Henry Johnston (26 September 1919 – 12 October 1973) was an English

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, rugb ...

. He was the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year in 1951. He spent his entire professional playing career with

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and is ...

, with whom he appeared in three

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

s, winning one. During his career, he appeared in all three half-back positions, and even moved up to

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

when needed.Calley, R: ''Blackpool: A Complete Record: 1877–1992'', Breedon Books Sport, 1992

Club career

Blackpool signed

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

-born Johnston as a 15-year-old apprentice. Three years later, on 20 November 1937, he made his debut in a 2–0 defeat to arch-rivals

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End. Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world, though this is contested". History ...

. Despite the result, Johnston was named Man of the Match. For the final game of the season, at home to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

, he was moved to the forward line. He responded by scoring Blackpool's third goal in their 3–1 victory. By the following season, he was a regular in ''the Seasiders''' team. After the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, during which he served in the Middle East, Johnston became the foundation on which the Blackpool team was built. As

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, he led them to FA Cup Final appearances in

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

, and the most famous final of all in

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yugosl ...

, when he became the first and, thus far, only Blackpool skipper to lift the

trophy A trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of a specific achievement, and serves as a recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics. In many sports medals (or, i ...

. He made 40 appearances and scored three goals in the competition in his career. In

, Johnston was voted

FWA Footballer of the Year The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the FWA Footballer of the Year, or in England simply the Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in ...

. He was the subject of bids from other big clubs, but he always remained a one-club player. He played his last game on 25 April 1955, at

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East En ...

. At that point he had made more appearances for Blackpool than any other player; a record later broken by Jimmy Armfield.

Blackpool F.C. Hall of Fame

Johnston was inducted into the

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the At ...

, when it was officially opened by former Blackpool player Jimmy Armfield in April 2006. Organised by the Blackpool Supporters Association, Blackpool fans around the world voted on their all-time heroes. Five players from each decade are inducted; Johnston is in the 1950s.

International career

For a man of his stature, his international career was very short, with only ten appearances for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

in a seven-year span. His appearances were limited due to the consistent performances of Billy Wright. Johnston made his England debut on 27 November 1946, in an 8–2 friendly victory over

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

at Leeds Road. His tenth and final international appearance occurred on 25 November 1953, in the 6–3 defeat by

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

Post-retirement

In late 1955 Johnston became manager of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

, with whom he spent seven seasons. He returned to Bloomfield Road in 1967 as assistant manager to

Stan Mortensen Stanley Harding Mortensen (26 May 1921 – 22 May 1991) was an English professional footballer, most famous for his part in the 1953 FA Cup Final (subsequently known as the "Matthews Final"), in which he became the only player ever to score a ha ...

, and when ''Morty'' was sacked late in the 1968–69 campaign, he took over as

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a care ...

. In February 1970, he became assistant secretary, a role that meant he was in charge of the ticket office and editing the club's programme. When he died in his hometown of Manchester in 1973 at age 54, "the whole town of

mourned, for Harry Johnston was one of the greatest players ever to wear the tangerine shirt."

Career statistics

Club statistics

International statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours

Blackpool *

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 compet ...

: 1952–53 *

runner-up: 1947–48, 1950–51 * Lancashire FA Cup: 1953–54 England *

British Home Championship The British Home Championship * sco, Hame Internaitional Kemp * gd, Farpais lìg eadar-nàiseanta * cy, Pencampwriaeth y Pedair Gwlad, name=lang (historically known as the British International Championship or simply the International Champio ...

: 1946–47, 1953–54 Individual *

: 1951

References

External links

Independent site profileEnglandStats.comJohnston in the Blackpool Supporters Association Hall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Harry 1919 births 1973 deaths Military personnel from Manchester Blackpool F.C. players Droylsden F.C. players England international footballers English footballers Association football defenders Footballers from Manchester Reading F.C. managers Blackpool F.C. managers English Football League players English football managers English Football League representative players FA Cup Final players British military personnel of World War II