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Personal
Fullname: Alistair William Johsnton
aka: Alistair Johnston
Born: 8 October 1998
Birthplace: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Signed: 4 December 2022 (from CF Montreal)
Left: –
Position: Right-back, Defender
Debut: TheRangers 2-2 Celtic, 2 Jan 2023, SP
Squad No.: 2
Internationals: Canada
International Caps: [TBC at end of career]
International Goals: [TBC at end of career]
Biog
The Canadian born and raised Alistair Johnstone was a signing in progress to take over from the departing favourite Juranovic.
Ironically as reports of his potential transfer Celtic were ongoing, in the World Cup group games his Canada side had to face Croatia where his opposite number (Juranovic) was the man Johnston was lined up to potentially replace.
He duly signed and slotted in perfectly.
An average sized footballer, he always played with a smile on his face, and with a strong engine he was a player that could always be relied on. A decent tackler, he was comfortable on the ball which aligned with the Postecoglu philosophy to begin moves from the back. His strong Canadian accent shone out in interviews too.
Thrown into the deep end with Ralston out injured and Juranovic just returning from a World Cup semi final match, Johnston was the left-back for the Ne’er Day Derby at Ibrox match. He had a decent game to get him acquainted with the Scottish game, a match that effectively ended Sevco’s league title challenge.
From there on in he became the find of the season, and incredibly many were commenting that he was at least on par if not better than Juranovic! As Celtic stormed to domestic dominance, he was another bulwark in the defence, helping take pressure off of Carter Vickers. He even grabbed his first goal in a 5-1 win v St Mirren away in March 2023.
He may have only come in mid-season but he celebrated each title as much as anyone else.
Brendan Rodgers Era
His first full season and all were hoping for more in his development. Under Brendan Rodgers, it was more the same but there was some cause for concern. As the side struggled to adapt to the new system under Rodgers, Johnstone was seen as underperforming, albeit not too heavily. He was still quality but not as heavily praised as in his time under Postecoglou.
His form was generally consistent, but some opined that his form wasn’t as good in this first full season as it was in the past half-season. The problem was more that the entire defence was unconvincing with the centre of the defence chopping and changing repeatedly. Rodgers also never had a reputation for being a good manager when it came to handling defences. Some opined that he was still not measuring up in the hardest challenging matches, and possibly can be said that that the tougher fixtures could get the better of him. That could be countered with some decent performances against TheRangers in the latter matches of the 2023/24 season.
He wasn’t targetted as heavily as other colleagues in defence like Taylor or Scales, but his lack of pace at times could be a potential weakness. He still gave his all in every game without complaint or dramas, preferring to put in a shift whenever called upon.
A high-point for him on a personal basis was being the sole scorer and match winner in a league match v Ross County (Jan 2024), his first goal at Celtic Park. It was actually a poor game by Celtic, and was in the midst of a downturn period by the first team, so he thankfully helped to keep Celtic propped up with this unexpected winner.
He ended up in a few storms in the 2023/24 season in games v TheRangers. Firstly was when VAR showed up that he had clumsily handled the ball in a challenge to concede a penalty, which was never given ultimately as there was already an offside ahead of it, so got out of jail due to VAR. Celtic went on to win 2-1 (Dec 2023).
On the other end, he stupidly conceded a penalty to the diving Fabio Silva in the 3-3 draw at Ibrox to TheRangers, albeit in this case, Johnston stepped into the trap on this one.
The most curious situation was in the 2-1 league win at Celtic Park (May 2023), when TheRangers’ Lundstram careered into Alistair Johnston, with his studs up and just above the ankle which could have caused him a broken leg. After a VAR review, the player was sent off, but ex-Celt/Sevco player Kenny Miller opined initially that it was never a red card, stating : ” “It is ruining the game … Alistair Johnston plants his foot in front of John Lundstrum”, and seeming to argue as Graham Spiers put it that: “What Kenny Miller appears to be arguing here is that if we didn’t have VAR – if we didn’t have the facility to look again and scrutinise and see the whole, clear picture – then we wouldn’t all know how bad John Lundstram’s tackle was. It’s VAR’s fault!”. Kenny Miller still wouldn’t back down ever a day later, and became the butt of all jokes, but on the other hand it was disturbing to see a former professional excusing as dangerous a challenge as was done by Lundstrum.
