'I gave everything I had to this club': Johnny Russell scores for RSL in return to Kansas City
The longtime Sporting Kansas City forward received a pregame standing ovation and scored a goal in his return to Children's Mercy Park in RSL's 1-1 draw with SKC.
Johnny Russell came to know nearly every nook and cranny at Children’s Mercy Park during his six years when he scored 40 goals for Sporting Kansas City.
“Legend” is a word that gets thrown around a lot. But based on the pregame standing ovation the Sporting faithful gave Russell when he returned Saturday night — albeit wearing a Real Salt Lake shirt — it may just apply to the Scottish international’s time in the City of Fountains.
Still, there was one room he had never seen: the visiting locking room. Until Saturday, that is.
Russell scored an early goal, and former SKC teammate Erik Thommy equalized in the 59th minute as shorthanded Kansas City rallied for a 1-1 draw in MLS play.
It’s the second straight result for Salt Lake (5-10-4, 19 points), which inched up to 13th in the 15-team Western Conference a week after snapping a seven-match winless skid with a 2-0 win over DC United.
But for Russell, it was more than a match. It was a homecoming — to a place he’s made no secret he never wanted to leave, preferring to retire in Sporting colors rather than sign with Salt Lake like he did six months after he was released following the 2024 campaign.
“I made no secret I wanted to stay here,” he said. “The team didn’t want me to stay here, so I move on — and I’m doing my job for RSL now.”
After he scored, Russell didn’t celebrate the goal — a tradition for beloved figures when facing their former club. His RSL teammates applauded a bit, but many also seem to help him not celebrate the moment, either.
It was a big moment, yes. But it was also handled with care and respect.
“I was here for seven years. I gave everything I had to this club,” Russell said. “The one thing I wish I could’ve given them was a trophy.”
Don’t mistake his feelings for bitterness, though. Russell still respects the club, or at least his teammates, many of the employees, and more than anything the fans — many of whom gave him a rousing ovation during pregame warmups that took the 35-year-old attacker back for a moment.
“I knew it was going to be emotional coming in for me,” he said. “That did catch me a little off guard; it just took me a little second. I can’t say enough of the appreciation I’ve got for what they gave me, and what they gave me again tonight was special.
“I think that’s the appreciation: they knew I gave them everything I had. It was a really nice moment for me to come back and to get that kind of reception.”
As for the field, Russell is all-in with his new club, for which he scored a goal in back-to-back starts at Real Salt Lake. The most recent came following an interplay between teenage breakout Zavier Gozo and Alex Katranis, who lofted a lethal left-footed cross into the box that found Russell’s head first minute of first-half stoppage time to give RSL a 1-0 halftime lead.
“Alex just put the ball in a wonderful spot, and Johnny attacked it,” RSL coach Pablo Mastroeni said. “That’s how goals are scored … Everything has to be aligned to execute a play like that, and I think all three of those guys did a fantastic job to execute on that play.”
Before and after the game — and even during, at least to the point of warmups and some light-hearted bench chatter — Russell was a consummate professional with his current club, the one paying his salary at the moment.
He’s all-in on Real Salt Lake — just as he was all-in on Sporting Kansas City, a trait the home fans loved from their former captain. It’s why most of them — there is always going to be a minority faction, right? — wished him nothing but the best in the next step in his career, even with a bitter rival.
“Johnny’s the consummate professional,” Mastroeni said. “I think it’s his experience that allows him to enjoy the off-the-field stuff — but when he steps across the line, he’s all business.”
Off-the-field stuff, including contract disputes and releases that may seem premature, at least to one party.
Russell also understands the business of the game. He knows that when one chapter ends, another begins. Doors close, but another — or at least, a window — always opens.
“There are no hard feelings,” he said of Sporting’s front office. “It’s a business, I get it.”