Would renaming the Challenge Cup The Johnson Memorial be a terrible idea?
In the moment, maybe not. I'm not really against it but I do think it's a bit knee-jerk: "Rename the trophy", "Every team should retire the his number". It is the right sentiment. I'm not convinced that it is the right thing to do.
A few months, perhaps a year - optimistically, a couple of years - from now when people go back to bitching about the Challenge Cup being a tin-pot consolation prize... then it doesn't look quite so much the honour that people were hoping for in the moment. Even in the best case, it feels more like a memorial rather than a legacy.
Understandably people want a legacy, something meaningful in exchange for a future that disappeared in a moment. In America, with American money, that legacy may well come in the form of a scholarship. It's not as immediate as renaming a trophy, but it always carries the potential of young players build successful careers as direct continuation of one that was snatched away.
Unfortunately, I don't think UK game has the financial resources or the top-to-bottom infrastructure for a direct analogue to a US Sports scholarship in memory of a player.
Trophies are nice though, and something for younger players offers the opportunity of a genuine ongoing legacy within the game.
If there is to be an Adam Johnson trophy, I like the idea of a youth game: Nottingham vs Sheffield, on the Sunday morning of the POFW, with the entire league in attendance. 23 players on each roster ... making Adam Johnson #47.
Every year the league looks for a better use of POFW's Sunday morning. Logistically, youth finals have (I believe) always been considered a problem. A memorial 'Nottingham vs Sheffield' game may be less difficult to stage and the two (probably?) have the greatest infrastructure in terms of young player development anyway. 46 players, each year, given their first opportunity to play in front of several thousand fans, seems like a legacy.