Percy John Johnson (28 January 1933 – 4 December 2021) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er and coach, who played 13 state matches for

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

and 228 games in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL). He is a member of the

West Australian Football Hall of Fame The West Australian Football Hall of Fame was created in 2002 to recognise and enshrine those who have made a significant contribution to Australian rules football in Western Australia. People eligible for inclusion are players, coaches, umpires, ...

Biography

Johnson was raised in the Goldfields, and learnt football at Aquinas College under

Jerry Dolan John "Jerry" Dolan (25 December 1901 – 26 December 1986) was an Australian rules footballer and coach in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) before becoming a politician. He played for as well as coached East Fremantle and was also a ...

where he was used at centre-half back or as a forward. In 1951, he joined

East Fremantle East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

, where he became a ruckman due to a large number of quality defenders at the club. Johnson debuted for Western Australia against Victoria in 1955. In 1957, he won the WANFL premiership with East Fremantle. In 1959, Johnson became captain-coach of Swan Districts, but after the club failed to progress – falling from six wins in 1958 to five – he fell out of favour with the committee and was replaced by Charlie Doig. He played a total of 21 games in his sole season for the Swans before moving to Claremont in 1960, where he was the club's leading goalscorer for the year. He returned to East Fremantle for one last season in 1962, his final game being the grand final loss to Swans. After football, Johnson became a respected television critic, working for Channel 7 on their World of Football show, where he had his own slot "Percys Point of View". He was appointed senior coach at South Fremantle, somewhat out of the blue in 1977, after doing some junior coaching. The following season, he accepted a two-year contract to coach West Perth, being sacked during his second season after the Cardinals had their worst losing run since their WANFL record streak in 1938 and

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

. In recent years he has been ruck coach at

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

and Swan Districts and has been involved in WAFL or AFL football for more than 60 years. In 2010, he was inducted into the West Australian Football Hall of Fame. Johnson died at the age of 88 on 4 December 2021 after a 12 month cancer battle.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Percy 1933 births 2021 deaths Australian rules footballers from Western Australia South Fremantle Football Club coaches West Perth Football Club coaches Swan Districts Football Club players Swan Districts Football Club coaches East Fremantle Football Club players Claremont Football Club players West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees People educated at Aquinas College, Perth