Bert Johnson

Bert Johnson in his Charlton days

Born in Stockton-on-Tees on June 4th, 1916, William Herbert Johnson started playing football with Stockton before playing for Whitby Town.

Bert made his debut for Whitby on October 2nd 1937 at the Turnbull against South Bank East End in the F.A. Cup First Qualifying Round. Bert scored at hat-trick in the game that finished with a Whitby win. Bert’s career with our club lasted until March 1939, where he joined Spennymoor United. At the end of his time at Whitby Bert played 55 games for Whitby and scored 26 goals.  Not a bad set of stats.

 At Spennymoor United, Bert played just one game. Charlton Athletic had seen Bert’s ability, and snapped him up. At the Valley, Bert played 142 games in League football, scoring just once.

During the Second World War, Bert gained International Caps representing England on two occasions:
First against Switzerland at Stamford Bridge with England winning 4-1 on May 11th, 1946. The team line up was: Frank Swift [Manchester City], Laurence Scott [Arsenal], George Hardwick [Middlesbrough], Billy Wright [Wolverhampton Wanderers], Neil Franklin [Stoke City], Herbert Johnson [Charlton Athletic], Stanley Matthews [Stoke City], Horatio Carter [Sunderland], Tommy Lawton [c] [Chelsea], Robert Brown [Charlton Athletic], Leslie Smith [Brentford].

In his second game, Bert played against France at Colombes, Stade Olympique, in front of a crowd of 58,481 people. France won the game 1-2. The team on May 19th, 1946 was: Bert Williams [Wolverhampton Wanderers], Joseph Bacuzzi [Fulham], George Hardwick [Middlesbrough], Billy Wright [Wolverhampton Wanderers], Neil Franklin [Stoke City], Herbert Johnson [Charlton Athletic], Stanley Matthews [Stoke City], Horatio Carter [Sunderland], Tommy Lawton [c] [Chelsea], James Hagan [Sheffield United], Leslie Smith [Brentford].

In 1947 Bert played at Wembley Stadium in the F.A. Cup final. On April 26th, 1947 Charlton successfully defeated Burnley 1-0 in front of 99,000 supporters. Teams: Charlton Athletic Team
Sam Bartram, Peter Croker, Jack Shreeve, Bert Johnson, Harold Phipps, Bill Whittaker,
Gordon Hurst, Tommy Dawson, Bill Robinson, Don Welsh (Captain), Chris Duffy (Scorer)
Burnley Team
Jim Strong, Arthur Woodruff, Harold Mather, Reg Attwell, Alan Brown (Captain),
George Bray, Jack Chew, Billy Morris, Ray Harrison, Harry Potts, Peter Kippax.

After his time at Charlton, Bert moved to Bexleyheath and Welling FC (Now Welling United) where he was player/Manager. He was there between 1953 and 1955 when he left to move a little further North to Cambridge United. Again he was player manager until 1959. Bert also managed Leicester City.

Sadly Bert dies on June 30th, 2009 at Evington, in England aged 93 years old.

To date Bert is the only Whitby player to win a FA Cup or represent the full England team.