Jimmy Johnston Dies.

[Jockstar]

I have just read this on soccernet.com. Even although i'm a Rangers i have to say he was some player. RIP Jinky. A fantastic player who will be missed by every single Celtic fan. A sad loss indeed

Scotland and Celtic legend Johnstone dies

Lisbon Lion Tommy Gemmell paid tribute to former team-mate Jimmy Johnstone who died at 61 after a long battle with motor neurone disease.

SteveMorton/Empics

Jimmy Johnstone: Legend.

The former Scotland and Celtic winger played alongside Gemmell in the Parkhead team which became the first British side to win the European Cup in 1967 when they beat Inter Milan.

A shocked Gemmell told said: 'It's a tragedy. We've lost a great pal and a colleague.

'He fought the disease with great courage and he stood up to it well.

'Jimmy had the condition for nearly five years. He was deteriorating physically but he's at peace now.

'On the pitch he had the heart of a lion and the ability of a maestro. He was an unbelievable player, as good any you will see.

'He was voted by the fans as Celtic's greatest-ever player and he could have played in any team in the world.

'We have lost a magnificent player who created a lot of history for the club. I doubt very much if we'll see his like again.'

Bertie Auld, another member of the Lisbon Lion side, was stunned by Johnstone's death.

He said: 'I still can't get to grips with it.

'You know what a player he was but what a person he was as well. He was the kindest guy in the world.

'All the time he was lying there he never complained. He was a poor soul and it must have been demanding for him.

'The last time I saw him was on Friday and like any time you met him, you left feeling a stronger person.

'He was ill but he was his usual self with a smile the size of himself.

'He was so desperate to help other people with the same disease, he wanted a cure for it even though he knew he couldn't be helped.

'The fans adored him and he will never be out of their hearts.'

Former Celtic captain Paul McStay hailed Johnstone as his 'inspiration' for leading the team.

McStay told Sky Sports: 'Even in the early days, you always aspired to be like Jimmy.

'You always wanted to achieve what he had achieved. But, apart from that, Jimmy was at all the games and would always have a word in my ear saying `Keep your head up, Paul'.'

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell described the death of Johnstone as a 'sad time' for everyone involved with the club.

Lawwell said: 'Jimmy Johnstone was rightly regarded as the greatest-ever Celt.

'This was an accolade the Celtic supporters voted to give him and was a measure of the esteem in which they held him, even above the many great players who have played for the club over the years.

'Our thoughts are with Jimmy's wife, Agnes, and his family and friends.'

This from the BBC written by Pat Nevin.

BBC

Jinky the genius

Pat Nevin

13 March 2006

Jimmy Johnstone's death is a sad day for every Celtic fan - and as a boyhood supporter he was the Parkhead player I admired most.

He was an inspiration to me in so many ways, and when people talk about the great Celtic players, he was right up there with the likes of Kenny Dalglish.

I never met him, but my dad got a book signed by him and he put a personal message in it that was very positive about my style of play, which meant a lot to me. I was around eight or nine when Jinky was in his prime at Celtic and I used to practice using methods he had suggested in his book.

My dad used to go down to watch Celtic train and study Jimmy's methodology, then come back and tell me what he was doing and I would practice with that in mind. I used to dribble around cones as part of my warm-up, and do it after training every day as part of my own preparation - at Chelsea I used to warm-up by dribbling around ball-boys, although not surprisingly they soon got fed up. And all this was shamelessly stolen from what Jinky himself used to do. It tied in with his concept of always being in complete control of the ball.

What I would never do is ever compare my playing style to his, even though we played on the wing and liked to dribble. In fact most wingers studiously avoid comparisons with him because he was special - ridiculously special. What I will admit is that I copied his routines, ideas and concepts. There were other things I took from him, one of which was that he proved that even if you were small, you could still make it.

Jimmy's fitness was astonishing. I think it was the "Lisbon Lions" captain Billy McNeill who said Jimmy must have had groin muscles made out of steel because of the way he twisted and turned. He was brave as well. People talk about Celtic games against Atletico Madrid and Racing Club of Argentina when they tried to kick Jinky off the park, but he just kept coming back for more.

That was an inspiration for me as well. He was so brave even against the big guys, and that was something that stayed with me when I was a player. If someone kicked me I always wanted to come back for more. I never wanted to show the big guys fear, it was always a case of "is that your best shot?" - a concept utterly stolen from Johnstone.

What should also be said is that for all his reputation as a small, jinking winger, he was a very rounded footballer. He used to score quite a few headers and his goalscoring record was excellent as well. To simply talk of a gifted and tricky winger is to under-sell his talent. Jinky is also remembered as a man who was brilliant fun, always up for a laugh and with a bit of devilment in him.

He was past his peak when he played in England with Sheffield United after all his great days at Parkhead, but for anyone who questions whether he could have done what he did in Scotland down south, there is not even an argument. Indeed one of his greatest games for Celtic was against an outstanding Leeds United side in a European Cup semi-final at Hampden Park in 1970.

Jinky would have been special wherever he played - and he did it at the highest level with Celtic every season plahing against Europe's best teams and reaching two European Cup finals. He will be remembered as one of the greatest players ever to play for Celtic and it is an accolade he truly deserves.

Source: BBC

[eddie11]

I see that all the Celtic players will wear the number 7

on their shorts in the cup final as a mark of respect.

R.I.P

[Rinrada]

BBC did a nice tribute to the "wee man" a couple of years ago....

Remember the time he got stuck in the boat without a paddle.....wonderfull...

RIP....

In a sound studio near the centre of Glasgow, Scotland, one of the world’s best-known bands has flown in from Italy and Ireland in preparation for laying a new track. Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill of Simple Minds are anxious to get it right….because they’re about to record a song with their life-long hero.

In New York, Eusebio, one of the world’s most famous footballers, rushes to JFK airport to fly back early to Europe in order to pay homage to the same man.

Actor, Robert Duvall, raves about “one of the most amazing characters I’ve ever met”; Sir Alex Ferguson speaks of God “breaking the mould” after the man was born and Alfredo DiStefano, President of Real Madrid, praises him in terms high above those of Zidane, Beckham, Raul and the rest.

Johann Cruyff, Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best, Martin O’Neil, Henrik Larsson, Denis Law…………the list is endless.

Yet he is a man some of you, particularly of younger generations, may never have heard of. It is your loss! But that’s about to change.

In what he describes as “an immense honour”, Billy Connolly narrates the true-life story of one of the sporting world’s greatest icons: a man known as “the flea” in the East and “Jinky” in the West, this is a tale of exhilaration and desperation, of joy and immense sadness; of a man who had the world literally at his feet, until that world turned upside down.

This is the story of football’s greatest entertainer: a man with diamond’s in his boots and a heart of gold.

http://www.jimmyjohnstone.com/