’s foundation. Johnson has set his sights on changing the lives of young people across south London.

“Of course I get involved in meeting guests at matches, the golf days and the like,” he says. “But there’s lots and lots that come under the umbrella of an ambassador and nothing is as important as helping disadvantaged youngsters. The foundation is a charitable organisation that is focused on raising funds and awareness as well as creating pathways for the youth of south London.”

Having grown up on an estate just outside Bedford and gone on to reach the top of his profession – earning eight caps for England – Johnson can empathise with a wide range of people. When he retired from football, he decided to show his two sons where he grew up. “The first thing I did when I left was to go back to where I came from. We had been living in an area of Surrey that was dubbed Millionaires’ Row, which was not real life. So I took my kids and drove them to the estate where I used to live and we sat on the kerb outside my old council house. They were a little shocked and I said to them ‘Nice around here, isn’t it, boys?’ and they responded ‘No, not really.’ I just wanted them to have an appreciation of where I grew up which was really no different to many parts of south London.”

One of Johnson’s colleagues at the foundation, Angel O’ Dwyer, is well placed to explain the impact it can have. She was referred to the foundation by her school in 2015 after behavioural difficulties led to her being regularly excluded. She was invited to take part in the Premier League Works programme, which helps young people on their way back into employment and education.

“At first I thought it wasn’t for me,” she says. “I just wanted to be out with my friends and felt I was there because I had to be.” She missed her first session, was frequently late and had to be cajoled by the foundation to turn up, but their persistence gave her an epiphany. “I realised these people cared and started wanting to be there because someone actually believed in me and thought I could go further.”

O’Dwyer started volunteering with the foundation and, after successfully completing her FA Level 1 coaching course, she is now employed by the foundation. “Without them, most likely I would be in prison,” she says. “Where we live, a lot of us young people are misunderstood. The foundation gives us hope.”

Palace for Life reach more than 13,000 youngsters every year but Johnson’s work is not focused solely on young people. Last October he led the Marathon March, in which more than 100 Palace fans raised £50,000 for the foundation by walking 26.2 miles from Selhurst Park to Trafalgar Square. The fans will be marching again this year and the club are expecting a much higher turnout.

When asked about his proudest moment in his new job, he talks about lifelong Palace fan Steve Murphy. “After Steve was diagnosed with cancer his condition deteriorated pretty quickly. I got emotionally connected to him; he was such a nice guy and had a lovely family so I visited him many times in his last days. Hopefully I gave him some inspiration before he passed away, but he was such a strong character who fought all the way to the end that he actually proved to be more of an inspiration to me. He was so positive, always smiling, fighting to the end.”

Johnson chats with Palace fans as their make their way through Wimbledon Common en route from Selhurst Park to Trafalgar Square. Photograph: PPAUK/Rex/Shutterstock

Four other Honorary Patrons of the foundation were appointed at the same time as Johnson and they make for an eclectic bunch. Susanna Reid, the television presenter; Eddie Izzard, the comedian; Stephen Browett, a fine wine merchant and one of the four directors who rescued the club back in 2010; and Chuka Umunna, the MP for Streatham. As Umunna points out, they all share south London roots. “Susanna is a constituent of mine; Eddie used to be flatmates with my predecessor as MP for Streatham; Of course I used to watch Andy playing; and then Steve runs a local business. So we all have that relationship with the club, we’re not just high-profile supporters but we all have that personal link with the club and indirectly with each other without quite realising it.”

“One of the things people know about Palace is that it’s a very family and community orientated club.” Umunna says. “All clubs purport to fit that description but I have always noted people in football and from other clubs say that about Palace in particular. The club does reflect its community. When I think back to when I was growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, the club probably had more black players than any other club as that part of south London is very diverse. The Afro-Caribbean population is disproportionately high and that was reflected on the pitch. I am pretty sure my father was the only black director at a top-level football club when the Premier League was established in 1992.”

“For those who are hard to reach and hard to get into work for a range of complex factors, the foundation can puncture through those factors in a way other providers cannot because of the connection with the club. The club is seen differently to statutory agencies or others working in this space, so that’s where the real added value can come. That trust and the emotional connection definitely enables the foundation to get into society in a way other agencies simply cannot.”

Umunna says the foundation is striving to focus on three areas. “The first is obviously with sport and encouraging youngsters to play football and have something to do. Secondly, because of the kind of activities the foundation provides, they give you life-enhancing skills: confidence, self-esteem and those extra-curricular interpersonal skills you need to thrive and survive. Finally, they help change people by giving them employability skills. It’s hard getting to the bottom of everybody’s situations. If we can think of more ways and means of getting into schools and different schemes so we can enhance what we are already doing by getting people out of tough times, that would be a success.”

Johnson’s work is motivated by a sense of personal responsibility and duty. “I look at the people who used to watch me and it might be their kids or even grandkids that we’re helping in these schemes so I want to give back to those fans who made a huge sacrifice to go to games every week. I don’t think it is too much to ask someone like me to give something back.” If Johnson can lead Palace’s efforts as ambassador with the same distinction he led the forward line on the pitch, there will be plenty more stories like O’Dwyer’s.



• This is an article from our Guardian Sport Network

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