He came back on form during the last quarter of the season, but this could be taken partly due to the return to Carter-Vickers who through the season really struggled to recover from his surgery and then spate of injuries.
This 2023/24 season shouldn’t be taken negatively for Johnstone personally. Celtic’s defence overall was the problem, albeit Johnston was a constant in the side, but still a decent player. As Celtic went on to win the league & cup double, he could very much take pride in that, and a lot learnt along the way in his journey at Celtic.
Season 2024/25
[…]
Quotes
“Yep… it’s official. I’m going to need a new phone!”
Alistair Johnton (Dec 2022)
“When a club like Celtic come calling it will turn any footballer’s head.”
Alistair Johnston
‘I had a little chat with Josip after the game and he is a good lad ‘He brought the Celtic situation up a little bit to me, but that’s a conversation I can hopefully have with him in a little more detail in the future.’
Alistair Johnston on speaking to his Celtic predecessor (Juranovic) at the World Cup when Canada faced Croatia (Dec 2022)
“I thought he handled himself really well up against a really good player in Ryan Kent. There’s more to come from him obviously. Defensively he worked really hard for us and I think as the weeks go on, and he gets more adjusted to our play, the attacking side of his game will come through too.”
Postecoglu after Johnston’s debut in 2-2 v Sevco (Jan 2023)
“The Celtic fans nearly broke my phone!”
New signing Alistair Johnston says the support from Celtic fans have made it a special welcoming. (Dec 2022)
“It’s been everything I’ve wanted & more. In terms of the pressure, the pressure to win, the pressure to represent Celtic on & off the field every single moment of the day. I’ve learned to live with that.”
Alistair Johnston (March 2023)
“When you play with a guy like Jota on your wing in front then it makes it easier, or when Cameron is covering your shoulder and Callum is inside, they make my life easy. They make me look like a much better player than I am.”
Alistair Johnston (Apr 2023)
“From the moment I spoke to him I knew he’d do for me,”
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou of right-back Alistair Johnston (Apr 2023)
“Alistair Johnston has got the feeling now of scoring goals so he’s hungry. But he’s top class, he’s a real leader, very strong defensively and a tough boy mentally.”
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers on Alistair Johnstone who has grabbed some goals of late (Oct 2024)
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Playing Career
[Table to indicate clubs played for, including dates, transfers and fees where known [e.g. soccerbase table]]
| APPEARANCES (subs) |
LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 2022-23 | |||||
| Goals | |||||
| 2023-24 | |||||
| Goals | |||||
| 2024-25 | |||||
| Goals | |||||
| Goals | |||||
| Total | |||||
| Goals |
Honours with Celtic
(Honours are marked below in which the player has played in at least one of the matches in the campaign.)
Scottish League
- […]
Scottish Cup
- […]
Scottish League Cup
- […]
Pictures
Forums
Articles
Links
- Twitter: @_a_johnston
Notes
Articles
Celtic have confirmed the signing of Canada’s World Cup star Alistair Johnston from MLS side CF Montreal.
Joel Sked
By Joel Sked
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/celtic-sign-alistair-johnston-length-of-deal-when-he-will-arrive-biggest-clubs-in-the-world-3941052
The 24-year-old has signed a five-year deal and will join up with his new team-mates at the end of next week following his exploits in Qatar. He started all three of Canada’s games and impressed against Eden Hazard.
Ange Postecoglou admitted his delight at the signing, the second this month following Yuki Kobayashi, and revealed where he expects Johnston to play.
