Coordinates: 55°50′05″N 4°30′10″W / 55.83461°N 4.50272°W / 55.83461; -4.50272

Johnstone
Scottish Gaelic: Baile Iain
Scots: Johnstoun
Johnstone  Johnstone shown within Renfrewshire
Population	15,687 [1]
OS grid reference	NS434628
Council area	Renfrewshire
Lieutenancy area	Renfrewshire
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	JOHNSTONE
Postcode district	PA5
Dialling code	01505
Police	Strathclyde
Fire	Strathclyde
Ambulance	Scottish
EU Parliament	Scotland
UK Parliament	Paisley and Renfrewshire South
Scottish Parliament	West Renfrewshire
	West of Scotland
List of places: UK • Scotland •

Johnstone (Scots: Johnstoun,^[2] Scottish Gaelic: Baile Iain)^[3] is a town in the council area of Renfrewshire and larger historic county of the same name in the west central Lowlands of Scotland.

The town lies three miles west of neighbouring Paisley and twelve miles west of the centre of the city of Glasgow.^[4] Part of the biggest conurbation in Scotland, Johnstone is at the western edge of the Greater Glasgow Urban Area.

The town was a planned community created in the latter half of the 18th century by the local Laird, George Ludovic Houston who held an estate in the town, the remains of which are known as Johnstone Castle. Industrial development brought coal mining, thread-making and cotton weaving to Johnstone causing it to grow considerably in size, expanding out in the 1930s with a number of newly build residential areas which addressed the problem of population density in the historic area of the town. Today it supports a small commercial centre and serves as a commuter settlement for Paisley and Glasgow.

History[link]

Houston Square with bandstand and fountain gifted by the Laird, George Ludovic Houston, in 1891.^[4]

Johnstone was largely a planned community which grew up around the house of Easter Cochrane, later known as Johnstone Castle, seat of the Houston or Houstoun family who gained their name from the nearby village of Houston. In 1782, the Laird, George Houstoun, commissioned designs for a series of regular residential streets which now form the town centre. At this early stage of development, the town’s population including the local estate and rural hinterland was around 1,500. ^[4] Two mirroring civic squares were also constructed in the town: Houstoun Square and Ludovic Square,^[5] and by 1794 the town had gained its current parish church.^[6] Johnstone was raised to the status of a police burgh with significant local powers, a status which is now defunct.^[7]

Industrial development brought both prosperity and poverty to the community. Coal mining occurred in Johnstone, although its main industry was related to the thread and cotton industries, with mills powered by the Black Cart Water which runs to the north of Johnstone.^[5] As the community expanded, slum conditions formed in part of the town: the population by 1831 had increased to a sizeable 5,600. ^[4] This was addressed in the 1930s by a significant expansion of the size of Johnstone to include a number of purpose-built residential estates.

Much of Johnstone’s feudal heritage has disappeared. With the death of the last Laird in 1931, Johnstone Castle found some other uses before falling into disrepair and being largely demolished. ^[4]

Education[link]

Johnstone High Parish Church

Thorn Public School, as it was originally called, opened in 1904 on a site that is now occupied by a housing estate, Thornhill Gardens and was demolished in 1990 and a new Thorn Primary School opened in 1988.

In 1950 St. David's Primary School was built along with its sister school Cochrane Castle Primary School. In 2007 the two schools were housed in a new shared building just outside Thomas Shanks Public Park. Embedded within Cochrane Castle is the Cochrane Castle Golf Club, which once held the world record for the longest hole.

Johnstone High School opened on its present site in March 1965, the previous building having burnt down in 1960. Where the old school stood in Ludovic Square there is now a modern health centre.

In 1967 St. Cuthbert's High School ^[8] was built and established. The school closed at the end of the summer term 2006 along with St. Brendan's High School in Linwood due to falling rolls and the buildings poor state of repair, they were replaced by a new build St. Benedict's High School, named after the present Pope. The old St. Cuthbert's building has been used to house several schools (including Johnstone High School) while their own premises are being refurbished.

Transport[link]

Neighbouring towns, villages and places.

	Brookfield	Linwood	Paisley
	Kilbarchan		Elderslie
		Johnstone    East
	Howwood	Gleniffer Braes	Gleniffer Braes

Air[link]

Johnstone is served by Glasgow International Airport, which is located to 3.5 miles northeast of the town. As well, Prestwick International Airport is a 30-40 minute train journey from Johnstone railway station.

Road[link]

A dual carriageway, the A737 connects Johnstone to the M8 motorway to provide car transport links to central Scotland.

