During service with the Royal Artillery in the Second World War, he was brought to the attention of Birmingham City and signed as a professional at St Andrews in 1944.

Berry died of cancer in a hospice in Farnham in Surrey at the age of 68 in September 1994[5] after a short illness and was buried in the Catholic section at Aldershot Cemetery.

[7][8] They had three sons; Neil (who was later the head teacher of Brampton Manor School), and twins Paul (born 1952) and Craig (1952–1995).

Berry was also capped four times by England while playing for Manchester United, his chances of regular international action inevitably restricted by the form of Stanley Matthews and Tom Finney on the wing.

Johnny Berry spent the final years of his working life as a storeman in a local television warehouse.

Neil Berry published a book in 2007, The Forgotten Babe, describing his father's years at Manchester United.