George Thomas Johnston (born 1 September 1998) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a defender for club

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. Born in England, Johnston represents Scotland at youth international level.

Career

Liverpool

Johnston came through the Academy at

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, making one first-team appearance in a preseason friendly against

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

in August 2018.

Feyenoord

In August 2019, he moved to

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

on a permanent deal. Feyenoord paid Liverpool £300,000, and the deal included a 30% sell-on clause.

Wigan Athletic (loan)

On 22 January 2021, Johnston joined League One side

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. He scored his first goal for Wigan in a 3–0 win against

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

on 6 March 2021.

Bolton Wanderers

On 4 June 2021, Johnston returned to League One, this time joining

on a three-year deal. He turned down Wigan to join Bolton. His competitive debut came on 7 August in a 3–3 draw against

, where he made a goal line clearance. On 2 April 2023, he came on as a substitute in the 2023 EFL Trophy final against

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

. Bolton went on to win 4–0. On 8 July, Johnston suffered an injury in a pre-season friendly at

Bamber Bridge Bamber Bridge is a large village in Lancashire, England, south-east of Preston, in the borough of South Ribble. The name derives from the Old English "bēam" and "brycg", which probably means "tree-trunk bridge". People who live in Bamber Bri ...

and three days later the club confirmed that he was likely to miss the whole of the following season. In spite of this, on 1 August, Johnston signed a new deal taking him up to 2026.

International career

Johnston has represented Scotland at under-20 and under-21 level.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

;Bolton Wanderers *

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

References

External links

Profile
at the Bolton Wanderers F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, George 1998 births Living people Footballers from Manchester Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Scotland men's youth international footballers English men's footballers English people of Scottish descent Men's association football defenders Liverpool F.C. players Feyenoord players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Eredivisie players English expatriate men's footballers Scottish expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands English Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Scottish sportsmen