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, rugby lea ...

. 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 town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

, with whom he appeared in three

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...

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

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

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

Club career

Blackpool signed

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

-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 at

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England that is the home ground of Preston North End. Built in 1875 and in use since 1878, Deepdale is recognised as being one of the oldest continuously used football stadium ...

. Despite the result, Johnston was named Man of the Match. For the final game of the season, at home to West Bromwich Albion, 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, 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 or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, 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 current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

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 Uni ...

, 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 Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

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

trophy A trophy is a tangible, decorative item used to remind of a specific achievement, serving as recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are most commonly awarded for sports, sporting events, ranging from youth sports to professional level athlet ...

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

, Johnston was voted FWA Footballer of the Year. 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. At that point he had made more appearances for Blackpool than any other player; a record later broken by

Jimmy Armfield James Christopher Armfield (21 September 1935 – 22 January 2018) was an English professional association football, football player and manager. He played the whole of his Football League career at Blackpool F.C., Blackpool, usually at right b ...

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 Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

at Bloomfield Road, when it was officially opened by former Blackpool player

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 Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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 , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

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

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

at Wembley.

Post-retirement

In late 1955 Johnston became manager of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, 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, notable 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 hat- ...

, 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 caret ...

. 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

International

Managerial statistics

Honours

Blackpool *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

: 1952–53; runner-up: 1947–48, 1950–51 * Lancashire FA Cup: 1953–54 England * British Home Championship: 1946–47, 1953–54 Individual * FWA Footballer of the Year: 1951

References

External links

Independent site profile
*
Johnston 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 men's international footballers English men's footballers Men's 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 British military personnel of World War II 20th-century English sportsmen