Peter Johnstone (30 December 1887 – 16 May 1917) 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 ...
who played for
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
.
On leaving school, he worked in his hometown's
coalmine
Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use c ...
, whilst also playing for
Junior
Junior or Juniors may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959
* ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009
* ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010
* ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019
Films
* ''Junior'' (1994 ...
club Glencraig Celtic. Johnstone signed for Celtic in January 1909, but made only one appearance in his first season at
Parkhead
Parkhead ( sco, Pairkheid) is a district in the East End of Glasgow. Its name comes from a small weaving hamlet at the meeting place of the Great Eastern Road (now the Gallowgate and Tollcross Road) and Westmuir Street. Glasgow's Eastern Necrop ...
. However, he soon became a regular in the side and eventually made over 240 appearances, scoring 29 goals.
During his career he played in a variety of roles at forward, midfield and defence. His main position was at outside-right, but in later years played more often in defence. He won three
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,League championships with Celtic and was a mainstay in their side for several years. Johnstone was never capped for
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
on two occasions.
Johnstone enlisted with the army in 1916 to assist the
war effort
In politics and military planning, a war effort is a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force. Depending on the militarization of the culture, the relative si ...
, despite being both a newsagent and a coal-miner – both
reserved occupation
A reserved occupation (also known as essential services) is an occupation considered important enough to a country that those serving in such occupations are exempt or forbidden from military service.
In a total war, such as the Second World War, w ...
s. He first joined the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders but later was transferred to the 6th Battalion of the Seaforth Highlanders. Johnstone continued to occasionally play for Celtic during his army training, and in September 1916 travelled overnight from England to help his teammates defeat Rangers in a
Glasgow Cup
The Glasgow Cup is a football tournament open to teams from Glasgow, Scotland. Operated by the Glasgow Football Association, it was competed for annually by senior Glasgow clubs from 1887 until 1989. It is now (since the 2019–20 amended rul ...
tie.
Johnstone died in May 1917 when the 6th Battalion of the Seaforth Highlanders attempted to capture a chemicals factory near Rouex in north-west France during the Battle of Arras. A dedication to his memory is inscribed on the
Arras Memorial
The Arras Memorial is a World War I memorial in France, located in the Faubourg d'Amiens British Cemetery, in the western part of the town of Arras. The memorial commemorates 35,942 soldiers of the forces of the United Kingdom, South Africa and ...
in the Fauborg d'Amiens Cemetery.
On 23 May 2015, a memorial to Peter Johnstone was unveiled in his home village of
Glencraig
Glencraig is a very small former mining village in Scotland, situated in the Benarty area of Fife, between Crosshill and Lochgelly
Lochgelly ( ; gd, Loch Gheallaidh, IPA: ɫ̪ɔxˈʝaɫ̪ai is a town in Fife, Scotland. It is located betwe ...
Fife Council
Fife Council is the local authority for the Fife area of Scotland and is the third largest Scottish council, with 75 elected council members.
Councillors are generally elected every five years. At the 2012 election there were 78 councillors ele ...
Provost (and former
Dunfermline Athletic
Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...
manager),
Jim Leishman
Jim Leishman MBE (born 15 November 1953) is a Scottish Labour Party politician and former professional footballer who is currently Provost of Fife and an honorary director of Scottish Championship side Dunfermline Athletic.
Career
Player
...
. The memorial was designed and funded by the Peter Johnstone Memorial Group.