Bert Johnson (footballer)

Bert Johnson

Personal information
Full name	William Herbert Johnso
Date of birth	4 June 1916
Place of birth	Stockton-on-Tees, England
Date of death	30 June 2009 (aged 93)
Place of death	Evington, England
Playing position	Wing Half
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1945–1946	Spennymoor United	?	(?)
1946–1953	Charlton Athletic	142	(1)
1953–1955	Bexleyheath & Welling	?	(?)
1955–1959	Cambridge United	?	(?)
Teams managed
1953–1955	Bexleyheath & Welling
1955–1959	Cambridge United
1959–1968	Leicester City (Assistant manager)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:53, 12 August 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (goals)

William Albert "Bert" Johnson (4 June 1916 – 30 June 2009), was an English football player, manager and highly influential coach who played as a wing half in the Football League. He played in both the 1946 FA Cup Final for Charlton Athletic.

However, he is perhaps most noted as an influential coach at Leicester City under Matt Gillies. He was originally signed by Gillies as head scout in 1959, but soon become Gillies assistant manager. He was influential in the signing of both Dave Gibson and Mike Stringfellow, both of whom would become key figure in Leicester's success during the 1960s. Johnson is often credited as having come up with a tactical innovation of switching the positions of Frank McLintock and Graham Cross, upsetting the traditional 1-11 formation. This hugely influenced Liverpool manager Bill Shankly.^[1]

Gillies said on the innovation: "confused opposition" as opposition players would often be asked to mark "our [Leicester's] number eight, so they thought Cross was their man, when McLintock had replaced him" as "players hadn't got beyond thinking about numbers then."^[2]

References

1. Ex-Leicester City coach Bert Johnson dies aged 93 thisisleicestershire.co.uk, retrieved 4 April 2011
2. Leicester City Official History DVD (2004)

External links

• Bert Johnson's Career