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Fullname: Leslie Hamilton Johnston
aka: Leslie Johnston, Les Johnston
Born: 16 August 1920
Died: 19 October 2001
Birthplace: Glasgow
Signed: 26 October 1948 (from Clyde)
Left: 28 October 1949 (to Stoke City)
Position: Centre-Forward
Debut: Hibernian 1-2 Celtic, League, 30 Oct 1948
Internationals: Scotland
International Caps: 2
International Goals: 1
Biog
Leslie Johnston was a renowned poacher of goals when the former ship’s carpenter was snapped up by Celtic for £12,000 in October 1948 from Clyde.
A Scotland International (2 caps) he scored against England in a wartime international in 1945 (although Scotland did lose that game 6-1). He actually was lucky or unlucky to have even been in that match, as Celtic player Tommy Bogan was the one on the field that day only to have to come off with an injury after just 50 seconds allowing Leslie Johnston to step on in his place on the field.
He was one of the most sought-after players in Scotland becoming the first to rack up £30,000 in transfer fees on his transfers. Celtic were said to have been after him for a while.
Notably for a footballer he had small feet, a UK shoe size of 4.5.
The former Hibernian centre-forward made an immediate impact when he scored a debut double as Celtic defeated his old club 2-1 in a league clash at Easter Road on October 30th. After initially impressing the goals wouldn’t be as easy to come by for Leslie Johnston after the turn of the year and he would lose his starting place the next season.
He was expected to be a creator of goals, when really he was a poacher of goals. Instead of playing his usual centre forward role he was expected to play at inside forward to Jackie Gallacher’s centre forward. This continued through to 22nd January 1949 when Celtic were unceremoniously dumped out of the Scottish Cup by Division ‘B’ side Dundee United. He then moved into the midfield only for the goals to dry up.
Part of the problem was the set-up at Celtic. Cliques were powerful at Celtic, and with John McPhail the star forward not liking the threat of competition, it meant that the poorly managed first team allowed cliques to undermine other players, and Johnston was hampered by this. Pathetic situation, and another sign for why the first team for so long were so poor despite the great pool of players at the club’s disposal.
He signed off in his last game of the 1948/49 season with the winning goal v Clyde in a 2-1 win in the last league game of the season, and was given just a single appearance the next season in a 2-2 draw with Raith Rovers in the league.
He would move to Stoke City in October 1949 after 29 appearances and eight goals for Celtic, which isn’t a bad return.
It was said that despite having played for various clubs that in reality “he was a one-club man – only at his best for Clyde” (ex-Celtic player Paddy Travers).
It must be added that this was a very poor time to be at Celtic. The club were at a low point and the club & team were poorly run, with interference from Board level in team choice and a general decline in respect for both management and training regimes, with the poor results to match. The club was rebuilding having just avoided relegation in season 1947/48.
Who knows, maybe if Celtic were better managed at the time then his abilities as a player would have been better recognised and utilised.
As a measure of what Celtic likely missed out on, it should be noted that Leslie Johnston holds the Clyde record for the most goals scored for the club in a single game. On the 2nd of January 1945, albeit a Wartime game in the Southern League, Leslie Johnston scored six as Clyde beat Dumbarton 7-1 at Shawfield. Clyde’s other scorer that day was also a Johnston, Leslie Johnston’s brother George.
Post-Celtic, he had a fair first two seasons at Stoke City but then he seems to have lost his form, and after four seasons there he moved to Shrewsbury Town scoring six goals in 17 games where he appears to have wrapped up his playing career. In fairness, he was at the tail-end of his career at these clubs, hitting around 30+ in age.
The years at Celtic should have been his prime, but they were sadly not a success; not a fault of his alone as few in this era could argue that they came out of it with flying colours at Celtic.
He passed away in October 2001.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1948-49 | 24 | 0 | 4 | N/A | 29 |
| Goals: | 8 | 0 | 0 | – | 8 |
Honours with Celtic
none