Johnston, Derek

Rangers

Derek was born on November 4, 1953 in the Scottish city ​​of Dundee .

Even at school, Johnston became interested in football, played well for the team of his school and was an ardent fan of Dundee United . It was at this time that the talented player was noticed by the scouts of the Rangers club. In 1968, representatives of the "Jersey" went to the young Derek, offering to sign a contract with a team player of the youth team. Johnston readily responded to this prospect and in December of that year was enrolled in the Rangers Academy ^[4] .

Before the 1970/71 season, Derek signed his first professional contract with the Jersey. Johnston's debut in the first team of the Glazgovtsev took place on September 19, 1970 - on that day, his club met with the Cowdenbit as part of the national championship . The young football player had a great meeting, scoring twice against the “miners” twice, the match itself ended in a crushing victory for the Rangers - 5-0 ^[5] . Derek's age at that time was only 16 years and 319 days. In October, Johnston again attracted increased public attention when, in the final match of the Scottish League Cup, the only goal of the young striker allowed his team to defeat their arch-rivals in Old Firm , Celtic , with a minimum score of 1: 0 ^[6] . Later, the Rangers mentor William Waddell admitted that he was worried about the psychological state of the young Derek before the match, but the bet on him paid off - this trophy was the first for the Jersey in five years. Despite such an impressive start in professional football, the greater than the first seasons in the “jersey” Johnston only occasionally went on the field. The main reason for this was a vivid game of direct competitor Derek for the line - Colin Steen . At the same time, the club manager Waddell, discerning a young versatile player, began using Johnston in the center of defense, often replacing the main “defenders” of the Glazgovites - Ronnie McKinnon and Colin Jackson . So, in the final duel of the Cup of Cup winners of the 1971/72 season between the Rangers and Dynamo Moscow , Derek came out in the first team, making up a couple of central “defs” with John Greig . Johnston, despite his age, calmly and confidently played the game and helped his team become the owner of the trophy ^[7] .

The following football year, Derek became the main player of the Jersey. In the final game of that season, which was the final of the Scottish Cup against Celtic, the Rangers defeated their opponents with a score of 3: 2. Johnston himself made a significant contribution to this success, becoming a co-author of the third decisive ball “jersey”: Derek hit hard from the box, the goalkeeper “Celtic” Allie Hunter managed, but knocked out a shot in front of him, after which the running Tom Forsyth finished the ball in goal net “white-green” ^[8] .

The following year, a young football player, along with the Glasgow team, won the gold medals of the national championship for the first time, interrupting the 9-year-old Celtic hegemony that reigned before this ^[9] . After another season, the Rangers repeated and developed this success, making the “ treble ”, that is, becoming the winners of the Scottish championship ^[10] , as well as having won both national Cups ^{[11] [12]} . Derek made a significant contribution to these victories, “Jersey”, scoring a total of 31 goals in 51 matches ^[13] , including Johnston twice distinguished himself in the final of the Cup of the country against the “ Heart of Midlotian ” ^[14] . This match was also notable for the fact that the striker had the fastest ball in the history of the decisive fights for the national trophy - he delivered a precise and effective hit on goal of “Harts” goalkeeper Jim Kruikshenko already at the 42nd second of the meeting ^[15] .

The 1976/77 season was unsuccessful for the Rangers - the team finished second in the national championship ^[16] , played in the final of the Scottish Cup, where they lost to Celtic ^[17] and reached only the semifinal in the League Cup ^[18] . However, in the next football year, the Jersey were once again at the top of all national tournaments, for the second time in three years, having issued a treble. For Johnston, that year was the most successful in his entire career - he won the national championship scorers with 25 goals ^{[1] [4]} and for his outstanding performance won both awards to the best football player in Scotland - both according to fellow players and according to journalists "mountain country . " In the offseason, Derek became interested in English clubs - Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur . Johnston expressed his interest in moving to London , but the new Rangers coach John Greig managed to persuade his recent partner on the football field to stay in Glasgow and entrusted him with the role of team captain. In the first season, being the official leader of the team, Derek almost led the Jersey to the second consecutive Treble: the Rangers won both the Scottish Cups ^{[19] [20]} , but lost two rounds to the end of the national championship “ Celtic ”2: 4, in the end they missed the“ Celts ”in first place in the standings ^[21] . This football year was the highest point of the era of John Greig as head coach of the Rangers - over the next few years, the team members were content with only two trophies: the National Cup in 1981 ^[22] and the League Cup in 1982 ^[23] . In the Scottish Championship, the time has come for the New Firm clubs - Dundee United and Aberdeen .

