William Cecil Johnston (born 21 May 1942 in

Coalisland Coalisland () is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, with a population of 5,682 in the 2011 Census. Four miles from Lough Neagh, it was formerly a centre for coal mining. History Origins In the late 17th century coal deposits ...

) is a retired footballer and manager, who was most notable as the first ever

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

manager to win the league with the club, on two occasions (1973 and 1976). Billy was a keen participant of sport at school, representing Ulster Schools at rugby, and was selected for the Northern Ireland Youth international football team against all three of the other home countries in 1959. As a 16-year-old, he joined

Glenavon Glenavon Football Club is a Northern Irish semi-professional football club that competes in the NIFL Premiership. Founded in 1889, the club hails from Lurgan and plays its home matches at Mourneview Park. Club colours are blue and white. Gar ...

and soon forced his way into the first team. A prolific goalscorer with a touch of class, Billy soon emphasised his impact with the Lurgan Blues by scoring a hat-trick in a league match against Bangor that clinched the 1959–60 Irish League title. Over the next few seasons Billy's goal tally and reputation grew, and he scored 4 goals when the Irish League Select played the Italian League Select at

Windsor Park Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Linfield F.C. who own the land the stadium is built on, while the Irish Football Association own and operate the stadium and pay Linfield an annual rent ...

in 1962, in a 6–2 victory. He then picked up his full

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

international cap in a match against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, just after his 20th birthday. In June 1966, then manager of

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

Jimmy McIlroy James McIlroy (25 October 1931 – 20 August 2018) was a Northern Ireland international footballer, who played for Glentoran, Burnley, Stoke City and Oldham Athletic. He was regarded as one of Burnley's greatest players, having played 497 matc ...

, signed him for £10,000, and he also scored his first international goal in a 4–1 victory over

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

at Windsor Park just before the

1966 World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...

. Unfortunately for Billy, he picked up a serious ankle injury just 4 weeks into his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

career, that forced him to retire at the age of just 26. During the 1971–72 season, he took over the reins at

, winning the league title in 1972–73 and 1975–76, leading the club to famous ties against the likes of

Dinamo Bucharest A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterinbu ...

and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. A few years after that second title he went on to manage

Ballymena United Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds which is owned by the Mi ...

and

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

, where he also won a league championship, before retiring from management.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Billy Crusaders F.C. players Coleraine F.C. players Crusaders F.C. managers Glentoran F.C. managers Bangor F.C. managers Ballymena United F.C. managers 1942 births Living people Northern Ireland men's international footballers Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players English Football League players Association footballers from County Tyrone Northern Ireland men's amateur international footballers Men's association football inside forwards Association football managers from Northern Ireland People from Coalisland