For Liverpool supporters of my age who grew up in the 1980’s, curly haired Australian, Craig Johnston is a bit of an icon. He was one of the most popular players during the mid 80’s for his colourful personality, his flowing locks and flamboyant dress sense. We also loved him for his 100% commitment on the pitch at all times. His nickname on the Kop was Skippy after the popular Australian kids show from the 1970’s about a Bush Kangaroo.
Craig Johnston was born in South Africa to Australian parents and grew up in Sydney, Australia. As a young teenager he played for local sides, Lake Maquarie and Sydney City. Unfortunately football wasn’t a popular sport in Australia and there was no way for him to develop his promising skills as a player. So when Craig was 15 he wrote letters to a long list of English teams asking for a trial. His only response came from Middlesbrough who was managed at the time by Jack Charlton. His parents were right behind Craig’s ambition to become a successful footballer and actually sold their house to pay for his ticket to England.
Despite being described by Jack Charlton as “the worst footballer I have ever seen”, Craig was offered a youth team contract and went on to make his first team debut in 1978. After playing sixty-four games for Middlesbrough his career in England was about to take off and all his boyhood dreams were about to come true when he was signed for Liverpool by Bob Paisley in 1981.
Craig made his debut in August 1981 coming on as a substitute in the 1-0 league defeat away to Wolverhampton Wanderers. An interesting fact is that also making their debuts in this same match were Mark Lawrenson and Bruce Grobbelaar. I believe it was a Brucie error that cost us the game. Johnston's first start came in the World Club Championships with a 3-0 defeat against Flamengo from Brazil.
He had quite an explosive start to his first season as a first team Liverpool player. He scored in his first derby and then he scored the winner against Man Utd at Old Trafford.
Despite his popularity with the fans and his pace and skills on the pitch, Craig never held down a regular starting place during his six seasons at Anfield. He made fun of this situation in the 1988 FA Cup Final song ‘The Anfield Rap’. Craig not only performed the following lines in the song he also wrote the whole track too.
“Well I came to England looking for fame
So come on Kenny man, give us a game
'cause I'm sat on the bench paying my dues with the blues
I'm very big down under, but my wife disagrees”
Despite playing a lot of games as a substitute he was still an effective member of a side that dominated in the First Division. He played in the 1984 European Cup Final victory against Roma and two League Cup final victories in 1983 and 1984.
Craig’s finest moment in a Liverpool shirt came in the 1986 FA Cup final against Everton. He was one of the best players on the pitch that day as we secured our first ever league and cup double in Kenny Dalglish’s first season as player manager. He almost stole Ian Rush’s first goal as he slid in and touched the ball at the very second it was crossing the line. I must have watched that goal a thousand times over the years and still to this day I cannot say for sure if he touched the ball before it crossed the line. I’ve even watched it on zoom and slow motion now I have the goal on DVD. However whether he touched it or not it doesn’t matter because it’s Rush’s goal and that’s that! Craig had a goal himself anyway just six minutes later and this time there was no doubt as he put us two - one up. Rush later added his second and Liverpool’s third and the trophy was ours in what I still consider the best FA Cup final I’ve ever seen. Yes I know last year’s game was terrific and a classic but as good as it was, it cannot compare emotionally with the first ever all Merseyside FA Cup final. As I’ve discussed previously in past articles, this occasion was massive in the city and as an eight year old kid at the time it was simply amazing.
It was another FA Cup final two years later that marked another milestone in Craig’s Liverpool career. Unfortunately the 1988 final against Wimbledon was his final ever game for the Reds as Craig decided before the match that he was going to retire afterwards. It was a big shock at the time as he was only 28 and still in his prime. He wasn’t getting many starts due to the brilliance of Barnes and Houghton on the wings and Beardsley playing off Aldridge, but he still had plenty left to offer the game and he was still a young man. It was later explained that the reason for his sudden departure was because his sister had become seriously ill and needed round the clock care. So he needed to go back to Australia and take care of her. It was a great shame at the time and there was sadness at seeing him go because he was very popular and a cult figure at Anfield.
After the Hillsbourough disaster in 1989, Craig raised a fortune in Australia for the HSG fund and returned to Merseyside to attend numerous funerals and memorial services. This is a testament to what a great bloke he is and how much Liverpool and the fans mean to him. He later dedicated his autobiography ‘Walk On’ to the victims of Hilsborough and Heysel.
Since retiring from playing Craig has become best known for designing the Predator football boot for Adidas. When he was coaching kids in Australia he realised that it was difficult to control the ball with the boots available at the time. He took the rubber of a table tennis bat and stuck it on his boots with super glue. He went outside and kicked a ball and immediately noticed a difference. It took him five years to get the boot off the ground and eventually landed the deal with Adidas after filming Franz Beckenbauer using the bots in snowy conditions. Over time he was able to develop and improve on the original design and the boot has gone on to become the most successful of all time and is worn by such superstars as David Beckham and our own Steven Gerrard.
Craig now lives in Florida, USA after some bad business deals unfortunately left him bankrupt in the late 1990’s. He has since bounced back from that with other successful inventions such as the Pig football boot and the Traxion sole for boots. He also invented a software programme called The Butler, which is a device to show what has been removed from hotel room minibars. He intends to move back to Sydney, Australia soon in order to live nearer to his daughters and return to his home.
Craig Johnston’s greatest achievement is possibly the fact that he may have been a major reason for football becoming extremely popular with Australian kids in the 1980’s. He proved to kids that if you worked hard and had the right attitude you could play for one of the biggest teams in the world and be a success in a sport that wasn’t popular in Australia twenty years ago. Some great Aussie players of today such as Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka grew up inspired by Craig to take up football. He deserves some credit for so many talented Australian players making their national side something to be proud of with their recent exploits in the last World Cup.
Craig will always be remembered with a fondness by Liverpool fans and this affection is definitely reciprocated. Whenever he was asked about playing for other clubs after he retired he always said that he could never return to playing because he couldn’t play for any club other than Liverpool.
Thanks for the memories Skippy and good on ya mate!
For footage of Craig Johnston in action for Liverpool click on the following link
