Sunderland on Thursday fired Adam Johnson after the former England winger pleaded guilty to one count of sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl and one count of grooming.
Johnson, 28, was due to stand trial in Bradford, England, yesterday on two counts of sexual activity with a child, which he denies.
“In light of Adam Johnson’s guilty pleas, the club has today terminated his contract with immediate effect. The club will make no further comment,” a statement on Sunderland’s Web site confirmed.
Just hours earlier, Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce had admitted Johnson, who was reportedly paid ￡60,000 (US$86,804) per week by the Premier League strugglers, would not play in today’s match against Manchester United at the Stadium of Light.
Following his arrest in March last year, Sunderland had allowed Johnson to continue his career with the club.
However, sports manufacturer Adidas terminated their boot sponsorship with Johnson on Thursday and senior club officials, shocked by the former Manchester City star’s guilty plea, have decided to cut all ties, with immediate effect.
Johnson, whose girlfriend, Stacey Flounders, attended the court proceedings with him on Wednesday, had scored just his second goal of the season for Sunderland last weekend in their 2-2 draw at Liverpool.
However, his 20th appearance of the season for the Black Cats has proved to be his last for the club he joined from City for ￡10 million in 2012.
Sunderland-born Johnson was regarded as a potential star for club and country when he joined City from Middlesbrough for ￡7 million in 2010, but he failed to shine at Eastlands and quickly fell out of favor with England as well.
When then-Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill brought him to his hometown club, Johnson initially responded with a period of fine form that earned him an England recall.
However, he could not maintain his renaissance and his career gradually spiraled downhill as he fell out of favor with a succession of managers.
Those problem pale in comparison to Johnson’s current predicament, with the prospect of a prison term potentially looming as guidelines on sentencing for the grooming offense give a maximum of two years and six months.
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