Craig Johnston

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Craig Johnston
Personnel
Surname Craig Peter Johnston
birthday December 8, 1960
place of birth Johannesburg ,  South Africa
position Winger (left)
Juniors
Years station
Lake Macquarie
Sydney City
1977-1988 Middlesbrough FC
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1978-1981 Middlesbrough FC 64 (16)
1981-1988 Liverpool FC 190 (30)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1980-1981 England U-21 2 0(0)
1 Only league games are given.

Craig Peter Johnston (born December 8, 1960 in Johannesburg ) is a former Australian football player . During his professional career, he won five English championships with Liverpool FC ( 1982 , 1983 , 1984 , 1986 , 1988 ), once the FA Cup ( 1986 ), three league cup editions (1982, 1983, 1984) and in 1984 the European Cup . The fast midfielder, who was mostly used on the flank, but occasionally also in attack, ended his active career prematurely after the end of the 1987/88 season for family reasons.

Athletic career

Middlesbrough FC (1978–1981)

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and raised in Australia, Johnston had the necessary self-confidence about his footballing skills early in his youth and at the age of 15 wrote to numerous English clubs asking for auditions. The only club that responded was Middlesbrough FC and co- trainer Harold Sheperdson agreed to take part in a trial session while Johnston paid the travel expenses. He could be sure of the trust of his parents and, according to Johnston's statements, they even sold the house to fulfill the son's dream. All the more disappointing was the reaction of head coach Jack Charlton , who was not very enthusiastic after the audition and even disrespectfully described the teenager as "the worst footballer he has ever seen". For six months, the so vilified remained in England, worked hard on his skills - while avoiding contact with Charlton as strictly as possible - and in 1977 the efforts after Charlton's resignation were ultimately rewarded.

Two months after his 17th birthday he signed his first professional contract, played for "Boro" for the first time in the FA Cup under new coach John Neal against Everton and on February 4, 1978 he made his debut in a league game against Birmingham City (2: 1). In his three-year stint at Middlesbrough FC, "Roo" or "Skippy", as Johnston was called, played a little less than 100 competitive games before moving to reigning champions Liverpool in April 1981 . Johnston had made a good name for himself in the English elite class and numerous top clubs were considering a transfer. The decision in favor of Liverpool FC was in large part thanks to Graeme Souness , who played for Middlesbrough FC in the 1970s and recommended the Australian to his coach Bob Paisley . In the meantime, the fast winger had also made it into the English U-21 team ; for international matches he would only have made himself available to the Australian national team , which was never seriously considered later in view of the great travel expenses.

Liverpool FC (1981–1988)

When winning the European Champions Cup a short time after the commitment, Johnston was not part of the game and the goal of participating in similar successes was initially not in sight. It was only in the second half of the 1981/82 season that he had more opportunities to demonstrate his playing skills, with the replay against Arsenal in the fourth round of the League Cup in December 1981 being a turning point. Previously, he had only been substituted in three of four league games and was otherwise largely ignored before his goal against Arsenal after five minutes in extra time paved the way for the quarter-finals. Although he did not play another game in this competition, which the "Reds" won afterwards, in the remaining championship games he contributed six goals to the fact that Liverpool FC last year winner Aston Villa dethroned and after a year break again the English championship won.

With ten goals in 42 appearances in the starting line-up, the 1982/83 season was the most productive season in Craig Johnston's career, which also earned him the second English championship and the league cup. He even played more games in the following season 1983/84 and although he scored a comparatively few four goals there, he repeated the previous year's success with the English league title and cup and fulfilled his dream in the European Cup . There he won with his men in the final after penalty shootout against AS Roma , where he had to give way to defender Steve Nicol after just 72 minutes and thus had to look at the decisive phase from the outside. Overall, Johnston did not seem to enjoy the unqualified favor of new coach Joe Fagan , who had succeeded Paisley in 1983. It was only when he switched to teammate Kenny Dalglish , who had taken on the difficult task of taking over Liverpool FC after the Heysel disaster , that the hoped-for revival was achieved. Johnston played 61 competitive games in the 1985/86 season, making him a key player in the team that won the "double" from the English championship and the FA Cup . He scored the goal of the 2-1 lead in the 3-1 cup final win against Everton.

After a promising start to the 1986/87 season, a back injury caused some forced breaks before an accident with his sister in Morocco at Christmas 1986 significantly changed Johnston's career plans. Although he returned to Liverpool after a long on-site visit and the tragedy was largely kept out of the public eye, his priorities shifted towards family in the period that followed. In addition, there were further injuries in the 1987/88 season and after a final appearance in the FA Cup final in 1988 against FC Wimbledon (0-1), he finally decided to return to Australia. He ended his professional career at the same time. A year later he returned to the old place of work after the Hillsborough disaster ; To do this, he raised money for the bereaved families in his Australian homeland. He later also dedicated his autobiography, entitled "Walk Alone", to the victims of the Hillsborough and Heysel tragedies.

Next to and after football

Even during his active career, Johnston did not match the stereotype of a typical footballer. Early on he devoted himself to artistic activities, especially photography. He also gained practical experience in the musical sector and composed the "Anfield Rap", which he presented in a video with teammates from Liverpool FC while playing.

After his professional career, he worked in various fields as a businessman. His idea to further develop soccer shoe technology towards more friction between shoe and ball went around the world and was later marketed by the Adidas company under the name “Predator”. Another focus was his commitment to football schools in Australia.

Title / Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Rothman Yearbooks and Players' Records 1946-92 by Hugman; various online media often show June 25, 1960 differently.
  2. ^ "England - U-21 International Results 1976-1985 - Details" (RSSSF)
personal data
SURNAME Johnston, Craig
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Johnston, Craig Peter (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English-Australian soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH December 8, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH Johannesburg , South Africa