Johnstone in Amsterdam in 1971. |
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Personal information | |||
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Full name | James Connolly Johnstone | ||
Date of birth | 30 September 1944 | ||
Place of birth | Viewpark, Scotland | ||
Date of death | 13 March 2006 | (aged 61)||
Place of death | Uddingston, Scotland | ||
Height | 1.57 m (5 ft 2 in) | ||
Playing position | Outside right | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
1961–1975 | Celtic | 308 | (82) |
1975 | San Jose Earthquakes | 10 | (0) |
1975–1977 | Sheffield United | 11 | (2) |
1977 | Dundee | 3 | (0) |
1977–1978 | Shelbourne | 9 | (0) |
1978–1979 | Elgin City | 18 | (2) |
National team | |||
1964–1974 | Scotland | 23 | (4) |
1964–1970 | Scottish League XI | 4 | (0) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
James Connolly "Jimmy" Johnstone (30 September 1944 – 13 March 2006) was a Scottish football player. Johnstone was best known for his time with Celtic, and was voted their best ever player by the club's fans in 2002.[1] He scored 129 goals for Celtic in 515 appearances.[1]
Born in Viewpark, South Lanarkshire, the youngest of five children, Johnstone grew up at the family home on Old Edinburgh Road, directly across from Robertson Park, the home of local Junior side Thorniewood United FC. After being spotted by Celtic and Manchester United scouts at age 13, he chose to sign with Celtic.
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Club career
Celtic
Johnstone was one of the "Lisbon Lions", the team that won the then European Cup for Celtic in 1967.
In the end, the Italian side had no answer to the free-flowing total football of Stein's Celtic, exemplified by Johnstone, a style in polar opposition to Internazionale's defensive Catenaccio style which had dominated European football. Johnstone described the Celtic style as "like the Dutch speeded-up". In the immediate aftermath of the Lisbon victory Celtic formed the opposition in the testimonial game for the Real Madrid player Alfredo Di Stéfano. Johnstone's performance was such that the Real supporters began to cry "Olé!" every time he dribbled past one of their own team's players.[2] Referring to his encounter with Johnstone in the 1970 European Cup semi-final, in what was billed at the time as the football "Battle of Britain", Terry Cooper of Leeds United described Johnstone as "my nightmare", such was the quality of his opponent's play.
In all he made 308 League appearances for The Bhoys, scoring 82 goals. He also played another 207 times for them in the Scottish Cup, League Cup and in Europe, for an overall total of 515 matches.[3]
Later career
He later played for the San Jose Earthquakes, Sheffield United, Dundee, Shelbourne and Elgin City.[4]
International career
Johnstone won 23 caps for the Scottish international side.[5]
Later life
Johnstone's dry wit was in evidence when the Lisbon Lions were paraded at Celtic Park on the 25th anniversary of their triumph in the European Cup. In an aside, Paul McStay, the then Celtic captain, asked Johnstone who he thought would win if the 1967 team was to play the team of 1992. Johnstone paused to consider for a moment, then replied that he thought it would be a draw. McStay suggested that perhaps the veteran was being kind to the current team. Johnstone explained -"well, you've got to remember that we're all in our fifties now!"
A documentary about Johnstone's life titled Lord of the Wing first aired on the BBC in 2004.
In June 2005, Johnstone became the first living person since the time of the Tsars to have a Fabergé Egg designed in his honour. The egg was designed by Carl Fabergé's granddaughter Sarah [1] and was unveiled at the British House of Commons in June 2006. The entire collection of nineteen limited edition eggs sold out within days.
Motor neurone disease and death
Johnstone was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in November 2001. To raise funds for charity and to raise awareness of the disease, he launched a new version of the song "Dirty Old Town" together with Jim Kerr of Simple Minds.
