John Shand Johnston (12 July 1876 – 31 December 1955) was a Scottish

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 le ...

who played as a

wing half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

with

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

1903 Events January * January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India. * January 19 – The first west–east transatlantic radio broadcast is made from the United States to England (the first east–west broadcast having been ...

Playing career

Johnston was born in

Lennoxtown Lennoxtown ( gd, Baile na Leamhnachd, ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire council area and the historic county of Stirlingshire, Scotland at the foot of the Campsie Fells, which are just to the north. The town had a population of 4,094 at the 201 ...

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling, gd, Siorrachd Sruighlea) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration countyRegisters of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. of Scotland. Its county town is Stirli ...

and started his career with Stalybridge Rovers before joining

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

Bury in May 1901, shortly followed by his former Stalybridge team-mate,

centre-half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Frank Thorpe Frank Thorpe (13 November 1879 – 17 April 1928) was an English footballer who played as a centre-half for various clubs in the 1900s, including Southampton and Bury, with whom he won the FA Cup in 1903. Playing career Thorpe was born in Ha ...

. He remained with Bury for six seasons making 180 league appearances, scoring twice. He also appeared in all of Bury's matches in the FA Cup in

1902–03 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

, reaching the final where they defeated

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

in one of the most one-sided finals ever played. Bury's 6–0 victory still stands as the record Final win. Bury also equalled another record, winning the Cup without conceding a goal in any round. In May 1907 he moved, along with

Bert Hodgkinson Albert Victor Hodgkinson (10 August 1884 – 25 November 1939) was a Welsh footballer who played as an outside-forward for various clubs in the 1900s, including making one appearance for the Wales national football team in 1908. Football ca ...

, to the south coast to join Southern League

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, where he was once again re-united with

, who had joined the "Saints" from

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

a few weeks earlier. In his first season at The Dell he made 33 Southern League appearances and helped the "Saints" to reach the FA Cup Semi Finals where they went out to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

, beating First Division Everton en route. He remained with Southampton for four seasons during which the team struggled in a vain attempt to regain their former success. Johnston was a "''distinct individual; through all the heat and bustle of the game he was never seen without a blade of grass or some convenient substitute protruding from his mouth''." He had a strange gait but was a natural leader and tended to coach the forwards while the game was in progress. In 1911 he moved back to

Stalybridge Stalybridge () is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 23,731 at the 2011 Census. Historic counties of England, Historically divided between Cheshire and Lancashire, it is east of Manchester city centre and no ...

, this time to join

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921 Stalybridge Celtic ...

as player-manager, taking with him Southampton's top-scorer in 1910–11, Martin Dunne. He guided Stalybridge to success in the Lancashire Combination and into the Southern League in 1914.

Honours

As a player

Bury *

winner:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, John 1876 births Sportspeople from Lennoxtown 1955 deaths Scottish footballers Association football wing halves Southern Football League players English Football League players Stalybridge Rovers F.C. players Bury F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players Stalybridge Celtic F.C. managers Scottish football managers FA Cup Final players