Brennan Johnson upset a few folk due to what he did before leaving Tottenham for Crystal Palace
Brennan Johnson’s action caused a stir(Image: UEFA via Getty Images)
Crystal Palace star Brennan Johnson sparked a mini uproar after breaking a controversial, unwritten rule while playing for Tottenham. The incident occurred while Spurs were in Australia, prior to a post-season friendly against Newcastle in May 2024.
The day before the game, which finished 1-1, Tottenham staged an open training session at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium. Thousands of fans attended, looking to catch the squad – then managed by Aussie hero Ange Postecoglou – in action.
After the session, the players and coaching staff did a lap of the ground to acknowledge the spectators. As they did the rounds, an ‘Aussie rules’ football – known as a Sherrin – was thrown at Johnson, who, after briefly fumbling the catch, picked it up and kindly threw it back into the stands.
But innocent though this back-and-forth might have seemed, Johnson had actually fallen foul of one Australian sport’s biggest unwritten rules.
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In the past, football clubs touring Australia have often posed for photos holding the iconic Sherrin football. But Football Australia (the governing body for Australian soccer) have clamped down on the practice because it promotes a rival code of the game.
As such, visiting soccer stars have been effectively banned from interacting with Aussie rules balls – a ban Johnson inadvertently violated.
In 2022, Manchester United star Marcus Rashford posed for a photo with a Sherrin that was posted on the AFL’s social media accounts.
Johnson was seen interacting with an AFL football – a big no-no for players when visiting Australia(Image: Tottenham / Instagram)
Furious Australian football pundit Lucy Zelic called out Football Australia for not preventing what she described as a “f***ing embarrassing” image.
“Can someone tell me what the point of this is?’ Zelic fumed on X. “Is Marcus suddenly going to switch codes and sign for an AFL side? Go and pat a koala, meet with proud members of our Indigenous communities and spend time with grassroots FOOTBALL clubs.
“This is just f***ing embarrassing. This is a blatant PR exercise that Marcus was told to do, nothing more. Cross-code promotions are a waste of time. They should be appealing to FOOTBALL fans,” she added. “As a code, the AFL and its representatives have done nothing but s*** on football time and time again.”
Johnson’s Palace face his former club Spurs on Thursday(Image: NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Johnson joined Palace from Tottenham in January for the former’s club-record £35million fee. He is yet to score for his new side, but notched his first assist in the Eagles’ 2-1 defeat to Manchester United at the weekend.
He’ll no doubt be hoping to keep the goal contributions going when Palace travel to Spurs on Thursday night for what will be Johnson’s first trip back to his old club.
At Tottenham, the Wales international scored 27 goals in 107 games, including the winner in last season’s Europa League final against United.
