8/6/2019 Football+ interview with Craig Johnston

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122 FOOTBALL+

T IS no secret. Many Australian ootballans and especially Socceroos o the pasttwo decades grew up and were inspiredby the image o Craig Johnston scoring orLiverpool in the 1986 FA Cup nal.A surer rom the beaches o Newcastle in New

South Wales had somehow transported himsel to

Wembleys hallowed tur, showing Australian kids that,

yes, dreams can come true.

But just as that goal against Everton, in a 3-1

victory, was the highlight o Johnstons ootball

career, two years later he was back at Wembley

amid darker circumstances.

Johnstons sister had been involved in a serious

accident prompting the Australian to fag retirement

at the age o 27 so he could dedicate time to her

wellbeing. Johnston was dropped or the nal,

watching rom the bench as his career

literally ticked down.

Liverpool lost the 1988 nal to

Wimbledons legendary Crazy Gang,

Johnston making a late entry

as a substitute, but it could

be argued the Australian

won something more

perspective on lie.

The 1988 nal was also

signicant or Liverpools contribution to the traditional FA

Cup song that participating clubs recorded. Breaking

with convention that dictated sti ootballers perorm

clunky sing-a-longs out o tune, Johnston (who now lives

and works as a proessional photographer in Florida)

masterminded the The Aneld Rap, at a time when hip-

hop was ar rom mainstream. Look it up on YouTube.

Football nor music was ever the same again.

+Doyouevertireotalkingaboutthe

1986FACupfnal?

It doesnt happen that oten. Mainly because I spend a

lot o time in America, and now more and more, in the

Caribbean with my photography. Talking about the FA

Cup or ootball in general is a very welcome break or

me these days. They are abulous memories.

+WhyistheresomuchromanceassociatedwiththeCup?

It is a romantic notion. You go to the bible and you talk

about David and Goliath. The big boys versus the small

boys. Gods versus the peasants. How could that not

be romantic when the very notion o the tournament

is that [an amateur or part-time team] can knock out

Liverpool FC? The FA Cup pits the fash rich ootballers

up against people who have proper jobs metal

workers, coal miners. How can it not be romantic?

Everybody loves the underdog.

Craig Johnston

he shoots

CraigJohns

ton

istheonlyAustralian

tohavescoredinan

FACupnal.Nowa

proessionalphotographer,

herefectsontriumph,

painandhip-hopwith

MatthewHa

ll

He scored,imagesBOB THOMAS / GETTY IMAGES + CRAIG JOHNSTON

8/6/2019 Football+ interview with Craig Johnston

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124 FOOTBALL+

+ButhastheromancegoneoutotheFACup?

I remember when Man U pulled out [in 2000 to take

part in the FIFA Club World Cup] and to me that was a

shame on Man U. I think we all thought that. But what

that did was bring up the memories o how important

the FA Cup was. I dont know i going to South America

and playing will ever compare with going to Accrington

Stanley on a cold January Saturday aternoon and

getting the lie kicked out o you by loc al miners. Its

a cultural thing. Some institutions need to be well

respected and the FA Cup is one o them.

+Yourfnalgamebeoreyouretiredwasthe1988

FACupfnal.Wasthatagreatwaytogoout?

I dont have many regrets in lie or my career but my

biggest is that that game was supposed to be my last

as a ootballer. It was supposed to be. My sister had

got really badly injured in an accident [in Morocco ] and

I had been up and down to London, where she was in

a coma. We then transported her back to Australia and

we were hoping treatment would bring her out o it and

bring her back to consciousness. Id been dealing with

that or six months and I wanted to help mum and dad

because they were on their own with it.

+Thatmusthavebeentaxingonyou,personally?

[Beore the 1988 nal] I went to the club and said Im

going to retire. They didnt really believe me because

people dont retire rom ootball at 27. They said, You

wont be paid. I said, Thats understandable; Im not

here, you cant pay me. But I want to help my sister

and help my parents with her rehabilitation. I had that

conversation and a paper got a sni rom somewhere

and it wasnt me and said we are going to run with the

story beore the Cup nal unless you give us an exclusive

or ater the game. I was in a really, really, bad position. I

was actually playing regularly, I was in good orm, and I

was supposed to play against Wimbledon.

+Butyoudidntstartthegame?

The journalist didnt betray my condence but the

newspaper did and once they got the story o me

they said they were going to run it beore the Cup

nal rather than ater it was too big a story. I told

them they couldnt do that, but they said they were

going to do it anyway. When the story broke I was

dropped. The biggest regret I had in my ootball lie is

that somehow somebody ound out about the private

discussions I had with the club. The way it ended

makes me very, very sad. [Pauses] Um . . . yeah.

+ButyoudidgetonthepitchagainstWimbledon.

Wed had this extremely bad news in the amily Fayes

progress wasnt as quick as we all thought it would

be. When something like that happens you tend to see

things very dierently. The nal was going to be my last

game where I did everything: I went there, I pulled my

boots on, I tried my hardest. When you are a substitute

it is just not the same. You are not playing. You are a bit

player in the pantomime. I always had 90 minutes plus

to give. I was watching the game [rom the bench] and

it wasnt a very good game and we werent playing so

well and I just so wanted to be on the eld.

+Whatwasgoingthroughyourmind?

I just got sadder and sadder because as the clock

ticked down rom 90 minutes, so did my career. I think

I got about 25 minutes and I was very upset about that.

I couldnt help my teammates because I was on the

bench, I had been stitched up by the papers and been

dropped rom what could have been the best nal

moments o my ootball lie. I have never really talked

about it until now. I was very upset by the decision by

the newspaper to run the story when they promised me

they would run it aterwards or the sake o the team.

We didnt need that kind o publicity beore kick o.

+So,theFACupfnalgaveyouthebestand

theworsttimeoyourplayingcareer?

Thats air to say. The media denitely broke a promise

they gave to me but thats big business. In hindsight

I would have done it dierently. But the private

conversations I had with the club, somehow, and it

wasnt via me, leaked out. I made a handshake with

people and they broke that trust.

+Onalighternote,The Anfeld Rap.Pleaseexplain!Nobody liked ootball songs. They were all a bit o a

laughing stock and were also pretty dreadul. I love

music and I love videos and I was a keen observer o

the dressing room craic [banter] that went on. All the

nationalities and all their dierent accents and dierent

ways o approaching things. Rap, at the time, didnt

really exist but there was a band called Run DMC who

came along and I loved rap music.

+HowdoesthatturnintoanFACupfnalsong?

I wanted to talk about this unique team spirit at

Liverpool because we were winning everything at the

time. The Anfeld Rapwa

Look heres all these acc

and here is how we all ge

attempt at doing another

ended up being a wonde

really strange but it has lebecause it is so bad! In a

and in a way it has also be

Dalglish, Kennys son, ca

game [recently] so we had

reminiscing about Liverpo

a ew beers, he burst into

still get a ew dollars here

But it was always only a s

+SpeakingoKennyDal

Liverpoolatthemoment?

The man who was in char

Cup Fnal in 1986 was ca

also won the league that y

team in that century up to

double. But I think Liverp

I think the players are use

per cent. I think these pla

and Roy Hodgson sacked

marvellous job. But there

bring up the energy and c

Dalglish. He knows what

where they have come ro

need to be. He is one o t

others with his passion an

125 per cent out o those

The Anfeld Rap wasa light-hearted attemptat doing another badootball song and it endedup being a wonderullybad ootball song. It haslegendary status at

Liverpool becauseit is so bad!