“I’m delighted,” he told the Celtic website. “He’s someone we identified pretty early on as somebody we think can add to our club. He’s had an interesting career path where he’s had to work very hard to get to where he is, and we’re very happy to conclude the deal and knowing he was going to the World Cup, I think he performed well there as well. He’s really keen to come across and take the next step in his career, and I think he’ll be a great fit in our dressing-room.
“He’s predominantly played on the right side of defence, at centre-back or right-back. He’s very good technically, very good going forward and also a really strong competitor and he doesn’t mind the physical aspects of the game, and as I said, I think he’ll add something to our club.”
Johnston, whose mum is from Northern Ireland, called the move a “perfect fit”, admitting it was a transfer which turned his head.
He told Celtic TV: “When a club like Celtic comes calling, it will turn any footballer’s head, and especially for myself, growing up in a British household, Celtic was one of the clubs that is near and dear to our hearts. And for me, it’s one of the biggest clubs in the world. Just to hear that this was a club that was interested in me, and to see the project the coaching staff have and the progress that this team and this club continues to make in Europe as well, it’s really exciting.
“Ange really was the one who sold me on it. You want to go somewhere that, not only do you feel that you’re a part of something and you feel that you’re wanted, but at the same time, it’s a good sporting fit as well.”
New Celtic signing ready to fight for his place after being likened to Cesar Azpilicueta
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/new-celtic-signing-ready-to-fight-for-his-place-after-being-likened-to-cesar-azpilicueta-3951424
Alistair Johnston insisted he is ready to fight for his place at Celtic after meeting the teammate he has been tipped to replace during his World Cup exploits with Canada.
Matthew Elder
By Matthew Elder
The 24-year-old defender signed a five-year deal in joining from Montreal and is fresh from representing his country at the tournament in Qatar, where he played against Hoops full-back Josip Juranovic in a 4-1 defeat to Croatia.
Johnston’s arrival means Celtic now have three right-backs on the books, although Juranovic has been linked with a big-money move away from the club in January after some terrific performances in Qatar. Scotland defender Anthony Ralston is also standing in Johnston’s way, however, the new recruit stressed he is ready to challenge for a first-team spot – whether Juranovic stays or goes.
“I did actually talk to (Juranovic) after (the game) and said hello,” Johnston said. “He was really good about coming to find me after a big 4-1 win for them. He is a great player.
“Nothing is going to be given (at Celtic), everything will be earned. That is something all aspiring footballers want, an opportunity, and that is something the coaching staff has been very strong about, that we are trying to play a certain way and we want to bring in some young, talented players that have an edge to them.
“I fit that mould but the other two right-backs have that as well but I am here to fight for my place and hopefully earn some minutes.
“It is very attacking at Celtic. It is exactly how I like to play the game. It is a good fit for me. It is a match made in heaven for me, so it was a pretty easy decision.”
Johnston revealed Canada head coach John Herdman has likened him to Chelsea and Spain defender Cesar Azpilicueta.
“The ability to play in a back three, a back four, a back five, that flexibility that he brings, super-consistent,” he added.
“Definitely I have a lot of physicality to me. I just love to defend and that is something that everyone will see.
“For me, putting in a big tackle is just as good as getting on the end of a cross. That is what you will see from me. I live to defend.”
Johnston revealed he has been hit with an “outpouring of love” from Celtic fans since joining a club that he grew up watching on the other side of the pond.
“My dad’s side is English and Scottish and my mum was born in Northern Ireland. Growing up in a UK household, football was our main sport. We played some hockey in the winter which brought a bit of grit. You can’t not do that when living in Canada, you have to play some hockey.
“So my entire childhood was waking up watching the Premier League and Champions League and of course, seeing Celtic in some of those big nights.
“For me it’s always been one of those clubs I’ve been drawn to. I always looked at it like this, if there is a full slate of games on in the Champions League and Celtic are playing at home, I want to watch Celtic, it doesn’t matter who they are playing.
“It’s just to see the atmosphere because you can tell how much more it means to the fanbase and what those European nights are like.
