At 5ft 4in and weighing just 9 ½ stone, Jimmy Johnstone never looked like a world beater. But in footballing terms, he was a giant. Johnstone provided the spark, the magic for Jock Stein's Lisbon Lions who lifted the European Cup in 1967. In 2002 he was voted the greatest Celtic player of all time by fans.
Like every member of the Lisbon Lions, Johnstone was raised in Glasgow and its surrounding areas. The tricky winger was born in Uddingston, an industrial village south-east of Glasgow, a fact he recognised as crucial to his football development: "Football was the greatest part of our lives, just like the boys from Brazil and Spain. They lived in poverty, like us, and that's where all the great players came from - the street."
Games that lasted hours on end, ending under street light, developed the talents for which “Jinky” came to be famous. Notably his lightning speed and a touch deft enough to deceive even the most seasoned of full-backs. Allied to his talent was the toughness all of the Lisbon Lions shared. Despite his slight frame there was no knocking him off the ball.
These gifts would take him far from his Glasgow roots and earn him standing ovations in Europe's footballing cathedrals. After winning the European Cup in 1967, Alfredo Di Stefano selected the Scottish champions as Real Madrid's opponents for his testimonial match. The man considered Madrid's greatest player of all time summed up the feelings of the 100,000 crowd after the Bhoys' 1-0 win when he said it had been, “The Jimmy Johnstone Show”.
A character on and off the field, Johnstone hated to fly. Faced with a two-legged tie against Red Star Belgrade during the 1968/69 season, Stein challenged him to play well enough in the first leg at Celtic Park that they would not need to take him for the return. He ran riot against the Yugoslavians, scoring two and creating two in a 5-1 win. That was the man he was, always up for a challenge. The harder defenders kicked him, the more determined he was to get up and make fools out of them again.
In 13 illustrious years with Celtic, Johnstone scored 129 goals in 515 appearances, winning nine Scottish First Division titles, four Scottish Cups and five Scottish League Cups to go alongside the European Cup win in Lisbon. He left Celtic in 1975 and finally retired four years later. He won 23 caps for Scotland, scoring twice. A statue in Kerrydale Street outside Celtic Park stands as a tribute to the great man, who sadly passed away in 2006.