In 1979 and 1980 Johnson was a free-scoring centre forward as Liverpool regained and then retained the title, and in 1981 he played as Liverpool won their third European Cup (against Real Madrid in the final) and their first League Cup (against West Ham United). However, a sign of things to come was in that first League Cup success. After the first game at Wembley ended 1–1, Johnson was on the bench for the replay due to Paisley's decision to try out the young Ian Rush. Rush never scored but played well and the following year he was the regular partner to Kenny Dalglish with Johnson being used less frequently.