Willie Johnston

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Personal information
Willie Johnston
Full name	William McClure Johnston
Date of birth	19 December 1946
Place of birth	Maryhill, Glasgow, Scotland
Playing position	Outside left
National team
	Scotland	22 (?)
* Appearances (Goals)

William McClure "Willie" Johnston ^[1] (born 19 December 1946, in Maryhill, Glasgow) is a Scottish former professional football player for Lochore Welfare F.C., Rangers, West Bromwich Albion, Vancouver Whitecaps, Birmingham City (on loan), Heart of Midlothian and Scotland.

'Bud' was a talented player, whose left-wing trickery was a catalyst for the Rangers team which won the European Cup Winners Cup in 1972. He scored twice in the final as Rangers defeated Dynamo Moscow 3-2 in Barcelona. In December 1972 he moved to England to join West Bromwich Albion, making his debut against Liverpool in the same month.^[1] Albion paid a club record £138,000 to bring him to The Hawthorns.^[2]

However, his career included some controversial incidents. In 1978 when playing in the World Cup he was found to have taken a banned stimulant during the opening game against Peru. His subsequent expulsion from the squad ended his international career at 22 caps. While playing for the Vancouver Whitecaps he once mooned the opposing bench following a goal, and on another occasion took a swig from a fan-offered beer before taking a corner kick in San Jose assisting on a goal from the kick. His volatile temperament also ensured he was sent off around 10 times in his career, once for attempting to kick a referee, which saw him receive a fine as well as a five-match ban for bringing the game into disrepute.

Aberdeen player John McMaster had to be given the kiss of life during a game against Rangers on Sept 3rd 1980 after Johnston stamped on the players neck in a particularly unsavoury incident at Ibrox.

In 2004 Johnston was named as one of West Bromwich Albion's 16 greatest players, in a poll organised as part of the club's 125th anniversary celebrations.^[3]

[edit] See also

List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Matthews, Tony (2005). The Who's Who of West Bromwich Albion. Breedon Books, p126. ISBN 1-85983-474-4.
^ Matthews, Tony; Mackenzie, Colin (1987). Albion! A Complete Record of West Bromwich Albion 1879–1987. Breedon Books, p294. ISBN 0-907969-23-2.
^ "The wraps come off 125th anniversary mural", West Bromwich Albion F.C., 2004-08-04. Retrieved on 2008-05-10.

v • d • e Scotland squad - 1978 FIFA World Cup

1 Rough • 2 Jardine • 3 Donachie • 4 Buchan • 5 McQueen • 6 Rioch • 7 Masson • 8 Dalglish • 9 Jordan • 10 Hartford • 11 Johnston • 12 Blyth • 13 Kennedy • 14 Forsyth • 15 Gemmill • 16 Macari • 17 Johnstone • 18 Souness • 19 Robertson • 20 Clark • 21 Harper • 22 Burns • Coach: MacLeod