Derek Johnstone

Johnstone atSchipol Airport while travelling with theRangers squad, 1978
Personal information
Full name	Derek Joseph Johnstone[1]
Date of birth	(1953-11-04)4 November 1953 (age 72)
Place of birth	Dundee, Scotland
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position	Defender striker
Youth career
1968–1970	Rangers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1970–1983	Rangers	350	(131)
1983–1985	Chelsea	4	(0)
1983	→Dundee United (loan)	4	(0)
1985–1986	Rangers	19	(1)
1986–1987	Partick Thistle	4	(0)
Total		377	(132)
International career
1973–1979	Scotland	14	(2)
1973–1974	Scottish League XI[2]	2	(0)
Managerial career
1986–1987	Partick Thistle
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Derek Joseph Johnstone (born 4 November 1953) is a Scottish formerfootball player and manager.

Johnstone played mainly forRangers winning 14 major trophies during his career. He also had a spell atChelsea and a brief stint in management withPartick Thistle. He mainly played as astriker but could also perform incentral defence, and inmidfield. Uniquely, he was selected to play in defence, midfield, and attack forScotland.^{[citation needed]}

Johnstone signed for Rangers as a schoolboy in 1968. He turned professional in 1970^[3] and made his debut on 19 September 1970, aged 16 years and 319 days. Johnstone scored two goals in that match, a 5–0 victory againstCowdenbeath.^[4]

Johnstone thrust himself into the limelight just five weeks later when his header secured a 1–0 victory overCeltic in the1970 Scottish League Cup Final. Johnstone was still 16 at the time, but the faith shown in his ability by managerWillie Waddell paid off handsomely, as Rangers claimed their first major trophy for just over four years.

Despite his heroics against Celtic, Johnstone found regular first-team outings in the number '9' jersey hard to come by, largely due to the presence ofColin Stein, Scotland's first £100,000 player, although he did score 11 goals in 16 league appearances during the 1971–72 season. He compensated for his lack of frontline action by often playing as a centre-back when eitherRonnie McKinnon orColin Jackson was injured, and when the duo were ruled out of the1972 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, Johnstone (still only 18) deputised in the match againstDynamo Moscow.^{[citation needed]}

Johnstone soon became a regular in the starting line-up, and he picked up aScottish Cup winners' medal in 1973 when Rangersdefeated Celtic 3–2 atHampden Park. Johnstone played a huge role in the winning goal, rising above the Celtic defence to head aTommy McLean free-kick towards goal, and when his header struck both posts,Tam Forsyth was on hand to nudge the rebound over the line. The McLean-Johnstone combination that created this famous goal was a hallmark of Rangers' play in the 1970s.^{[citation needed]}

Johnstone eventually picked up a league championship medal at the end of the1974–75 campaign, as Rangers ended Celtic's nine-year reign as champions of Scotland, and he was an integral part of TheGers'domestic treble success a year later. He scored a total of 31 goals in 51 appearances, including two in a 3–1 win overHearts in the1976 Scottish Cup Final. He scored his first, a typical header, after just 42 seconds and thus earned himself a unique place in the annals of Scottish football: the referee had actually kicked off the match early, so Johnstone had actually hit the net before the allotted 3pm kick-off time had been reached.^{[citation needed]}

Although1976–77 was a barren season for Rangers, they came back strongly in1977–78 by winning their second treble inside three years. Johnstone was the outstanding performer in what was an exceptional Rangers side, scoring thirty-eight goals over the course of the campaign and picking up theScottish Football Writers' Player of the Year accolade.^{[citation needed]}

WithArsenal andTottenham Hotspur reportedly interested in luring Rangers' top marksman toLondon, Johnstone submitted a transfer request in the summer of 1978.^{[citation needed]} He was seeking a new challenge in his career, but the intervention of new Rangers managerJohn Greig persuaded Johnstone to stay in Glasgow. He was named club captain, and in his first season with the armband, he almost led theIbrox side to an unprecedented second successive treble; only a last-gasp 4–2 defeat against Celtic atParkhead denied Rangers the Championship, but Johnstone did get his hands on the Scottish Cup – he scored twice inthe Final's second replay againstHibernian – and theLeague Cup, beatingAberdeen.^{[citation needed]}

That season was to be the high point for the John Greig era, and Rangers' fortunes dipped badly thereafter. They did win the Scottish Cup in 1981 and the Scottish League Cup in 1982, but found themselves playing second fiddle in the Premier Division to Celtic and the emergingNew Firm of Aberdeen andDundee United.^{[citation needed]}

Having been placed on the transfer list by Greig in April 1983, Johnstone left Rangers after the1983 Scottish Cup Final defeat against Aberdeen to joinChelsea for a £30,000 transfer fee. Signed in September 1983, Johnstone provided extra cover in the Chelsea squad which won theSecond Division title in 1984.^[5] He failed to dislodge the established forward duo ofKerry Dixon andDavid Speedie and made just four appearances, with a month on loan to Dundee United during the 1983–84 season.

He was tempted back to Ibrox byJock Wallace in January 1985 for £25,000. He returned to a Rangers side that was in the midst of a doleful period in their history, and it was hoped that the return of a former favourite could galvanise an ailing team. However, it failed to work out and after 23 appearances and one goal, Johnstone was handed a free transfer whenGraeme Souness took over the reins at Ibrox in the summer of 1986.

Johnstone made his debut in aBritish Home Championship match againstWales. Despite Johnstone's rich vein of scoring form in 1978, he was overlooked byAlly MacLeod during Scotland's ill-fatedWorld Cup campaign in Argentina. Although he was a member of the squad, he did not start any of the three matches that the Scots played.

Johnstone had a short spell asplayer-manager ofPartick Thistle during the 1986–87 season, before leaving professional football in 1987.

Since leaving Partick Thistle, Johnstone has worked in the football media, including forBBC Scotland,Scottish Television,Radio Clyde, GO Radio andReal Radio Scotland, where he co-presented the station's football phone-in until the end of the 2011–12 season. He also co-commentates on Rangers matches for the club's TV channel.

^[6][7][8]

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	13 May 1978	Glasgow, Scotland	Northern Ireland	1–1	1–1	British Home Championship
2.	17 May 1978	Glasgow, Scotland	Wales	1–0	1–1	British Home Championship

Rangers

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup:1971–72
• Scottish League First Division/Premier Division:1974–75,1975–76,1977–78
• Scottish Cup:1972–73,1975–76,1977–78,1978–79,1980–81
• Scottish League Cup:1970–71,1975–76,1977–78,1978–79,1981–82

• SPFA Players' Player of the Year:1977–78
• SFWA Footballer of the Year:1977–78
• Scottish Football Hall of Fame:2008^[10]

• Derek Johnstone at theScottish Football Association

• 1953 births
• 1978 FIFA World Cup players
• Men's association football utility players
• Chelsea F.C. players
• Dundee United F.C. players
• Living people
• Partick Thistle F.C. managers
• Partick Thistle F.C. players
• Rangers F.C. players
• Scotland men's international footballers
• Scotland men's under-23 international footballers
• Scottish football commentators
• Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees
• Scottish Football League managers
• Scottish Football League players
• Scottish Football League representative players
• Scottish football managers
• Scottish men's footballers
• Footballers from Dundee
• English Football League players
• Scottish league football top scorers
• Men's association football defenders
• Men's association football forwards
• Men's association football player-managers

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from June 2023
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from October 2024
• Pages using national squad without sport or team link