Johnstone died in March 2006.[4] The last person to call him was old Rangers rival, Willie Henderson, who had become a firm friend of Johnstone. Thousands of Celtic fans, and fans of many other clubs, including those of arch-rivals Rangers paid tribute to his memory outside Celtic Park on St Patrick's Day, the day of his funeral service. Tributes were paid to Johnstone before the 2006 Scottish League Cup Final, played between Celtic and Dunfermline.[6] There was a minute of applause before the game and the entire Celtic squad wore the number 7 on their shorts in his honour.[6]
In 2011 a statue of Jimmy Johnstone and a memorial garden were created on the site at his former school, close to his home, on the Old Edinburgh Road, Viewpark, Uddingston. The garden was opened by Jimmy Johnstone's wife, family and some of the surviving members of the 'Lisbon Lions' team. The bronze life size statue was made by sculptor John McKenna.[7]
Career statistics
Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
Scotland | League | Scottish Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
1962-63 | Celtic | Division One | 4 | 1 | ||||||||
1963-64 | 25 | 6 | ||||||||||
1964-65 | 24 | 1 | ||||||||||
1965-66 | 32 | 9 | ||||||||||
1966-67 | 25 | 13 | ||||||||||
1967-68 | 29 | 5 | ||||||||||
1968-69 | 31 | 5 | ||||||||||
1969-70 | 27 | 10 | ||||||||||
1970-71 | 30 | 8 | ||||||||||
1971-72 | 23 | 9 | ||||||||||
1972-73 | 22 | 7 | ||||||||||
1973-74 | 15 | 3 | ||||||||||
1974-75 | 21 | 5 | ||||||||||
USA | League | Open Cup | League Cup | North America | Total | |||||||
1975 | San Jose Earthquakes | North American Soccer League | 10 | 0 | ||||||||
England | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
1975-76 | Sheffield United | First Division | 6 | 1 | ||||||||
1976-77 | Second Division | 5 | 1 | |||||||||
Scotland | League | Scottish Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
1977-78 | Dundee | Division One | 3 | 0 | ||||||||
Republic of Ireland | League | FAI Cup | League of Ireland Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
1977-78 | Shelbourne | Premier Division | 9 | 0 | ||||||||
Scotland | League | Scottish Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
1978-79 | Elgin City | Highland League | 18 | 2 | ||||||||
Total | Scotland | 311 | 83 | |||||||||
USA | 10 | 0 | ||||||||||
England | 11 | 2 | ||||||||||
Republic of Ireland | 9 | 0 | ||||||||||
Career total |
Honours
- European Cup (1)
- Scottish League (9)
- Scottish Cup (4)
- Scottish League Cup (5)
References
- ^ a b Brian Glanville (14 March 2006). "Brilliant Celtic and Scotland winger who took the European Cup with the Lisbon Lions". Obituary. Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2006/mar/14/guardianobituaries.football. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
- ^ "Celtic's Greatest Ever Player". Jimmy Johnstone. http://www.jimmyjohnstone.com/news/article.asp?news_id=102&news_page=3. Retrieved 2010-06-09.
- ^ "Johnstone, Jimmy 'Jinky'". The Celtic Wiki. http://www.thecelticwiki.com/page/Johnstone%2C+Jimmy+%27Jinky%27. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
- ^ a b "Celtic great dies at 61". BBC Sport. 13 March 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/celtic/4800766.stm. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
- ^ Jonathan Paisley (7 July 2008). "Celtic statue memorial to legend Jinky". Evening Times. http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/celtic-statue-memorial-to-legend-jinky-1.960203. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
- ^ a b "CIS Insurance Cup Final 2006". Scottish Football League. 14 March 2006. http://www.scottishfootballleague.com/news/article/jimmy-johnstone-tribute/. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
- ^ John Rowbotham (18 August 2011). "Viewpark Honours Football Hero Jimmy Johnstone". Hamilton Advertiser. Scottish & Universal Newspapers Ltd. http://www.hamiltonadvertiser.co.uk/news/local-news/hamilton-news/2011/08/18/viewpark-honours-football-hero-jimmy-johnstone-51525-29253840/. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
- A Bhoy's Life - DVD, 2006 Narrated by Billy Connolly. John Williams Studios. 2006. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jimmy-Johnstone-Bhoys-Life/dp/B000JU9KZW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1214141028&sr=1-1.
External links
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