Celtic supporters will never forgive Maurice ‘Flymo’ Johnston | OneFootball

Maurice Johnston – Will Celtic Fans Ever Forgive Him?

Hugh Burns of Rangers challenges Maurice Johnston of Celtic during an Old Firm game at Park Head on August 31st, 1985. (Photo by Allsport/Getty Images/Hulton Archive)

Redheads are not easily forgotten, but one in particular left an indelible mark, (or scar), on the global Celtic diaspora. I watched with more than a little interest as one, Maurice Johnston lit up Firhill with a plethora of goals from 1979, (the year Ten Men Won The League), until 1983, (the year Charlie Nicholas said ‘good bye’ to Celtic with a two-goal salvo at Ibrox in another 4-2 victory).

He played for Elton John’s Watford

The in-demand striker then decanted down south to join Elton John’s beloved Watford, scoring 23 goals in 38 appearances for the Hornets in his singular season at Vicarage Road.

Watford FC players, Scottish soccer player Mo Johnston and English soccer player John Barnes, UK, 23rd February 1984. (Photo by Robinson/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The Scottish footballing community were in love with him and willed him to score at Wembley when Elton’s Rocket Men reached the 1984 FA Cup Final. However, Andy Gray was the Scot who made the headlines by netting a trademark header in a 2-0 win for Everton, and the Cup travelled north to Goodison Park in Merseyside.

Johnston was the talk of the town, and Andy Roxburgh gave him the first of his 38 Scotland caps. In dark blue, he netted 14 times, despite being excluded by the then, Sir-less, Alex Ferguson, from the 1986 World Cup Squad in Mexico. Indulging himself in a late-night session with Frank McAvennie inn the Scots team hotel was the first of many unwise events in the life of the maverick, but missing out on the World Cup was an early warning he did not heed.

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Celtic goalscorer Roy Aitken is congratulated by Mo Johnston and Peter Grant during a Scottish Premier League match at Pittodrie on April 27, 1985. (Photo Mike King/Allsport/Getty Images)

Davie Hay signed him for Celtic

Celtic’s ‘Silent Assassin’, David Hay was still at the helm at Parkhead in Season 1984-85 after a fruitless first term. He bought Alan ‘Rambo’ McInally, and in October he raided Watford for Maurice Johnston. The support was stoked, and, despite missing out on the league to ‘Fergie’s Furies’, Aberdeen, the livewire more than showed up.

‘Wee Mo’, as we affectionately dubbed him, displayed his wares in grounds all around Scotland, proving that Mr. Hay’s eye for a striker was as keen as his tackles when he graced the sacred turf which garlanded Celtic Park back in the day.

April 1990: Mo Johnston of Rangers celebrates victory after the Premier League match against Dundee at Tannadice Park in Dundee. Photo Russell Cheyne/Allsport

The league was lost, but the Scottish Cup came to rest in Paradise in a stirring comeback when Davie Provan’s phenomenal free-kick soared past Hamish McAlpine, and the late, Frank McGarvey somehow squirreled a header past the bemused Dundee United ‘keeper to set Hampden ablaze in a sea of green and white bodies.

Love Street, May 1986

Season 1985-86 became legend, as did Albert Kidd. Having exited the League Cup in the 5th round, and the Scottish Cup in the quarter-finals, both at the hands of Hibernian at Easter Road, Celtic trailed Hearts for the majority of the season.

We diehards turned up at Love Street to say a traditional, ‘Thank you’ for the season in the final match of the campaign. You know the rest.

Celtic thrashed the Saints, 5-0 in a wonderous exhibition, with goals flowing freely in one of the greatest Celtic performances in my lifetime.

Hearts of course needed only to draw up at Dens Park, but an inspired late double by Celtic fan, Albert Kidd sent the maroon majority in Dens into deep despair, whilst we Celtic fans went absolutely mental in Paisley as the news came over the tranny, – that’s a transistor radio circa 1986 – that the league was ours.

This day remains one of the most emotional of my life

This day remains one of the most emotional of my life, and Maurice Johnston’s performance and goals played a significant role in me and my mates getting drunk. Yes, I even blame him for that! Rangers came 5th that year, languishing behind Celtic by an astonishing 15 points, so, I blame them too!

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Season 1986-87 was a calamitous one which saw Celtic beat Rangers only once (3-1) in five efforts, including the Glasgow Cup, and Rangers were in the throes of an Ibrox revolution under Graeme Souness.

