Good old owners

I have lost track of where the club stands in terms of its sale. Since January, completion has apparently been ‘imminent’, a familiar refrain that no longer inspires much confidence. There is little point in revisiting how often we have heard such assurances, but at some stage the 12‑year ownership of Mark and Nicola Palios will come to an end. The tenth anniversary of the death of our former manager, Johnny King, prompted me to reflect instead on a previous owner: Peter Johnson.

Johnson made his fortune through Park Foods, a Christmas hamper business, and took over the club in 1987 at a moment of genuine peril. Our previous American owner, Bruce Osterman, had left Tranmere close to bankruptcy and staring relegation from the Football League into the Conference in the face. If memory serves me correctly, this was the first season without re‑election, with teams instead relegated to the division below. Johnson appointed Johnny King, and we famously scraped the three points necessary to preserve our league status. What might have happened had we failed is unknowable — but we did not fail.

From there, the club began to rebuild. In my mind, however, our famous ‘Trip to the Moon’ truly ignited in April 1988, when we qualified for the Football League Centenary Trophy. Entry was based on mid‑season form, and suddenly Tranmere found themselves competing with clubs such as Wimbledon, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest. We beat the first two before losing the semi‑final to Brian Clough’s side, who went on to lift the trophy. To borrow a phrase from NASA, we had ignition.

There was no looking back after that. The following season brought promotion to the third tier — still called Division Three — and two seasons later we reached the second division. Rather than plummeting back down, we flew. Johnson invested millions into the team, but financial backing alone was not the full story. Under King’s stewardship, Tranmere assembled squads of real quality. Players such as Ian Muir, Johnny Morrissey, Tony Thomas, Clint Hill, Pat Nevin, John Aldridge and Liam O’Brien pulled on the Rovers shirt and carried us to the brink of the Premier League. It is easy now to dwell on the disappointment of falling just short, but the standard of football we witnessed was like nothing we had seen before — expansive, thrilling, and a joy to watch.

In 1994, Johnson bought Everton. Football League regulations prevented him from owning two clubs simultaneously, and so Frank Corfe was installed as chairman, later succeeded by Lorraine Rogers in 1998. What had changed, however, was that the financial fuel powering our ascent was no longer available.

Johnson first attempted to divest himself of Tranmere in 2002, yet it was not until 2014 that he eventually sold his interest to Mark and Nicola Palios. That lengthy process shows how long the sale of Tranmere Rovers can take, but it also underlines Johnson’s benevolence: even as his health declined and his wealth diminished, he ensured the club survived.

For many Rovers supporters — myself included — Johnson’s purchase of Everton felt like a betrayal. That sense of resentment has clouded judgement of his contribution, not only during our rise but also in the years that followed. Look around Prenton Park today and you see fewer faces that lived through that period of success. They were not glory days, but glorious ones.

Will we see their like again? It is hard to say. Do we owe thanks to Peter Johnson? Absolutely. He transformed our club, and his greatest legacy was leaving us with the belief that those dizzy heights were not unreachable — that they could, one day, be scaled again.

All contributions represent a personal perspective