Jimmy Johnstone
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Jimmy Johnstone (born 30 September 1944) is a Scottish football legend. Johnstone, known as "Jinky", was voted the greatest player who ever played for Glasgow Celtic by Celtic fans.
Jimmy was born in Viewpark, in the district of Bothwell, Lanarkshire and was spotted by the Celtic and Manchester United scouts at age 13. He chose to sign with Celtic and he played his first game for the senior team in 1963 becoming an instant favourite with the Celtic fans.
Jimmy was one of the "Lisbon Lions", the team that won the European Cup for Celtic in 1967. Johnstone was also a Scottish international team member, playing 23 times for his country. He reportedly asked to be excused from the Scottish team because of the barracking he received from non-Celtic supporters in the Scottish crowd. Otherwise, the number of his international appearances would have been much higher.
Johnstone was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2002. No cure is known for the disease of the nervous system, which kills five people a day in the UK. To raise funds for charity and to raise awareness of the disease, Jimmy together with Jim Kerr of Simple Minds, has launched a new version of the classic single "Dirty Old Town".
Billy Connolly is the narrator on a documentary about Jimmy's life called Lord of the Wing.
In June 2005, Johnstone became the first living person since the time of the Tsars to have a Fabergé Egg designed in his honour. The egg was designed by Carl Fabergé's granddaughter Sarah.
External links
Jimmy Johnstone's official site (http://www.jimmyjohnstone.com/)