Bus Services[link]

Arriva Scotland West is the main operator in Johnstone.The services it provides are shown

• 17/17A: Spateston-Johnstone Centre-Paisley-Glasgow (via Clyde Tunnel and Partick)
• 20: Spateston-Johnstone Centre-Paisley-Gallowhill (via Elderslie and the Royal Alexandria Hospital)
• 36/36E: Kilbarchan-Johnstone Centre-Paisley/Glasgow (Service 36E operates every evening and all day Sunday via Elderslie Scheme)
• 38/38E: Spateston-Cochrane Castle-Paisley/Glasgow (Service 38E operates every evening and all day Sunday via Johnstone Centre)
• 800: Glasgow Airport - Paisley-Johnstone Centre-Beith-Largs (evening services terminate in Johnstone)

Other services are provided by many other operators.They are as follows:

• 1: Johnstone - Johnstone Castle : Key Coaches
• 1: Johnstone - Kilmacolm : Riverside Transport
• 2: Johnstone - Elderslie Scheme : Key Coaches
• 4: Johnstone - Lochwinnoch : Key Coaches
• 6/7: Johnstone - Linwood Cirular : Riverside Transport
• 6: Johnstone - Silverburn : First Glasgow
• X6a: Johnstone - Glasgow : McGill's
• 8: Johnstone - Paisley : Riverside Transport
• 36A: Johnstone - Paisley : Fereneze
• 306: Johnstone - Howwood : Slaemuir Coaches
• 307: Johnstone - Lochwinnoch : Slaemuir Coaches and Avondale

Rail[link]

Johnstone is linked to Glasgow Central, Paisley and the Ayrshire coast by the Johnstone railway station which is located at the east of the town on Thorn Brae. A second unmanned station Milliken Park railway station lies at the west end of the town, just off the Cochranemill road. The railway line runs through the cutting of the old Glasgow-Ardrossan canal, although the route of the canal runs under the original bridge, Dick's Bridge, at the bottom of the Thorn Brae, where the canal basin was situated and in winter, the rim of the canal basin sometimes becomes visible.

It may be noted that a second railway line ran through the town serving the villages of Kilbarchan, Bridge of Weir, and Kilmacolm; the line now forms part of the Clyde to Forth cycle route (National Cycle Route 75). It had a station serving the Northern, more industrial areas of town, Johnstone North railway station.

Notable inhabitants[link]

• Tommy Bryce - professional footballer
• Hunter Davies - journalist, author and broadcaster
• Renee Houston - music hall and comedy actress; born in Johnstone in 1902, attended St. Margaret's Primary School in Johnstone
• Phyllis Logan - actress; attended Johnstone High School in the 1970s
• John Pitcairn, Jr. - Scottish-American industrialist; born in Johnstone, emigrated to the United States, aged five
• George Reid - politician, former Prime Minister of Australia
• Gordon Ramsay - chef, born in Johnstone
• Peter Tobin - serial killer, born in Johnstone in 1946
• Jim Leighton - professional footballer, attended St.Cuthberts Secondary in Johnstone
• Annie McGuire - BBC Journalist, born in Elderslie, attended St.Cuthberts Secondary in Johnstone
• Sir George Houston Reid - 4th Prime Minister of Australia. 18 August 1904 – 5 July 1905 George Reid was Prime Minister for ten months and 17 days. He was our first federal Leader of the Opposition and the federal government’s first High Commissioner to the UK.
• Tommy Turner - professional footballer
• John Deans - professional footballer

See also[link]

• Johnstone Burgh F.C..

External links[link]

• Johnstone Community Council
• Pubs and Bars in Johnstone

References[link]

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Jimmy Johnstone

Statue of Johnstone outside Celtic Park
Personal information
Full name	James Connolly Johnstone
Date of birth	(1944-09-30)30 September 1944
Place of birth	Viewpark, Scotland
Date of death	13 March 2006(2006-03-13) (aged 61)
Place of death	Uddingston, Scotland
Height	1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Outside right
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1961–1975	Celtic	308	(82)
1975	San Jose Earthquakes	10	(0)
1975–1977	Sheffield United	11	(2)
1977	Dundee	3	(0)
1977–1978	Shelbourne	9	(0)
1978–1979	Elgin City	18	(2)
National team
1964–1974	Scotland	23	(4)
1964–1970	Scottish League XI	4	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

James Connolly "Jimmy" Johnstone (30 September 1944 – 13 March 2006) was a Scottish football player. Johnstone was best known for his time with Celtic, and was voted their best ever player by the club's fans in 2002.^[1] He scored 129 goals for Celtic in 515 appearances.^[1]

Born in Viewpark, South Lanarkshire, the youngest of five children, Johnstone grew up at the family home on Old Edinburgh Road, directly across from Robertson Park, the home of local Junior side Thorniewood United FC. After being spotted by Celtic and Manchester United scouts at age 13, he chose to sign with Celtic.

