Jimmy Johnstone

At 61 years old, Jimmy Johnstone has this physical status:

Johnstone made his first team debut for Celtic on 27 March 1963 in a 6–0 defeat away against Kilmarnock in the league. His next appearance came a month later, away against Hearts. He was again on the losing side (4–3), but scored his first senior goal. Despite the defeats, Johnstone's performances won him a place in the team for the Scottish Cup Final on 4 May 1963 against Rangers. The young winger turned in a fine performance, helping Celtic to a creditable 1–1 draw with his confident dribbling. He also scored a goal but it was disallowed due to a foul moments earlier by teammate John Hughes. Inexplicably, Johnstone was dropped for the replay and Celtic were outclassed by Rangers, who ran out comfortable 3–0 winners.

The following season saw Johnstone establish himself as a regular in the side. He played in 25 league games, scoring six goals. He also helped Celtic reach the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup, scoring against FC Basel in a 5–0 win at Parkhead in the first round, and then against MTK Budapest in a 3–0 win in the first leg of the semi-final. Celtic, however, lost 4–0 in the return match in Hungary and were knocked out on aggregate.

Celtic were struggling throughout the 1960s until Jock Stein arrived at the club in 1965. By this time Johnstone was struggling to hold down a regular spot in the first team. On arrival at Celtic, Stein had doubts about Johnstone, considering him too much of an individual player, to the overall detriment of the team, and he left him out of the team for the 1965 Scottish Cup Final. Johnstone soon won Stein round with his skill, and won his first winner's medal on 23 October 1965 when he played in Celtic's 2–1 win over Rangers in the Scottish League Cup Final. His 32 league appearances and nine goals that season helped Celtic win their first league title in 12 years. Johnstone also helped Celtic reach their second European semi-final, scoring twice against Go Ahead Eagles en route, before losing 2–1 on aggregate to Liverpool in the Cup Winners' Cup.

Johnstone was one of the "Lisbon Lions", the team that won the then European Cup for Celtic in 1967. In an early round tie against Nantes, Johnstone's trickery on the wing saw him dubbed "the Flying Flea" by the French press, while his performances over that season saw him finish third in the European Footballer of the Year award.

Two weeks after their European Cup win, Celtic played Real Madrid on 7 June 1967 in a testimonial match for the now retired Alfredo Di Stefano. In front of over 100,000 fans at the Bernabéu Stadium, the sides engaged in a keenly fought contest that saw Bertie Auld and Real Madrid's Amancio sent off. Di Stefano played for the first 15 minutes, but it was Jimmy Johnstone who stole the show with an exhilarating performance that had even the Spanish supporters chanting "Olé!" throughout the game. Johnstone capped an outstanding performance by playing the pass to Bobby Lennox for the only goal in a 1–0 win for Celtic.

Johnstone had a morbid fear of flying, which Jock Stein used to great effect on one occasion. Ahead of the first leg of a European tie against Red Star Belgrade at Parkhead in November 1968, Stein told Johnstone that, if Celtic won by four goals, he wouldn't have to travel to Yugoslavia for the second leg. Johnstone went on to produce an outstanding performance, scoring twice and providing assists for the other three goals in a 5–1 win. He helped Celtic reach a further European Cup Final in season 1969–70. His performance in the second leg of the semi-final against Leeds United at Hampden Park was particularly outstanding, and his mazy run in the second half set up Bobby Murdoch to score with a powerful shot for Celtic's winning goal in a 2–1 victory on the night. Leeds' defender Terry Cooper later quipped "I would love to have kicked Jinky, but I couldn't get near him!" Billy Bremner described Johnstone's performance as "one of the greatest exhibitions I have ever seen", adding that "Jimmy had one of these games where he was unstoppable." Celtic played Feyenoord in the final but, with Johnstone double-marked at all times, Celtic were unable to perform as they had in the 1967 final. Feyenoord dominated the match and defeated Celtic 2–1 after extra-time.

In all, he made 308 League appearances for Celtic, scoring 82 goals. He also played another 207 times for them in the Scottish Cup, League Cup and in Europe, for an overall total of 515 matches. He received further Ballon d'Or nominations in 1968 and 1969 placing 24th and 23rd, respectively.

He later played for the San Jose Earthquakes, Sheffield United, Dundee, Shelbourne and Elgin City. His manager at Dundee was former teammate Tommy Gemmell, but Johnstone later stated that his 'heart was not in it' and he did not apply himself properly during his short spell at Dens Park, having lost the motivation to play for other clubs after being released by Celtic.

International career

Johnstone began his international career on 5 February 1964, playing for the Scottish Under 23 side in a friendly against England U23s, losing 2–0. He made one further appearance for the Scotland U23 side in May that year, a 3–0 win away against France U23.

He made his international debut for the full Scottish international side on 3 October 1964 in a British Home Championship match against Wales, in place of Rangers winger Willie Henderson. He was involved in the move that led to Scotland's second goal, though the match ended in a 3–2 win for the Welsh. Johnstone's next cap came that same month in a World Cup qualifier at Hampden Park against Finland. Scotland won 3–1, but Johnstone's performance was unimpressive, with his passing described as "lacking accuracy." Johnstone did not play for Scotland again until 2 April 1966, when he scored his first two international goals in a 4–3 defeat against England at Hampden Park. The first goal came with Scotland trailing 4–1, when he latched on to a pass from Denis Law and used his pace and power to run past the English defence and beat goalkeeper Gordon Banks from close range. He pulled back another goal for Scotland when he chased a floated ball towards goal from a Jim Baxter free kick and, from close range, scored with a powerful shot off the underside of the bar. Johnstone, along with Denis Law, was reported as one of Scotland's best performers, and his play resulted in England's Nobby Stiles being booked for a crushing tackle on him. Johnstone continued to play sporadically for Scotland, and he didn't score his next international goal until 22 October 1969 in a World Cup qualifier away against West Germany, Scotland losing 3–2.

In May 1974, during the build-up to the 1974 FIFA World Cup, and days before a British Home Championship match against England at Hampden, Johnstone and his other Scotland teammates took part in a drinking session at their hotel in Largs, Ayrshire. In the early hours, the group headed for shore, with Johnstone deciding to go out in a rowing boat. However, the boat had no rowlocks to take the oars and Johnstone found himself being taken out to sea by the tide. Stranded at sea, Johnstone had to be rescued by the Coastguard and the incident dominated headlines for days. Despite the embarrassing headlines, Johnstone went on to turn in an outstanding performance for Scotland against England, helping them to a 2–0 win. Johnstone was part of the Scotland squad that travelled to West Germany for the World Cup in the summer of 1974, but he didn't play in their three games.

Johnstone won 23 caps for Scotland.

Career statistics

1Includes Glasgow Cup (several years), the 1967-68 Intercontinental Cup (3 matches, 0 goals) and Drybrough Cup (several years)

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