“We have a couple of players with the national team and they said the league is a blast and Celtic are the cream of the crop. I’ve only heard glowing reviews and it’s cool to live out that childhood fantasy.”
Asked about his early days as a Celt, Johnston added: “It has been hectic. I tweeted about it a couple of times but it is no joke, the Celtic fans almost broke my phone, just the outpouring of love has been pretty crazy. That, doubled up with participating in a World Cup at the same time, it is a crazy time in my life. I am super-excited to get here.
“Everyone has been so warm and welcoming. Even just walking around the town centre people have been coming up and saying, ‘congratulations, you have signed for the biggest club in the world’. It has been a unique and special welcome.”
QatarCanada
What Alistair Johnston had to say about his Celtic debut against Rangers
https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/what-alistair-johnston-had-to-say-about-his-celtic-debut-against-rangers-3972585
Alistair Johnston reflected on the “unbelievable passion” of the Celtic fans and the drive and hunger of his team-mates after making his debut at Ibrox.
By Angus Wright
With Anthony Ralston injured and Josip Juranovic less than 100 per cent fit, the Canada international was thrust into his first appearance in one of the biggest matches of the cinch Premiership season. The 24-year-old helped Celtic to a 2-2 draw which keeps them nine points and 20 goals clear of Rangers at the top of the table.
“It’s the one that every single footballer dreams of,” he said on the club’s official website. “You want to go in and play the biggest matches, and there’s not really a bigger match than that in the entire world of football. That’s right up there with the atmosphere, the intensity, the passion from both fanbases – it was immense. And though it wasn’t the result we wanted in the end, we’re happy that we were able to get something out of it at the end and send our fans home with something to hold on to.
“I knew my family have been going a little too crazy if I let them know that I was starting, so I wanted them to wake up at 7am over there to check their phones and see me in the starting line-up and let them enjoy that moment and let me focus on the match. I think they’ll be pretty excited for me and obviously happy with seeing their son, seeing their brother out there. It was an unbelievable experience and once you get a little bit of that taste, you just want more so I can’t wait for the next match already.”
That match will come at Celtic Park on Saturday when Kilmarnock are the visitors. “Even just the 750, there was unbelievable noise, unbelievable passion,” he said. “You can just see what it means to them – every goal, every tackle – so to think about playing in front of 60,000 at Celtic Park is pretty cool. I’ve actually been able to experience a couple of them now, being up in the players’ lounge watching them, but to be out there, hopefully on the field or on the bench, it will be that next level that every player aspires to be a part of, and it will be a dream come true for myself.”
Celtic fought back to claim a point when Kyogo Furuhashi netted in the 88th minute and Johnston got an insight into the mentality of the team. “Even when we scored that second one, the older lads were saying, ‘we’ve got to push for another one’,” he said. “And as the younger players and newer players in the group coming through, when you see that drive and hunger to constantly pick up three points in every single match, and that drive to say it’s not over until it’s over, it just fills you with that confidence and that belief that anything is possible.”
Ange Postecoglou gives Alistair Johnson Celtic debut verdict and reiterates ‘they are human beings’ after letting standards slip
Celtic manager Ange Postecolgou issued a ‘more to come’ pledge over debutant Alistair Johnston after handing the 24-year-old a surprise first start in the white-hot derby atmosphere at Ibrox.
Andrew Smith
By Andrew Smith
The £3million signing from CF Montreal – pitched in at right-back despite Josip Juranoic’s availability – proved one of the more effective performers for the visitors across a topsy-turvy 2-2 draw, a contest that required them to fashion a closing minutes equaliser despite storming into an early lead.
As Celtic “lost their way”, as Postecoglou conceded, through Rangers netting twice across the early minutes of the second period, Johnston stuck to his tasks. And his manager accorded him credit for that as he acknowledged he hardly afforded him the most straightforward introduction into the Scottish game.
“I thought he was good,” Postecoglou said of Johnston’s first outing. “It’s a difficult game to throw him into. Not only is it a derby, it’s away from home and also we all knew it was a big game for a number of reasons. For the most part, he handled himself really well. He was solid defensively. He was up against a very good player in Ryan Kent.
