Before Johnson: Ched Evans, Jonathan Woodgate and eight other shamed footballers

Johnson’s arrest came just months after the huge controversy that surrounded Ched Evans’s attempts to find a club to play for following his release from prison.

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Former Wales international and Sheffield United forward Evans, now 27, was jailed for five years in 2012 for raping a 19-year-old woman in a hotel in Rhyl, North Wales.

He was released from prison in 2014 after serving half of his sentence and provoked a wave of criticism as he tried to return to the pitch.

His attempts to join Oldham Athletic and train with Sheffield United were thwarted by huge public outcries against the clubs.

On Wednesday it was announced that his conviction is to be reviewed by leading judges on March 22 after new evidence emerged in the case.

His case has been referred to the Court of Appeal in London by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates possible miscarriages of justice.

Other notable cases include:

• West Brom player Lee Hughes was sentenced to six years in jail in August 2004 for causing the death by dangerous driving of father-of-four Douglas Graham.

Mr Graham, 56, died when the car he was travelling in was struck by Hughes’s high performance sports car on the outskirts of Coventry. The striker was driving home from a post-match drinking session.

• Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper Luke McCormick was jailed for seven years and four months in October 2008 after admitting causing the deaths of Arron Peak, 10, and his brother Ben, eight, by dangerous driving.

A court heard how McCormick had spent much of the night partying and was twice the drink-drive limit when he smashed into a car carrying the youngsters on a motorway in Staffordshire.

• Jonathan Woodgate was found guilty of affray in 2001 and ordered to undertake 100 hours of community service after a student was attacked in Leeds. Woodgate and Lee Bowyer, who were playing for Leeds United at the time, were cleared of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. Bowyer was cleared of affray.

• Arsenal and England defender Tony Adams was sentenced to four months in jail after he crashed his car into a wall in Essex while drunk.

After admitting alcoholism, Adams founded the Sporting Chance clinic to help sportsmen and women deal with drink, drug and gambling addiction.

• Joey Barton was jailed for six months in 2008 for attacking a man in Liverpool city centre.

The then Newcastle player was caught on CCTV kicking and punching the man to the ground while drunk.

• Arsenal winger Jermaine Pennant was sentenced to three months in jail for drink-driving and driving while disqualified in 2005. After his release, he became the first player to play while wearing an electronic tag.

• Rangers striker Duncan Ferguson was jailed for three months for head-butting Raith Rovers defender John McStay in April 1994. He was the first player to be jailed for an on-pitch offence and served 44 days in Glasgow’s notorious Barlinnie prison.

• Birmingham City, Watford and Wigan striker Marlon King has been given sentences for offences including dangerous driving, assaulting a woman and handling a stolen car.

In 2014 he was jailed for 18 months after pleading guilty to a charge of dangerous driving after a crash which left another motorist injured.

The court heard that King had been eating an ice cream at the wheel of his Porsche when he caused a three-car pile-up on the A46 in Nottinghamshire.

In 2008 he was convicted of sexually assaulting and breaking the nose of a woman in London. And in 2002 he was given an 18-month prison sentence for handling a stolen car while playing for Gillingham.