| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (2003-12-26)26 December 2003 (age 22)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Middlesbrough, England | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position | Right-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Derby County | ||
| Number | 22 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Motherwell | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2021–2023 | Motherwell | 19 | (3) |
| 2021–2022 | →Queen of the South (loan) | 25 | (2) |
| 2022 | →Cove Rangers (loan) | 11 | (0) |
| 2023–2025 | Sturm Graz | 47 | (2) |
| 2023 | Sturm Graz II | 7 | (0) |
| 2025– | Derby County | 9 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2019 | Scotland U16[2] | 1 | (1) |
| 2022 | Scotland U19[3] | 2 | (0) |
| 2022–2024 | Scotland U21 | 10 | (1) |
| 2025– | Scotland | 4 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 17:06, 25 October 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 07:17, 9 September 2025 (UTC) | |||
Max Johnston (born 26 December 2003) is a Scottish professionalfootballer who plays as aright-back forEFL Championship clubDerby County and theScotland national team.
Johnston started his career at theMotherwell academy, making his senior debut in 2021, where he also had loan spells atQueen of the South andCove Rangers. In 2023, Johnston moved to Austria to sign withSturm Graz where he would stay for two years, before moving to England to sign withDerby County.
Johnston signed forMotherwell at 12 years old, progressing through the club'sacademy system,[4] then joining up with the first-team squad ahead of the2020–21 season.[1] Johnston debuted for theSteelmen on 13 February 2021, as a substitute in theLanarkshire derby versusHamilton Academical.[5][6]
On 1 September 2021, Johnston signed forQueen of the South on a season long loan deal, with the former Doonhamers manager being his fatherAllan.[7] He was then loaned toCove Rangers in September 2022.[8] After making 10 appearances with Cove, Johnston was recalled on 1 January 2023.[9] He then became a regular in the Motherwell first team, and won theSFWA Young Player of the Year award for 2022–23.[10]
On 25 July 2023,Austrian Bundesliga clubSturm Graz announced the signing of Johnston on a contract until the summer of 2027.[11]
Johnston made 65 appearances for Sturm Graz, scoring two goals and whilst at the club he won the Austrian Bundesliga in 2024 and 2025 and theAustrian Cup in 2024.[12]
On 27 August 2025, Johnston signed withEFL Championship clubDerby County on a four-year contract after Derby agreed an undisclosed fee with Sturm Graz for Johnston's services.[13] On 30 August 2025, Johnston made his debut for Derby in a 2–2 league draw atIpswich Town.[14] Johnston sustained a hamstring injury on 25 October 2025 in a match againstQueens Park Rangers. Johnston was set to return to action in January 2026, however he picked up a calf injury in training which extended his stay on the sidelines.[15]
Johnston represented Scotland atunder-16 level, scoring on his debut versus Australia in 2019. On 17 March 2022, Johnston was called up late to the Scotlandunder-19 squad.[16]
He was added to the fullScotland squad for the first time in October 2023, following withdrawals byAaron Hickey andAndrew Robertson.[17] He made his senior debut on 20 March 2025 as a late substitute forBilly Gilmour in aUEFA Nations League victory overGreece.[18]
Johnston's father is formerScotland internationalAllan; his uncleSammy was also a footballer.[4][19]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Motherwell | 2020–21[21] | Scottish Premiership | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | |
| 2021–22[22] | Scottish Premiership | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2022–23[23] | Scottish Premiership | 17 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 19 | 3 | ||
| Total | 19 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 21 | 3 | |||
| Queen of the South (loan) | 2021–22 | Scottish Championship | 25 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 4[c] | 1 | 31 | 3 | |
| Cove Rangers (loan) | 2022–23 | Scottish Championship | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 11 | 0 | ||
| Sturm Graz | 2023–24 | Austrian Bundesliga | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 7[d] | 0 | – | 29 | 0 | ||
| 2024–25 | Austrian Bundesliga | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | 5[e] | 0 | – | 31 | 1 | |||
| 2025–26 | Austrian Bundesliga | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 1[f] | 0 | – | 5 | 1 | |||
| Total | 47 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | – | 65 | 2 | |||
| Sturm Graz II | 2023–24 | 2. Liga | 7 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 7 | 0 | ||||
| Derby County | 2025–26[24] | EFL Championship | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 9 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 118 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 144 | 8 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 2025 | 4 | 0 |
| Total | 4 | 0 | |
Sturm Graz
Individual