Club career[link]

Celtic[link]

Johnstone was one of the "Lisbon Lions", the team that won the then European Cup for Celtic in 1967. Jock Stein had instilled in the team the conviction that they could beat the superstars of Internazionale, Johnstone expected that Celtic would "get gubbed". He later recalled: "There they were, Facchetti, Domenghini, Mazzola, Cappellini; all six-footers wi' Ambre Solaire suntans, Colgate smiles and sleek-backed hair. Each and every wan o' them looked like yon film star Cesar Romero. They even smelt beautiful. And there's us lot: midgets. Ah've got nae teeth, Bobby Lennox hasnae any, and old Ronnie Simpson's got the full monty, nae teeth top an' bottom. The Italians are staring doon at us an' we're grinnin' back up at 'em wi' our great gumsy grins. We must have looked like something out o' the circus."^{[citation needed]}

In the tunnel before the game, legend has it that he and Bertie Auld led a Celtic chorus of The Celtic Song much to the bemusement of the Inter players.

In the end, the Italian side had no answer to the free-flowing total football of Stein's Celtic, exemplified by Johnstone, a style in polar opposition to Internazionale's defensive Catenaccio style which had dominated European football. Johnstone described the Celtic style as "like the Dutch speeded-up". In the immediate aftermath of the Lisbon victory Celtic formed the opposition in the testimonial game for the Real Madrid player Alfredo Di Stéfano. Johnstone's performance was such that the Real supporters began to cry "Olé!" every time he dribbled past one of their own team's players.^[2] Referring to his encounter with Johnstone in the 1970 European Cup semi-final, in what was billed at the time as the football "Battle of Britain", Terry Cooper of Leeds United described Johnstone as "my nightmare", such was the quality of his opponent's play.

In all he made 308 League appearances for The Bhoys, scoring 82 goals. He also played another 207 times for them in the Scottish Cup, League Cup and in Europe, for an overall total of 515 matches.^[3]

Later career[link]

He played for the San Jose Earthquakes of the North American Soccer League before moving to England in 1975, signing for Sheffield United. Johnstone also played for Dundee, Shelbourne and Elgin City before retiring.

International career[link]

Johnstone won 23 caps for the Scottish international side.^[4]

Later life[link]

Johnstone's dry wit was in evidence when the Lisbon Lions were paraded at Celtic Park on the 25th anniversary of their triumph in the European Cup. In an aside, Paul McStay, the then Celtic captain, asked Johnstone who he thought would win if the 1967 team was to play the team of 1992. Johnstone paused to consider for a moment, then replied that he thought it would be a draw. McStay suggested that perhaps the veteran was being kind to the current team. Johnstone explained -"well, you've got to remember that we're all in our fifties now!"

A documentary about Johnstone's life titled Lord of the Wing first aired on the BBC in 2004. The film, narrated by Billy Connolly, includes footage of his footballing highlights, as well as numerous tributes from the world of football.^{[citation needed]}

In June 2005, Johnstone became the first living person since the time of the Tsars to have a Fabergé Egg designed in his honour. The egg was designed by Carl Fabergé's granddaughter Sarah [1] and was unveiled at the British House of Commons in June 2006. The entire collection of nineteen limited edition eggs sold out within days.

Motor neurone disease and death[link]

Johnstone was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in November 2001. To raise funds for charity and to raise awareness of the disease, he launched a new version of the song "Dirty Old Town" together with Jim Kerr of Simple Minds.

Jimmy Johnstone statue at Viewpark Memorial garden by John McKenna sculptor

Johnstone died in March 2006.^[5] The last person to call him was old Rangers rival, Willie Henderson, who had become a firm friend of Johnstone. Thousands of Celtic fans, and fans of many other clubs, including those of arch-rivals Rangers paid tribute to his memory outside Celtic Park on St Patrick's Day, the day of his funeral service. Tributes were paid to Johnstone before the 2006 Scottish League Cup Final, played between Celtic and Dunfermline.^[6] There was a minute of applause before the game and the entire Celtic squad wore the number 7 on their shorts in his honour.^[6]

In 2011 a statue of Jimmy Johnstone and a memorial garden were created on the site at his former school, close to his home, on the Old Edinburgh Road, Viewpark, Uddingston. The garden was opened by Jimmy Johnstone's wife, family and some of the surviving members of the 'Lisbon Lions' team. The bronze life size statue was made by sculptor John McKenna.^[7]

