Liverpool FC Forum

by **laza** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 3:30 pm

COMMENT | By Ken Sutcliffe
National Nine News sports presenter

Former Liverpool soccer star Craig Johnston lived his life like a whirlwind. In fact, when Craig worked with me during the late 80's early 90's on the Wide World of Sports he was like a rogue Scud missile. But I liked him, and his boundless enthusiasm.

Brought up in Lake Macquarie, NSW, Craig came from a working class background that fuelled his determination to make it in English football. As a 15-year-old, he was signed by Middlesbrough. He performed all the lackey chores, but all the while he was thinking big. He had his eye on Liverpool, and the glamour club had their eye on him. Eventually, they paid out a then-record £570,000 transfer fee for Craig to turn out in the famous red stripe.

He looked good, played great, made lots of money and even scored the winning goal against Everton in the 1986 FA Cup final at Wembley. But today, Craig Johnston is broke, bankrupt and his childhood marriage is in tatters. His once athletic body is bloated, while a photograph at the weekend in a Sunday newspaper with him sitting on a walkway at Gatwick Airport made Craig look like a bum looking for a handout. Sad, so sad.

His estimated £15 million fortune is gone, lost in a litany of bad business deals. Even the much acclaimed Adidas predator soccer boot, which Craig invented and designed, is no longer his. I remember saying to Craig while testing the protoype at the Parklea soccer academy in Sydney with some young players: “Never let this go, even when it makes you a fortune, never let it go," I said to him. Now, the patent has been put up as collateral to pay legal fees.

This may sound like a line out of The Castle but Craig was an ideas man. There was always something going on, his mind darted around like an overactive blowfly. He also had a bit of lair him, but was never offensive.

He once stopped me at the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle. I hardly new Craig at the time, but his first child was about to be born and I was there for Channel 9 news. The brief interview over, Craig reached into his pocket and pulled out a fist-full of rolled up cash and asked me to mind it for him while he went to see his wife.

I think Craig enjoyed the shock value it drew on my face.

When Craig retired from playing soccer 1988, he came home to Australia a hero, and rightly so. He’s worked hard for his success, and had no doubts he had a creative future in business and media ahead of him.

When Wide World of Sports hired the hero we didn't know what hit us, Craig went at a hundred miles an hour and he couldn’t do just one thing at a time, it had to be several.

In the end, Craig move on, returned to England devised a succesful TV show called The Main Event, invented a security system and wrote a song called the Anfield Rap, which went on to number three on the UK charts.

But all the time Craig sailed closed to the edge, and now at 44-years of age he's slipped over it. I hope he climbs again, listens a bit more and eases up on the accelerator.

© National Nine News 2004

by **JBG** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 5:16 pm

Craig Johnston was a legend.

by **jonnymac1979** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 5:26 pm

Sad tale. Johnston was class.

by **crazyhorse** » Tue Nov 09, 2004 6:06 pm

Sad...

He will be all right in the end.

He is a winner

by **Woollyback** » Tue Nov 16, 2004 7:57 pm

Very sad stuff. Didn't realise he'd gone off the rails

by **Mikz** » Tue Nov 16, 2004 8:10 pm

Sad indeed. I can still remember that goal..Dalglish No Johnston YESSSSS!!

If he works as hard off the pitch as he did on it..he will rise again.

by **1234ram** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 2:50 pm

very sad he used to be a legend

by **Red_Si** » Mon Nov 22, 2004 5:13 pm

Johnston coming out of retirement and p1ssed, would be better than Harry Kewell.

by **azriahmad** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 6:04 am

I remembered Craig as a player who was a bit more on the individualistic side, signed by Bob Paisley in the early 80s. He always tried to do a bit more than necessary and I used to get annoyed with him as he tended to lose possession rather easily. When he became a first team player, he took over Terry Mac's position but did not score as many goals.

We beat Everton 3-1 in the 1986 FA Cup final and scored the second goal off a pass from Molby, I think, and he was first to the ball ahead of Kenny or behind Kenny.

by **Sean** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 11:51 am

He was behind Kenny. You wouldn't have seen Kenny (or anyone else) if Johnston was in front of him coz he had so much hair.

by **woof woof !** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 6:52 pm

Great player for us , I seem to recall that he left us and football (at his peak) to go back to OZ and look after his terminally ill sister.That tells us a lot about the fella's heart . Hope he bounces back to good things .

by **azriahmad** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 4:55 am

Woof, if I am not mistaken, he left before the 1988 FA Cup final against Wimbledon. Partly also because he was never a first team regular.

He is quite a character and yes, he did really have a lot of hair.

by **greenred** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 5:09 am

He was sick of England and the weather etc.Liverpool were the greatest club in the world and he didnt want to join a lesser club.I reckon he just wanted to to the Aussie beach dude thing before he hit his thirties.

by **woof woof !** » Fri Dec 10, 2004 11:48 am

His prime reason for leaving was his sisters illness.
I,ve just checked his biography,had to laugh ,his first game for the middlesbrough youth team the then mgr Jack Charlton came into the dressing room and had a right go at everybody , he said to Craig ....... "And as for you , you kangaroo !, you can fu ck off right now ! you're the worst player I've ever seen in my life !!! "

by **KennyisGod....still** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 4:46 pm

Quite simply the best Aussie footballer to grace English shores. End of.

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Craig johnston - Fallen red

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