John Shand Johnston (12 July 1876 – 31 December 1955) 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 lea ...

who played as a

wing half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

and won the

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 ...

with Bury in

1903 Events January * January 1 – Edward VII is proclaimed Emperor of India. * January 10 – The Aceh Sultanate was fully annexed by the Dutch forces, deposing the last sultan, marking the end of the Aceh War that have lasted for al ...

Playing career

Johnston was born in

Lennoxtown Lennoxtown (, ) is a town in the East Dunbartonshire council area and the historic county of Stirlingshire, Scotland. The Campsie Fells are located to Lennoxtown's north. The town had a population of 4,094 at the 2011 UK census. History The ...

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. It borders Perthshir ...

and started his career with Stalybridge Rovers before joining

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

Bury in May 1901, shortly followed by his former Stalybridge team-mate,

centre-half In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

Frank Thorpe Frank Thorpe (13 November 1879 – 17 April 1928) was an English association football, footballer who played as a centre-half for various clubs in the 1900s, including Southampton F.C., Southampton and Bury F.C., Bury, with whom he won the FA ...

. He remained with Bury for six seasons making 180 league appearances, scoring twice. He also appeared in all of Bury's matches in the FA Cup in 1902–03, reaching the final where they defeated

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

in one of the most one-sided finals ever played. Bury's 6–0 victory still stands as the record Final win. Bury also equalled another record, winning the Cup without conceding a goal in any round. In May 1907 he moved, along with

Bert Hodgkinson Albert Victor Hodgkinson (10 August 1884 – 25 November 1939) was a Welsh footballer who played as an outside-forward for various clubs in the 1900s, including making one appearance for the Wales national football team in 1908. Football ca ...

, to the south coast to join Southern League

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, where he was once again re-united with

, who had joined the "Saints" from

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

a few weeks earlier. In his first season at The Dell he made 33 Southern League appearances and helped the "Saints" to reach the FA Cup Semi Finals where they went out to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

, beating First Division Everton en route. He remained with Southampton for four seasons during which the team struggled in a vain attempt to regain their former success. Johnston was a "''distinct individual; through all the heat and bustle of the game he was never seen without a blade of grass or some convenient substitute protruding from his mouth''." He had a strange gait but was a natural leader and tended to coach the forwards while the game was in progress. In 1911 he moved back to

Stalybridge Stalybridge () is a town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, it had a population of 26,830. Historic counties of England, Historically divided between Cheshire and Lancashire, it is east o ...

, this time to join

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921, Stalybridge Celti ...

as player-manager, taking with him Southampton's top-scorer in 1910–11, Martin Dunne. He guided Stalybridge to success in the Lancashire Combination and into the Southern League in 1914.

Honours

As a player

Bury *

winner:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, John 1876 births Sportspeople from Lennoxtown Footballers from East Dunbartonshire 1955 deaths Scottish men's footballers Men's association football wing halves Southern Football League players English Football League players Stalybridge Rovers F.C. players Bury F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players Stalybridge Celtic F.C. managers Scottish football managers