Career statistics[link]

Honours[link]

• European Cup (1)
• Scottish Premier League (9)
• Scottish Cup (4)
• Scottish League Cup (5)

References[link]

External links[link]

• / Jimmy Johnstone's football academy
• Jimmy Johnstone's official site

v t e Scotland squad – 1974 FIFA World Cup 1 Harvey 2 Jardine 3 McGrain 4 Bremner (c) 5 Holton 6 Blackley 7 Johnstone 8 Dalglish 9 Jordan 10 Hay 11 Lorimer 12 Allan 13 Stewart 14 Buchan 15 Cormack 16 Donachie 17 Ford 18 Hutchison 19 Law 20 Morgan 21 McQueen 22 Schaedler Coach: Ormond

Aiden McGeady

Personal information
Full name	Aiden McGeady
Date of birth	(1986-04-04) 4 April 1986 (age 26)
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Winger
Club information
Current club	Spartak Moscow
Number	8
Youth career
2000–2001	Queen's Park
2001–2004	Celtic
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004–2010	Celtic	185	(31)
2010–	Spartak Moscow	42	(5)
National team‡
2004–	Republic of Ireland	48	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 May 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 26 May 2012

Aiden McGeady playing for Celtic against Dinamo Moscow

Aiden McGeady opening Gweedore Celtic's new pitch

Aiden McGeady (born 4 April 1986) is a footballer who currently plays as a winger for Russian club Spartak Moscow and the Republic of Ireland national football team. He started his career at Scottish Premier League club Celtic before moving to Russia in 2010 for £9.5 million. This made him the most expensive player to be sold by a Scottish club.

McGeady was born in Scotland but chose to play internationally for Ireland. He qualifies to play for them through his grandparents. He helped his country qualify for UEFA Euro 2012 and manager Giovanni Trapattoni named him in his squad for the tournament. His father John McGeady was also a professional footballer.

Club career[link]

Celtic[link]

McGeady ascended through the ranks of the youth and reserve teams of Scottish Premier League club Celtic. He was handed his senior debut on 24 April 2004 aged 18 in a league game against Hearts at Tynecastle late in the 2003–04 season. He started the match and marked it with a goal after 17 minutes. He made his UEFA Champions League debut the next season in a game against Italian side AC Milan and made the breakthrough into the first-team that same season, with 27 appearances in the league as Celtic finished runners up in Martin O'Neill's final season with the club.

McGeady's 2005–06 season was hampered by a persistent knee injury and he struggled to secure a starting place ahead of Shaun Maloney and Shunsuke Nakamura, but still managed to make 19 appearances over the course of the season as Celtic easily won the league title.

The 2006–07 season saw Maloney leave Celtic for Aston Villa in January 2007, giving McGeady an opportunity, and the player blossomed. He was a mainstay in the Celtic team that again won the SPL championship and also qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time in club history, defeating Manchester United, Benfica and Copenhagen in the group stage before losing 1–0 to eventual champions AC Milan in extra time.

The 2007–08 season was McGeady's annus mirabilis, earning him praise from the media, fans and fellow players.^[1] One of his most memorable performances came against Aberdeen, scoring a goal and setting up three, including a second goal for striker Scott McDonald with a 360-degree turn and cross. He continued to provide goals for his team, most importantly Scott McDonald's equalising goal against rivals Rangers, a match that Celtic went on to win 3–2 which proved to be crucial in Celtic's successful defence of their title. Throughout the season, he contributed a total of eight goals and 24 assists and was awarded the SPFA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year on 20 April 2008, only the second player ever to receive both awards in the same season (the first was Shaun Maloney in 2006), as voted by his fellow players. The club reached the knockout stages of the Champions League for a second consecutive season and won the league title for the third year in a row, overhauling Rangers with one week left and winning at Dundee United on the final day of the season to clinch the trophy.

McGeady entered in 2008–09 as Celtic's star player but his performances suffered as Celtic endured a poor second half to the season. On 16 December 2008, after a much-publicised dressing room row with manager Gordon Strachan, McGeady was fined two weeks' wages and suspended for two matches,^[2] although Strachan later denied any fall-out between him and McGeady.^[3] Celtic finished runners up to Rangers on the final day of the season and Strachan resigned soon after.

