The Thistle Archive

Young Johnny Jackson didn't look like a goalkeeper. He was slightly built and wore spectacles, but his hero was Partick Thistle's international 'keeper Kenny Campbell. Johnny played whenever he could - for the North Kelvinside school team on Saturday morning, then for the local 69th Boys Brigade in the Church League in the afternoon. He would practice with his mates, always in goal, and when his mates went home he would practice on his own - kicking the ball off the gable end of Ruchill Hospital and diving to save it.

Johnny was rewarded for such dedication with a professional contract for his favourite team when Thistle signed him from Kirkintilloch Rob Roy in the summer of 1926, after he turned down the chance to sign for Ayr United following a trial. Thistle hadn't satisfactorily replaced Campbell in goal since his departure in 1922, and had signed Tommy Gibbs from Dunfermline, as well as Johnny, to wear the goalkeeper's jersey. Gibbs started the season as first choice, but after spilling five goals in a 4-5 defeat to Morton, Johnny was asked to play the next game. Johnny's first game for Thistle was away at Ibrox, and this began a remarkable run of games. Johnny was a model of consistency and reliability. In seven years Johnny missed just one game, and that was tolerable - he was playing for Scotland against England that day. Johnny's modelling of himself on Campbell paid off and he gathered admirers quickly. The Daily Record enthused: “Jackson was in the Campbell fashion; swift to catch the ball and elusive when in possession of it. He was most graceful in action, and his body, when he threw himself to right or left for a high shot, was swallow-like in motion.”

A safe pair of hands and good anticipation are required for any good goalkeeper, and Johnny combined these qualities with a coolness under pressure and calculated bravery. He wouldn't dive into any dangerous situation, but knew instinctively when it was worth the risk to deny the opposition. Johnny wasn't tall, but he had a great spring and clutched high balls confidently. In Johnny's first season, League form wasn't great, but the cup competitions suited Thistle's cavalier play better. The semi-final of the Scottish Cup was reached, although narrowly lost to East Fife, but Johnny and his mates wanted a trophy. In an exciting Glasgow Charity Cup Final Rangers were beaten after a perfect display of all-out attack from both teams. Johnny was beaten three times but Thistle scored six to win 6-3, lift the trophy, and Johnny had a medal in his first season.

Over the following seasons Johnny was to develop a bond with Denis O'Hare and Stewart Calderwood, and a reputation for saving penalties, which was to lift Thistle up the table. In 1930 consistent League form was coupled with Scottish Cup success, of a sort. The final was reached, but Johnny couldn't recreate Kenny Campbell's success of nine years previous. Thistle lost a replayed final to Rangers after Johnny had kept the Rangers forwards at bay in the first game. Good club form had meant Johnny appearing on the radar for international selection. Selection for the Glasgow Select to play Sheffield in 1929 was quickly followed by a Cap for the Scottish League against the Irish League. Three further League Caps followed, including one against the Irish at Firhill in 1930, and full international recognition wasn't far away. Johnny was selected to tour Europe with Scotland in 1931, where he played three games, against Austria, Italy, and Switzerland. His final game for Scotland whilst still a Thistle player was against England in a momentous 2-1 win in front of 134,170 people in 1933.

It had been Johnny's Thistle form that saw him capped. Following the Scottish Cup disappointment in 1930, the Jags concentrated on the League. Johnny was part of the proud team that was the first Thistle team to top the Scottish League, after beating Cowdenbeath in October 1930. From that pinnacle it was inevitably downhill, though Thistle retained consistent League form, finishing fourth in 1931 and sixth in 1932. 1933-34 started well, and Thistle went on a record-breaking run of twelve League wins in a row, but when form dipped, Johnny felt that it was time he moved on, despite being due a benefit match later that year.

Thistle reluctantly agreed to the transfer request and in the summer of 1933 Johnny signed for Chelsea for what was believed to be a world record fee for a goalkeeper. Johnny didn't forget his old mates though, for he sent money back to Firhill, and the players celebrated his big-money transfer with a slap-up meal. An unfortunate kick to the head in one of his first games for Chelsea saw Johnny carried off unconscious, and when he returned from a stay in hospital he had lost his place to future England internationalist Vic Woodley. He struggled to regain his place throughout his Chelsea career, often making do with reserve team football, but this didn't affect his international career. Indeed he was chosen to play against England in 1934 while playing for Chelsea's second team.

At the end of his career at Chelsea, he guested with Brentford, Portsmouth and Bath City during the war, before retiring from football, and becoming a golfer, taking part in the British Open on a number of occasions, first as a professional at Wyke Green in Ealing and latterly in Canada. Not bad for a speccy wee boy from Ruchill!

Johnny is included in our feature piece, The Definitive Who's Who Of The Partick Thistle Internationalists →

1927 - GLASGOW CHARITY CUP

1927 - STIRLING CHARITY CUP

1928 - GLASGOW DENTAL CUP

1930 - SCOTTISH CUP

1932 - GLASGOW CUP