Chelsea

Immediately after the final match of the National Cup, in which the Rangers competed against Aberdeen on May 21, 1983 , John Greig, at the request of Johnston himself, put the player on the transfer. The buyer was found quickly - the English Chelsea enlisted the services of Derek, having paid the club from the Ibrox arena £ 30,000 ^[4] . The stay at Stamford Bridge was not happy for the Scotsman: without getting into the starting lineup, in two seasons he spent only four matches for the “blue” ^[25] . Also, during this time he managed to return to his homeland for a short while, in order to play for Dundee United under a lease agreement ^[26] .

Return to the Rangers

In January 1985, the Jersey mentor Jock Wallace returned the player to Ibroks, giving him 25 thousand pounds. That time was hard enough for the Rangers, so the manager of the Glazgovites expressed the hope that Johnston’s return would return to the club and victory. This did not happen - over the next year and a half, Derek took part in 23 games in which he only scored once a goal ^{[27] [28]} . Upon the arrival of the head coach of the Rangers Graham Sunness in the summer of 1986, the club broke the contract with the striker.

Playing coach at Partis Thistle

After parting with the Jersey, Johnston for a short time combined the work of a manager and a player in the Glasgow Partis Tisl team. In the coaching field, Derek did not achieve any success and in 1987 announced that he was leaving professional football.

Club statistics

Johnston's debut in the national team of Scotland took place on May 12, 1973 , when the Tartan Army lost to the Wales team with a score of 0: 2 ^[30] as part of the UK Home Championship . May 13, 1978, Derek for the first time scored a goal in the “Highlanders”, hitting the gates of the Northern Irish ^[31] . Four days later, the striker was once again able to succeed - this time his exact productive blow came in a duel against Wales ^[32] . In the summer of that year, Johnston, as part of the Scots, went to the world championship , which was held in Argentina . Despite the excellent athletic form demonstrated by Derek in previous matches, the head coach of the national team, Alli MacLeod, kept the striker on the bench for all three matches of the Highlanders in the tournament. The tartan army itself failed, failing to get out of the not-so-strong group, where its rivals were the national teams of Peru , the Netherlands and Iran . The following year, Johnston spent the last match in the Scottish team, which was a meeting with Belgium ^[33] .

In just six years of playing for the “tartan army”, Derek took part in 14 games in which he scored twice in goals ^[2] .

Scotland Matches and Goals

Total: 14 matches / 2 goals; 6 wins, 3 draws, 5 losses.

Summary statistics of games / goals for the national team

Also, from 1973 to 1974, Johnston was invited and played in the Scottish Football League team , which held friendly matches with a similar team from England . In total for the club “Highlanders” Derek held two meetings ^[34] .

Scotland Football League Matches

Total: 2 matches / 0 goals; 0 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss.

Team Achievements

  Rangers

• Champion of Scotland (3) : 1974/75, 1975/76, 1977/78
• Scottish Cup Winner (5) : 1972/73, 1975/76, 1977/78, 1978/79, 1980/81
• Scottish League Cup Winner (5) : 1970/71, 1975/76, 1977/78, 1978/79, 1981/82
• Finalist of the Scottish Cup (6) : 1970/71, 1976/77, 1978/80, 1981/82, 1982/83, 1984/85
• Scottish League Cup Finalist: 1982/83

  Chelsea

• Football League Second Division Winner : 1983/84

Personal Achievements

• Scottish Professional Football Association Player of the Year : 1978
• Scottish Football Journalist Association Player of the Year : 1978
• Scottish Championship top scorer: 1977/78
• Scottish Football Hall of Fame : Included on November 15, 2008 ^[3]

In subsequent years, Johnston worked as a football expert and broadcaster for media companies such as BBC Scotland , Radio Clyde and Real Radio .

In November 2008, Derek was inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame ^[3] .

• Johnston profile at worldfootball.net
• Derek Johnston profile on Neal Brown's football statistics website
• Derek Johnston Rangers Performance Statistics for the football statistics website fitbastats.com
• Derek Johnston on the Scottish Football Association website
• Derek Johnston Profile at the Rangers Hall of Fame (link unavailable )