2009–10 began well for McGeady as he scored two goals against Aberdeen on the opening day of the season. Under new manager Tony Mowbray, the team's form was poor for much of the season, which led to Mowbray being sacked in March. McGeady enjoyed an improved season, staying injury-free while contributing seven goals and 16 assists in 34 appearances. Former teammate Neil Lennon took over as interim manager after Mowbray's departure. Ross County knocked Celtic out of the Scottish Cup and Celtic ended the season trophyless for the first time since 2003, having finished in second place in the SPL.

Spartak Moscow[link]

In early August 2010, Celtic accepted an offer of around £9.5 million from Russian side Spartak Moscow and McGeady travelled to Moscow for talks.^[4] On 13 August, McGeady completed his move to Spartak, signing a four-and-half-year contract.^[5] The move made McGeady the most expensive export in the history of Scottish football.^[5] On 11 September, McGeady made his league debut against Saturn in a 2–1 win.^[6] On 24 September, he scored his first goal for Spartak in a 2–2 draw at home to Amkar.^[7] In the last game of the season, McGeady was sent off for a late challenge on Marcin Kowalczyk in the derby against Dynamo Moscow.^[8] On 9 December 2010, the Russian Football Union named its list of 33 top players, placing McGeady as second best right winger^[9] despite joining the club mid-season.

International career[link]

McGeady played for Scotland Schools while at Queen's Park. He played in an under-13 World Cup tournament in Paris.^[10] After Queen's Park he joined Celtic, who had a policy of not permitting their youths to play for their school teams due to conflicting kick off times. Scotland had a rule which would not permit a player who did not play for their school team to be considered for a call-up to Scotland Schools selects.^[11]

The Republic of Ireland had no such rule preventing a player from being selected and instructed former Celtic player Packie Bonner, who knew of McGeady's Irish heritage, to invite McGeady to play for the Republic of Ireland Under-15 Schoolboys team. McGeady qualifies for Ireland through his paternal grandparents, who hail from the Gaeltacht area of Gweedore, County Donegal.^[12][13] McGeady accepted the offer and joined the Irish youth setup. McGeady was later named in a Scotland under-16 squad, but declined, citing his experience of the Irish set up, despite attempts to persuade him to do so by Scotland head coach Berti Vogts.^[10][12]

McGeady made his full debut for the Republic of Ireland in July 2004 against Jamaica.^[14] He has made over 40 appearances for Ireland, being called up by manager Giovanni Trapattoni in each of his squads and featuring often. However, he lost his place in the starting line-up during the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.^[15]

On 26 March 2011, McGeady scored his first goal for Ireland in the Aviva Stadium against Macedonia in Euro 2012 qualifier, with Ireland winning 2-1.^[16] On the 7 October 2011, McGeady scored his second international goal against Andorra thanks to a defletion off the Andorra defender to make the game 2–0.^[17] In the first leg of the UEFA Euro 2012 play-off against Estonia, McGeady provided the assist for the first goal when his cross found the head of Keith Andrews who scored. The game finished 4–0 to Ireland. ^[18]

McGeady was named in Trapattoni's 23 man squad for the 2012 European Championships in Poland and Ukraine.^[19] McGeady came off the bench at a half time in a warm-up match against Bosnia and Herzegovina on 26 May 2012, hitting the post with his first touch and later provided the assist for Shane Long's winning goal.^[20]

International goals[link]

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	26 March 2011	Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland	Macedonia	1–0	2–1	Euro 2012 qualifying
2	7 October 2011	Estadi Comunal d'Aixovall, Andorra	Andorra	2–0	2–0	Euro 2012 qualifying

Career statistics[link]

As of 18 May 2012

Honours[link]

Club[link]

Celtic

• Scottish Premier League (3): 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08
• Scottish League Cup (2): 2005–06, 2008–09
• Scottish Cup (2): 2004–05, 2006–07

Minor[link]

• Reserve Scottish Premier League (3): 2002, 2003, 2004
• Under 19 Scottish Premier League (2): 2003, 2004
• Scottish Youth Cup (1): 2003

Individual[link]

• Celtic FC Young Player of the Year (3): 2005, 2006, 2007
• Celtic FC Fans Player of the Year (1): 2008
• Celtic FC Players' Player of the Year (2): 2008, 2010
• SPFA Players' Player of the Year (1): 2008
• SPFA Young Player of the Year (1): 2008
• BBC Sportsound Player of the Year (1): 2008
• Clydesdale Bank Young Player of the Year (1): 2008
• Scottish Premier League Player of the Month (3): December 2004, November 2007, February 2008
• Scottish Premier League Young Player of the Month (4): March 2005, November 2005, August 2006, September 2006
• Eircom Republic of Ireland Young Player of the Year (1): 2009

References[link]