Leslie Johnston

Not to be confused with Leslie Johnson.

Leslie Johnston

Personal information
Full name	Leslie Hamilton Johnston[1]
Date of birth	(1920-08-16)16 August 1920[2]
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland[2]
Date of death	19 October 2001(2001-10-19) (aged 81)[2]
Place of death	Newcastle-under-Lyme, England
Position(s)	Inside forward
Youth career
	Clydebank Juniors
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1941–1947	Clyde	24	(15)
1947	Hibernian	9	(8)
1947–1948	Clyde	30	(17)
1948–1949	Celtic	23	(8)
1949–1953	Stoke City	88	(22)
1953–1954	Shrewsbury Town	16	(6)
Total		190	(76)
International career
1945	Scotland (wartime)	1	(1)
1948	Scotland	2	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Leslie Hamilton Johnston (16 August 1920 – 19 October 2001) was a Scottish footballer who played for Clydebank Juniors, Clyde, Hibernian, Celtic, Stoke City, Shrewsbury Town and the Scotland national team.[2]

Club career

Johnston was born in Glasgow. He moved to Clyde from Clydebank Juniors in December 1941 before joining Hibernian in February 1947 for £10,000, a then Scottish football transfer record. However, he rejoined Clyde just eight months later for the same transfer fee. He joined Celtic the following year for £12,000, another Scottish transfer record. He remained with Celtic for just one year, before moving to English club Stoke City for £9,000.[2] He struggled in his first season at the Victoria Ground scoring just five goals in 1949–50.[2] He improved in 1950–51 scoring 13 goals but again struggled to find his form and missed a lot a games due to injury. He was released in May 1953 and he went to play for Shrewsbury Town.[2]

International career

During his second spell at Clyde, Johnston earned two caps for Scotland. He scored in the second of his caps, a 2–1 defeat to Switzerland in May 1948. He had also played for Scotland in one wartime International.[3]

Career statistics

Club

Source:[4]

Club	Season	Division	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Clyde	1946–47[5]	Scottish First Division	24	15	1	1	4	2	29	18
	1947–48[6]	Scottish First Division	23	14	1	0	0	0	24	14
	1948–49[7]	Scottish First Division	7	3	0	0	3	0	10	3
	Total		54	32	2	1	7	2	63	35
Hibernian	1946–47	Scottish First Division	5	3	0	0	0	0	5	3
	1947–48	Scottish First Division	4	5	0	0	5	4	9	9
	Total		9	8	0	0	5	4	14	12
Celtic	1948–49	Scottish First Division	23	8	1	0	0	0	24	8
	1949–50	Scottish First Division	1	0	0	0	4	0	5	0
	Total		24	8	1	0	4	0	29	8
Stoke City	1949–50	First Division	27	5	1	0	—		28	5
	1950–51	First Division	38	13	3	0	—		41	13
	1951–52	First Division	9	0	0	0	—		9	0
	1952–53	First Division	14	4	0	0	—		14	4
	Total		88	22	4	0	—		92	22
Shrewsbury Town	1953–54	Third Division South	16	6	1	0	—		17	6
Career Total			191	76	8	1	16	6	215	83

International

Source:[8]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Scotland	1948	2	1
Total		2	1

Honours

Clyde

• Glasgow Cup: 1946–47[9]

References

1. "Les Johnston". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
2. Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
3. "Leslie Hamilton Johnston". www.londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
4. Leslie Johnston at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
5. "1946 - 1947 Fixtures". Clyde FC. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
6. "1947 - 1948 Fixtures". Clyde FC. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
7. "1948 - 1949 Fixtures". Clyde FC. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
8. Johnston, Les at National-Football-Teams.com
9. "GC Final: Third Lanark 1 v 2 Clyde". Clyde FC. Retrieved 31 August 2022.

External links

• Leslie Johnston at the Scottish Football Association
• Les Johnston at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database