Johnny came from a staunch Celtic family and was on their books when WW2 broke out.
Johnny met his wife when he was serving down south as a navigator in the RAF during WW2.
She explained that Johnny was on his way to meet her for a date on the tube when he was stopped by a gentleman who recognised him and who told him that Chelsea were looking for a winger.
That gentleman was John Harris, the Captain of Chelsea. John was late for his date but when he explained why he was forgiven.
Johnny came 'on loan' from Celtic at a time when loans were not allowed so he signed 2 sets of transfer forms for Celtic on the same day, one to Chelsea and an undated set back to Celtic.
He played 23 games and scored 3 goals in the 1946-47 season before returning to Celtic.
His wife didn't like Glasgow, and having seen the bright lights of London Johnny soon took her back south again where he had spells with Brentford and Watford before retiring from playing in 1955.
Between 1955 - 1965 he had spells as manager of both Brentford and the Arsenal "A" team, before working at various times as a press photographer, snooker referee & a sales rep for a biscuit company.
He was guest of honour at Chelsea's centenary dinner in 2005 as, at the time, he was Chelsea's oldest surviving player and the only surviving member of the pre Ted Drake era.
On 1st December 2013 he was invited back to Stamford Bridge for the visit of Southampton, and was brought out on to the pitch at half time and introduced to the crowd.
With the team trailing 1-0, Johnny took the microphone and memorably urged our supporters to roar the team back into the game.
Within four minutes of the restart we were level before going on to win the match 3-1.
Johnny was, and his surviving family still are, staunchly blue and very appreciative of how the Club looked after their former players, sending hampers annually.
Johnny met his wife when he was serving down south as a navigator in the RAF during WW2.
She explained that Johnny was on his way to meet her for a date on the tube when he was stopped by a gentleman who recognised him and who told him that Chelsea were looking for a winger.
That gentleman was John Harris, the Captain of Chelsea. John was late for his date but when he explained why he was forgiven.
Johnny came 'on loan' from Celtic at a time when loans were not allowed so he signed 2 sets of transfer forms for Celtic on the same day, one to Chelsea and an undated set back to Celtic.
He played 23 games and scored 3 goals in the 1946-47 season before returning to Celtic.
His wife didn't like Glasgow, and having seen the bright lights of London Johnny soon took her back south again where he had spells with Brentford and Watford before retiring from playing in 1955.
Between 1955 - 1965 he had spells as manager of both Brentford and the Arsenal "A" team, before working at various times as a press photographer, snooker referee & a sales rep for a biscuit company.
He was guest of honour at Chelsea's centenary dinner in 2005 as, at the time, he was Chelsea's oldest surviving player and the only surviving member of the pre Ted Drake era.
On 1st December 2013 he was invited back to Stamford Bridge for the visit of Southampton, and was brought out on to the pitch at half time and introduced to the crowd.
With the team trailing 1-0, Johnny took the microphone and memorably urged our supporters to roar the team back into the game.
Within four minutes of the restart we were level before going on to win the match 3-1.
Johnny was, and his surviving family still are, staunchly blue and very appreciative of how the Club looked after their former players, sending hampers annually.
Johnny came from a staunch Celtic family and was on their books when WW2 broke out.
Johnny met his wife when he was serving down south as a navigator in the RAF during WW2.
She explained that Johnny was on his way to meet her for a date on the tube when he was stopped by a gentleman who recognised him and who told him that Chelsea were looking for a winger.
That gentleman was John Harris, the Captain of Chelsea. John was late for his date but when he explained why he was forgiven.
Johnny came 'on loan' from Celtic at a time when loans were not allowed so he signed 2 sets of transfer forms for Celtic on the same day, one to Chelsea and an undated set back to Celtic.
He played 23 games and scored 3 goals in the 1946-47 season before returning to Celtic.
His wife didn't like Glasgow, and having seen the bright lights of London Johnny soon took her back south again where he had spells with Brentford and Watford before retiring from playing in 1955.
Between 1955 - 1965 he had spells as manager of both Brentford and the Arsenal "A" team, before working at various times as a press photographer, snooker referee & a sales rep for a biscuit company.
He was guest of honour at Chelsea's centenary dinner in 2005 as, at the time, he was Chelsea's oldest surviving player and the only surviving member of the pre Ted Drake era.
On 1st December 2013 he was invited back to Stamford Bridge for the visit of Southampton, and was brought out on to the pitch at half time and introduced to the crowd.
With the team trailing 1-0, Johnny took the microphone and memorably urged our supporters to roar the team back into the game.
Within four minutes of the restart we were level before going on to win the match 3-1.
Johnny was, and his surviving family still are, staunchly blue and very appreciative of how the Club looked after their former players, sending hampers annually.
Johnny met his wife when he was serving down south as a navigator in the RAF during WW2.
She explained that Johnny was on his way to meet her for a date on the tube when he was stopped by a gentleman who recognised him and who told him that Chelsea were looking for a winger.
That gentleman was John Harris, the Captain of Chelsea. John was late for his date but when he explained why he was forgiven.
Johnny came 'on loan' from Celtic at a time when loans were not allowed so he signed 2 sets of transfer forms for Celtic on the same day, one to Chelsea and an undated set back to Celtic.
He played 23 games and scored 3 goals in the 1946-47 season before returning to Celtic.
His wife didn't like Glasgow, and having seen the bright lights of London Johnny soon took her back south again where he had spells with Brentford and Watford before retiring from playing in 1955.
Between 1955 - 1965 he had spells as manager of both Brentford and the Arsenal "A" team, before working at various times as a press photographer, snooker referee & a sales rep for a biscuit company.
He was guest of honour at Chelsea's centenary dinner in 2005 as, at the time, he was Chelsea's oldest surviving player and the only surviving member of the pre Ted Drake era.
On 1st December 2013 he was invited back to Stamford Bridge for the visit of Southampton, and was brought out on to the pitch at half time and introduced to the crowd.
With the team trailing 1-0, Johnny took the microphone and memorably urged our supporters to roar the team back into the game.
Within four minutes of the restart we were level before going on to win the match 3-1.
Johnny was, and his surviving family still are, staunchly blue and very appreciative of how the Club looked after their former players, sending hampers annually.
Gravesite Details
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