Bert Johnson (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Herbert Johnson | ||
| Date of birth | 4 June 1916 | ||
| Place of birth | , 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. |
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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 and Graham Cross, upsetting the traditional 1-11 formation. This hugely influenced Liverpool manager Bill Shankly.
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 had replaced him" as "players hadn't got beyond thinking about numbers then."
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Wikipedia