Johnny Williamson (8 May 1929 – 27 August 2021) was a

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 ...

who played as a forward for Manchester City and

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

in the 1950s. Williamson made his Manchester City debut on 1 April 1950 in a 4–1 defeat against Arsenal. He spent the next few years on the fringes of the first team, playing more than half the first team games in only one season, 1953–54, when along with Billy Spurdle, he was Manchester City's joint top goalscorer with 12 goals. In 1955, Williamson was playing in the reserves when a new tactic was tried out at the behest of Williamson and Ken Barnes. p. 170. Inspired by the Hungarian team which had beaten England 6–3 at Wembley, Williamson was deployed as a deep-lying striker in an attempt to draw the opposing centre-half out of position. The tactic worked well, and for the start of the 1954–55 the first-team began to use the tactic, with

Don Revie Donald George Revie OBE (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an England international footballer and manager, best known for his successful spell with Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, which immediately preceded his appointment as England manage ...

as the deep-lying forward. As a result, the tactic became known as the ''

Revie Plan The Revie Plan was a tactical system in association football used by Manchester City in the 1950s. The system was named after Manchester City player Don Revie, who had the most important role in it. In 1953, English football was astounded by the H ...

''. On occasions when Revie was unavailable Williamson played the role, but made only nine appearances, and was transferred to Blackburn at the end of the season. He did not make much of an impact at Blackburn, making only nine appearances, in which he scored three goals. In 1959, Williamson signed for Hyde United and played in the Cheshire County League. Earlier he had played for Ashton United in the Lancashire Combination.

References

1929 births 2021 deaths Association football forwards Blackburn Rovers F.C. players English footballers Manchester City F.C. players Footballers from Manchester {{England-footy-forward-1920s-stub