George Johnston

Career : 1897
Debut and only game : Inception Blue - Round 1, 1897 vs Fitzroy
Carlton Player No. 13
Goals : 0
Height :
Weight :
DOB : 1877

Two players with the surname Johnston have represented the Carlton Football Club, and both are worthy of note for vastly differing reasons. This one; George Henry ‘Cheerful’ Johnston, played just one match for the Blues, as one of the 20 special young men who represented us in our debut VFL match against Fitzroy in May, 1897.

Information about ‘Cheerful’ Johnston is scant, apart from confirmation that he was born in Sandridge (later Port Melbourne) in 1877, and that he played his early football for Albert Park before joining Carlton. His nick-name is ambiguous – was he in fact a fun person to be around, or was he a morose sort of character? Evidence would seem to indicate the latter, because after Fitzroy’s emphatic win, he didn’t play another game.

Eight years after ‘Cheerful’ departed, George Sidney ‘Mallee’ Johnson arrived from Richmond to embark on a stellar career with the Blues. One of the greats of his time, ‘Mallee’ became a champion of the game, and a star in each of Carlton’s epic triple Premierships in 1906-07-08.

Links

Blueseum: Summary of playing statistics for George Johnston

---