Alistair Johnston made his Celtic debut and manager Ange Postecoglou was impressed with his performance.
“For the most part, I thought he handled it really well, but there is more to come from him, especially in an attacking sense once he gets to understand our game. He won’t get a sterner test than that as a Celtic player. He came through it really well.”
Postecoglou’s assessment of his team’s endeavours across the afternoon was hardly glowing. Yet, he had commendations over their rustling up of an 87th-minute Kyogo Furuhashi equaliser that allowed them to emerge from the confrontation with their nine-point cinch Premiership lead intact.
“It was a cracking game of football; a good derby,” he said. “Both teams were going at it. We started really well and then just lost our way a little bit. The last 10/15 minutes of the first half we were giving the ball away unnecessarily, uncharacteristically for us without a great deal of pressure. That allowed them to get that little bit of belief and obviously they came out at the start of the second half really strong. We struggled to get to grips but again, when it was required, the players found the will and character to get the goal later to get us a result.
“They are human beings, they are not going to be perfect all the time. The beauty of it is within that context they still found a way because at 2-1 it would have been easy, with the crowd the way it was and the way the game was going for us, to resign ourselves to our fate – ‘it is not our day’ – but this group of players never do that and they didn’t today.”
Alistair Johnston lifts lid on his Celtic ‘struggles’ that were hidden from the ‘outside world’
When Celtic sold Josip Juranovic to Union Berlin for £7.5m in January it was clear that they had already secured a ready-made replacement for less than half the price.
Matthew Elder
By Matthew Elder
Published 27th Jun 2023, 22:30 BST
Alistair Johnston had only made a handful of appearances for the club following his £3m move from Montreal in the MLS on the back of competing in the World Cup with Canada when fellow right-back Juranovic completed his flit to the Bundesliga.
But it was clear even after his first couple of games – which included an impressive Old Firm debut in the 2-2 against Rangers at Ibrox on January 2 – that Johnston had all the tools required to win over the Celtic support and help them forget about losing a World Cup semi-finalist. Perhaps not as technically gifted as the man he replaced, but arguably stronger in other areas, including the key defensive attributes of tackling, heading and simply getting stuck in.
While Juranovic undoubtedly showed his quality at Celtic – and for his country during the tournament in Qatar – the fact his absence has not been keenly felt is testament to the ease with which Johnston settled into the side, although the 24-year-old from Vancouver insists outside perceptions can be deceiving.
Johnston not only had to adjust to the demands of playing for Celtic, he also had to learn a new position – becoming an inverted full-back in Ange Postecoglou’s preferred system – and he admitted that things were not always plain sailing for him despite lifting three trophies in his first six months at the club.
“It’s been a great fit for me,” Johnston said. “No matter who was coming in, and Tony [Ralston] has done a great job at full-back, I like how I’ve played so far. But I think there’s another level to come with my game.
“Look, I think there’s still levels to my game I haven’t shown yet and that’s kind of exciting for me. I was still understanding the system [last season].
“That’s what the [last] manager preached. He told me the first six months would be difficult, a new system and a completely different way to play the position.
“But he felt once I got a pre-season under my belt I would be feeling a lot more comfortable. And I am feeling that. As well as people in the outside world think it’s gone, there have still been difficulties and struggles in the system.”
Johston will now have to adjust again as Brendan Rodgers looks to imprint his own style on the side as he returns for a second spell in charge of the club.
“I’m lucky, I’ve got a really got a good group of guys and coaching staff to help me,” he added. “Tony, Greg [Taylor], all these guys, have shown me the ropes. They’ve helped make the transition as easy as possible.
“Coming to a country where I don’t feel out of place also has helped. The year before they’d said the Japanese guys hads come over in a similar situation, having played a full season and then coming to the SPFL it was difficult. They had to learn a whole new language and culture.
“But for me, growing up in a British household, speaks English, it really wasn’t that big a transition.”