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He made his Central League debut for Blackpool against Stoke City reserves on 14 March 1959 when Blackpool won 2-1 and he earned the headlines JOHNNY GREEN SHOWS SKILFUL TOUCHES. He went on to score his first senior goal for the club in the Central League side's 4-0 victory over Aston Villa reserves on 8 April 1959. Blackpool fulfilled their obligation to Tranmere Rovers by playing a friendly game at Prenton Park on 27 April 1959 when Green scored Blackpool's goal in a 2-1 defeat for the Seasiders. The programme noted, "Tonight there is a very special welcome for Blackpool FC. This match was arranged as part of the transfer deal that took Johnny Green to Bloomfield Road and we are all delighted that Johnny is included in the Seasiders' XI tonight." The editorial added, "It was hoped that Stan Matthews would be able to make an appearance, but a nagging knee injury has kept Stan our of the game for several weeks and out of this gala occasion. Nevertheless, Prenton Park fans will be able to assess the tremendous potential of the Maestro's deputy, Brian Peterson, who returned from South Africa last autumn and now bids fair to create as big a stir in English football as his country-man, Bill Perry, on the opposite wing." At the end of his first season at Bloomfield Road he had played eight Central League games, scoring one goal.
He started his National Service with the Royal Artillery at Oswestry on 6 August 1959 and he said that he hoped to return to Blackpool once it was finished. His weekly wage while he was in the forces was £10 per week with an additional £6 for each match that he played. He did manage to turn out for the Seasiders during his National Service and he started in the Central League side in a 2-2 draw with Aston Villa reserves on 19 September 1959 and later in the season he scored a hat trick for the Central League side in a 6 0 win against Leeds United reserves on 5 December 1959. His form in the reserve side was so good, even though he played at inside left, inside right and outside right, that he made his League debut at his customary inside left position against Leeds United on 5 March 1960 when Blackpool won 4 2. He then played seven of the final League games in addition to his 20 Central League appearances, in which he scored five goals.
His National Service severely restricted his appearances in the 1960/61 season when he played one League game, at inside right in a 5-2 defeat by Fulham, and 13 Central League games, scoring four goals. He had completed his National Service by the start of the 1961/62 season, was back in full time training and he was expected "to develop rapidly". His weekly wage returned to £15 plus an extra £5 when he played in the League side. He earned his extra appearance money on nine occasions, appearing each time at inside right, and he scored his first League goal in a 3-2 defeat by Sheffield Wednesday on 14 April 1962. He also scored in a 3-1 victory over Manchester City on 21 April and scored the only goal of the game against Workington in the League Cup on 5 November 1961. In addition he scored nine goals in 25 Central League games.
He received a wage increase to £20 per week plus £10 extra when playing in the first team for the 1962/63 season when he was expected to make a big impact on the League side, particularly as Brian Peterson and Peter Hauser, rivals for his position, were leaving the club. He did start the season in the League side, appearing in the opening 10 games before injury forced him out and then the arrival of John McPhee and Pat Quinn pushed him down the pecking order. He did return to League action for a couple more games but spent most of the season in the Central League side where he played 23 games, scoring six goals.
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The 1963/64 season saw him converted to a half back and he began playing at right half in the Central League side and, after some impressive performances, was drafted into the first team in that position for the game against Manchester United on 11 September 1963 when Blackpool lost 3-0. He retained his place for the following game when Blackpool lost 6-1 to Tottenham Hotspur and Jimmy Greaves scored three of the goals. It was quite a baptism to the wing half position for in his opening two games he had encountered Denis Law and Greaves!
He returned to the Central League side but replaced Bruce Crawford for half-a-dozen games in mid-season before he replaced the injured Billy Cranston at left half against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 1 February 1964. He and Jimmy Armfield were Blackpool's star men as the game was drawn 1-1 and with manager Ronnie Suart's view being that he and Graham Rowe had introduced more craft and skill at wing half, he retained the pair for the remainder of the 1963/64 season. At the end of the season he had played 23 League games, scoring two goals, one League Cup game and 16 Central League games, scoring two goals.