Rangers player Mo Johnston (c) makes his way onto the pitch behind Richard Gough for his debut in a pre season friendly against Tottenham Hotspur at Ibrox in August, 1989, Johnston became the first high profile Catholic to play for Rangers, moving from Glasgow Celtic. (Photo by Allsport/Getty Images)

David Murray’s now-tarnished checkbook brought in Chris Woods, Terry Butcher, Jimmy Nicholl, Colin West and Graham Roberts. More internationalists were to follow. Little did we know this era would herald in Rangers’ demise, but they won the league and beat Celtic 2-1 in the League Cup Final.

He got sent off against Rangers then blessed himself

At the end of that final, Maurice Johnston was sent off for the hoops, and on the way off the park, blessed himself in front of the baying Ibrox support who despised the iconic Celt. That gesture cemented him into the hearts of many of the faithful, others saw it as petulant. I was just sick that we lost to the enemy.

1989: Mo Johnson during the Skol Cup final match between Aberdeen and Rangers at Hampden Park. Aberdeen won the match 2-1. Photo: AllsportUK /Allsport

Johnston was an icon at Celtic, famously dying his long locks a shade of blonde, and embracing his status as, ‘One of us’ by playing to the green gallery. We were proved wrong. Nantes made a bid for Mo, and off he trotted to France to leave his supporters crestfallen. Little did we know…!

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He performed well for Nantes and Scotland

The hit-man performed well for Nantes, and also for Scotland. He was relatively low-key for two years, until Billy McNeill stunned us all with a bid to bring our hero home. The upshot is this; Johnston agreed to a dramatic return, signed a contract, and shook the hand of Cesar before being joyously paraded before the Celtic fans in his 1987 Celtic top.

Paradise was just that, until there was a dispute over the contract which Uefa had ratified. He was a Celt, or, was he? It was alleged he told Celtic he would play if the club agreed to settle a tax bill with Nantes, or that is what I was told, true or otherwise.

2 December 1987: Mo Johnston of Scotland scores their third goal during the European Championship qualifying match against Luxembourg in Esch, Luxembourg. Scotland won the match 3-0. Photo: Simon Bruty/Allsport

There are many rumours about what actually happened

Celtic said no, the bill is yours, if indeed it happened.

The other (more credible) rumour was that the spendthrift Celtic board could not come up with his fee and they were dragging their feet. If so, it cost Celtic big time. Simultaneously, in a ‘chance meeting’ on the marble staircase of Ibrox, Souness bumped into Johnston’s agent, Bill McMurdo who had his house decorated as a mini-Ibrox.

Souness asked the agent a question, and the answer was, ‘Yes, probably’. McMurdo went to visit his client, and, in a matter of days, Maurice Johnston was sitting in the press room at Ibrox, smiling and shaking hands with Graeme Souness, drooling over a fresh contract which had filtered one million pounds into his bank account.

The fallout was beyond belief

The fallout was beyond belief, if you live on Mars that is. A group of Rangers fans burnt their season tickets outside Ibrox, whilst many Celtic fans threw up. Literally. I did. Johnston had not only crossed the great divide which blights Scotland, but, in the process, stabbed Billy McNeill and the millions of we Celtic fans around the globe so deeply in the back that we never recovered. The hatred was palpable. Still is if you ask the fans.

When he scored in the last second of his first Glasgow Derby at Ibrox, he ran to the Rangers support and wept. The feeling across the city was one of numbness, disbelief even. The Glasgow bhoy had become an unashamed blue nose, even indulging in the vile, sectarian, anti-Catholic songs which are a staple among the Ibrox hordes.

Maurice Johnston went on to have a sterling career at Ibrox, scoring against Celtic at Parkhead to underscore his bizarre new allegiance. To this day I still don’t know how he could have done such a thing.

Hence his moniker at Celtic, ‘Wee Flymo!’

Recently, Frank McAvennie revealed how Johnston told him about the possibility of moving to Ibrox, months before he did! It’s now an open secret. Hence his moniker at Celtic, ‘Wee Flymo!’

Many years have passed since, and things have moved on. Johnston played for other clubs, Everton and Hearts among them, before retiring to the ‘safety’ of the NSL. He knows he will never be welcome back in Glasgow and he’s probably better off there.

There have been mini-wars around the dear green place over his fence-jumping, and that is no joke. I was living in London at the time of the debacle and was waiting for my Tube at Bank Station. As I looked to my left, a guy came staggering across the platform, blood gushing from a large slash on his face. I assisted him until the ambos came along.

“Mate, what the hell happened to you?”

“Mate, what the hell happened to you?” His guttural Scottish voice spat back at me, “Mo Johnston!” I still don’t know which team he supports. This happened 800 miles away in London.

Footie fans are notoriously unforgiving, and this begs the question, would you ever forgive him? I consider myself a reasonable man, but, I know my answer…

Hail Hail!

Eddie Murray