Bert Johnston (footballer)

For the Canadian player, see Albert Johnson (soccer).

Bert Johnston
Personal information
Full name Robert Johnston
Date of birth 2 June 1909
Place of birth Falkirk, Scotland
Date of death 27 September 1968(1968-09-27) (aged 59)
Place of death Sunderland, England
Position(s) Centre half
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
– Alva Albion Rangers
1929–1939 Sunderland   146 (0)
International career
1937 Scotland 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Robert Johnston (2 June 1909 – 27 September 1968) was a Scottish footballer who played for Sunderland and Scotland as a central defender.[1]

Johnston made his debut for Sunderland on 25 April 1931 against West Ham United in a 3–0 win at Upton Park.[2] He joined Sunderland aged just 20 from the Scottish Junior leagues and found it hard to break into the team, though he played more regularly after others left.[3] Johnston played for Sunderland from 1929 until 1939 making 146 league appearances, without scoring a goal.[4] While on a squad tour to Spain in the summer of 1935, Johnston suffered from an attack of malaria;[5] he recovered to play a part in the club's Football League title-winning campaign in the 1935–36 season, as well as the 1936 FA Charity Shield[6] and the FA Cup victory at Wembley in 1937. Although his playing career was curtailed by the Second World War, he worked as a coach for Sunderland between 1951 and 1957.[3]

Johnston represented Scotland once, in a 5–0 victory against Czechoslovakia in 1937.[7]

  1. ^ John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ "West Ham United 0-3 Sunderland". The Stat Cat. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
  3. ^ a b "Bert Johnston". A Love Supreme. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
  4. ^ "Bert Johnston". The Stat Cat. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  5. ^ Lanchberry, Edward (1950). Footballer's Progress: Raich Carter. Sporting Handbooks Ltd. p. 179.
  6. ^ "1936/37 F.A. Charity Shield". footballsite.co.uk. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  7. ^ "[Scotland player] Robert Johnston". londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 9 September 2012.