His loyalty was repaid with a £750 benefit on 18 April 1964 and at the start of the 1964/65 season when he and Rowe retained their places, Suart said, "Early last season we had not enough skill at wing half. This season we have." His weekly wage at the start of the season had increased to £23 15s 0d [£23.75] with an extra £5 when he played in the first team. Not missing a game, he was captain for the day in a 4 1 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday on 19 December 1964 and was the outstanding Blackpool player in a 2 2 home draw with Sheffield United on 20 February 1965 when he was said to have "performed a man sized job, working hard in defence and linking intelligently with his forwards throughout". He was an ever-present throughout the season, playing in all 42 League games, scoring two goals, two League Cup ties and one FA Cup tie.
By the middle of the 1965/66 season he was regarded as one of the most scientific and skilful wing halves in the First Division and there was a growing body of opinion that tipped him for representative honours. Ronnie Suart said, "I believe that Green is potentially an international class player. If you want a fine skilful wing half who is a good ball player, Green is about the best there is. But it depends what Alf Ramsey is looking for. It seems he wants the opposite type right now, the Nobby Stiles-type of half back, hard and full of fire. But trends and needs can change … and then Johnny's chance can come."
But then, in one of Blackpool's biggest shake-ups for some time he and Tony Waiters were surprisingly left out of the side to play Fulham on 29 January 1966 and when he found out, he shocked Blackpool supporters by putting in a transfer request. It was a considered approach to the manager and he commented, "I didn't just barge into the manager's office when I was told I had been left out of the team to play Fulham and ask for a transfer. I was disappointed all right, and this helped me to make up my mind, but I had really been thinking of asking for a move for some months." He agreed that he had not played well in two recent Manchester City Cup ties but said, "Nevertheless, nobody likes being dropped and being rested is a polite way of being told you are dropped. I like Blackpool and you couldn't find a better place to live, but I would like a change. A new club would be better for me. I am not afraid of relegation or the possibility of playing in the Second Division. I just want a change." On the Monday he made a further statement, "I don't really want to leave Blackpool for I like living in the town and I have nothing against the club. I just feel a change would help me." Manager Ronnie Suart, reacting to transfer requests from Tony Waiters as well as Green said, "As far as Tony is concerned it is a very long time since he was out of the team and I think a rest from football will do him a lot of good. Similarly it will do Johnny no harm to miss a game. Both have lost a little of their edge." Fortunately nnothing came of his transfer request and he played a few more League games to take his season's total to 26, in which he scored two goals. He also played in two League Cup ties, scoring one goal, two FA Cup ties and two Central League games.
He began 1966/67 in the League side but he was injured against Southampton on 26 August 1966 and his appearances thereafter were somewhat restricted and his final three League games in April and May 1967 saw him feature successively at inside right, inside left and left half, the last appearance being in a 3-1 defeat by West Bromwich Albion on 6 May 1967. He finished the season having played in 15 League games, one League Cup tie and one FA Cup tie, and also having made 18 Central League appearances, in which he scored two goals.
The arrival of Gordon Milne and the emergence of McPhee as left half meant that he was kept out of the League side in the 1967/68 season when he played just four Central League games for the Seasiders. At the end of the season, after 147 first team games, in which he scored 13 goals, and 129 reserve games, in which he scored 30 goals, Blackpool decided to let him go and, moving to Canada in May 1967, he was transferred to Vancouver Royal Canadians on 8 August 1967 for a fee of £8,500. However, his stay in Canada was short-lived and he returned to League football with Port Vale in September 1967 and he went on to play 92 League games, make two substitute appearances and score seven goals for Port Vale. He also played in six FA Cup ties, scoring one goal, and two League Cup ties for the club. While at Port Vale, Blackpool paid him an apportioned second benefit of £685 on 10 February 1968.
He left Port Vale to become player-manager of Northwich Victoria in June 1971. After retirement from football he settled at Croft near Warrington and became a noted crown green bowls player and was always a more than useful cricketer.
A funeral service took place at Christ Church in Croft, near Warrington, his home village. Among the mourners was World Cup hero Roger Hunt, a lifelong friend, as well as Blackpool colleagues Glyn James and Jimmy Armfield, who said: "Johnny was a very skilled ball-player, a very pleasant man off the field. "He was quiet and thought a lot. He played cricket and was a very good crown green bowler."