Lee Johnson will not forget his first start for Bristol City. As his new team slid to a 4-2 defeat by Blackpool, their third loss in a row, a fan ran on to the pitch at Ashton Gate and confronted him. The message was stark. “Johnson, we don't want you,” the invader informed him. If a little unexpected, the end of the sentence was all too predictable: “And we don't want your old man, either”.

City sat twentieth in Coca-Cola League One, albeit only four matches into the 2006-07 season, and the natives were restless. The rabid response to the renewal of the family partnership of Johnson & Johnson - Lee, the midfield player, and Gary, the City manager and his father - did not bode well.

Johnson Jr, 26, can chuckle at the memory. City will be promoted to the Barclays Premier League today if they beat Hull City in the Coca-Cola Championship play-offs final at Wembley Stadium. And perhaps the Bristolian pitch-invader will be satisfied. “I thought, ‘Lovely, we've got a bit of work to do here,'” Johnson said. “Hopefully that same fan will be there at Wembley and maybe this time he'll come up and shake our hands and say, ‘I was wrong.'”

It was the same at Yeovil Town. The persistent whisper was that Lee gained his first-team place because of Gary, his father, the manager. In equal measure, it frustrated and dismayed Lee, inspired and motivated him.

Rewind to Frank Lampard, the Chelsea midfield player, when he was at West Ham United and Frank Sr, the “old man”, was the assistant manager at Upton Park. Lampard Jr sensibly sought refuge at Stamford Bridge before the barbs got to him. Johnson Jr has been there and experienced the same angst.

“Funnily enough, I've read his book,” Johnson said. “It was really interesting, exactly the same as me. Yeah, I could empathise with him, totally. With Frank it was probably on a lot bigger scale because it was at West Ham.

“The good thing with me is that I've only ever had success with dad. Had we been in a relegation battle, it would be ten times harder than it is if you're around the top of the league, where we've been when I've been with him. I respect everyone's opinion, any fan, because they pay their money. They can pretty much say what they like. But at the same time it hurts. You're out there wanting to do your best for everyone, that's what I try to do.

“I'm pleased, though, for the likes of that fan, that he's now got something to cheer at Wembley. We were near the bottom of the league, but over time I feel I've played a part in the team. We're taking the club in the right direction and I'm proud of that.”

City rose from that low against Blackpool in League One to second place by the end of the campaign, promoted behind Scunthorpe United. Johnson & Johnson played their roles and, one season on, the double act is on the brink of back-to-back promotions. Yet will Johnson pick Johnson at Wembley? Neither knows - or will tell - but at least a seat on the substitutes' bench appears guaranteed. Still, Johnson Jr appreciates the fire within ignited by accusations of familial bias.

“It's sort of your strength and your weakness,” he said. “You're permanently having to prove that you're worthy of your place and it's not just nepotism. But at the same time, it's human nature. People look at it and say, ‘Look, he's only playing because...' I would be the same. I don't hold it against anyone for thinking that. When you come in at first, you have to earn your stripes. Hopefully I've earned them. The majority of the fans now know what I do for the team.”

If City defeat Hull, Johnson will become the first player to have appeared for promotion-winning teams through all divisions from the Conference and his father will become the second manager to achieve the feat after Neil Warnock. Johnson Jr will also have one eye on the crowd today, not for that fan but his wife, Nicola, who is expecting their first child - and Gary's first grandchild - on June 5. The new arrival could coincide with the rebirth of Bristol City.

“At the moment she's just making sure she keeps it in,” Johnson Jr said. “She's been told she's got high blood pressure, but she thinks it's because of the football, nothing to do with anything else. She's so excited about going to Wembley. I've just got this image of looking up and she's, like, 'Oh no, not now.'”