440 Johnny Downie

Biography

Scottish inside forward Johnny Downie joined Hull City in July 1954 as manager Bob Jackson assembled a squad to climb out of Division Two and complete the job started five years earlier by his predecessor Raich Carter. Downie slotted into the inside right position vacated by the injured Syd Gerrie and in August 1954 he opened his City goal account with a brace at home to Lincoln City, and 4-0 win that took City into the top six. Downie scored his third City goal in October 1954 against Notts County and followed up with another goal a week later at Liverpool. However that Liverpool game was the first of ten winless League fixtures that saw the Tigers hurtle down the table. In February 1955 Downie was withdrawn to a wing half role but that did not halt the decline in City’s form and Jackson was given leave of absence in March 1955 to be replaced by new manager Bob Brocklebank. Two wins in April 1955 were enough to save City from relegation, but by that time Brocklebank had dropped Downie and he left the Tigers in the 1955 close season.

John Dennis “Johnny” Downie was born in Lanark in central Scotland, his father worked as a railwayman and his teenage years were dominated by World War Two. He came to prominence at seventeen years old playing for the Lanark Air Training Corps XI and in August 1942 he moved to Yorkshire and signed amateur terms with Bradford Park Avenue. He was quickly conscripted to become a Bevin Boy, working as a coal miner at Fryston Colliery near Castleford and playing football for the colliery team alongside post-war England international forward Len Shackleton. Johnny also played for both Bradford City and Bradford Park Avenue during the war years and in December 1944 he signed his first professional contract with Park Avenue while just nineteen years old.

Downie made his senior debut for Bradford Park Avenue in January 1945, scoring in an FA Cup tie against Port Vale – Johnny played in seven two-legged FA Cup ties to propel his side into the Sixth Round, but missed the second leg against Birmingham City that saw Bradford defeated heavily. Johnny made his League debut in October 1946, a Division Two match that saw Newcastle United defeated thanks to Downie’s winner. He was used sparingly during the 1946/47 season but became a first team regular the following season, netting nineteen times from the inside left position. His form continued into the 1948/49 season, none more so than when Bradford drew Manchester United in the FA Cup Fourth Round and played out two draws before the Division One side prevailed in a second replay. By the end of February 1949 Downie had scored 35 goals for Bradford Park Avenue in 99 starts.

In March 1949 Downie’s performances in the FA Cup encouraged Division One side Manchester United to pay £18,000 for Downie’s signature, a record fee received by Bradford Park Avenue. He scored in his March 1949 Red Devils debut against Charlton Athletic and netted four more goals during the remainder of the 1948/49 season as United finished Division One runners-up and progressed to the FA Cup semi-final (albeit without the cup-tied Downie in the side). After staying on the sidelines for most of the 1949/50 season Johnny made a first team shirt his own with a February 1950 FA Cup goal against Portsmouth. He missed two months of football in November and December 1950 before returning to first team action towards the end of the 1950/51 season and scoring eight goals in 13 starts as United again finished Division One runners-up. Despite missing ten weeks of football between January and March 1952, Johnny added eleven goals in the 1951/52 season that ended with Manchester United lifting the Division One title. In September 1952 he scored in the Red Devils’ Charity Shield victory over Newcastle United but that proved to be his last strike for Manchester United – Downie was used less regularly as a cohort of exciting new players, the Busby Babes, came into the first team picture. When Downie left Old Trafford in July 1953 he had scored 37 times in 116 appearances.

In July 1953 Johnny transferred to Division Two side Luton Town for a £10,000 fee, scoring his first and only Football League hattrick on his August 1953 debut against Oldham Athletic. Despite this all-action start to his Hatters career, the twelve goals that Downie scored in 26 appearances during the 1953/54 season were not enough to secure his retention by the Bedfordshire club and he was transferred to Division Two rivals Hull City in July 1954.

Downie left Hull City in July 1955 – after a move to Swindon Town failed to materialise because he refused to move from his Bradford home, he spent two seasons playing left half for Midland League side King’s Lynn. Hull City retained Johnny’s Football League registration, indeed the Tigers couldn’t agree a deal for Downie to join Rotherham United in July 1956 and he stayed in Norfolk for a second season before leaving the Linnets the end of August 1957.

Johnny switched to local Midland League rivals Wisbech Town in September 1957 where he scored plenty of goals, this form led to his return to the Football League in October 1958 when he signed for Division Three side Mansfield Town. He failed to score his customary debut goal for the Stags against Doncaster Rovers in October 1958 but did net against Plymouth Argyle a week later. He played a supporting role at inside left and left half during the 1958/59 season, scoring four goals in 18 appearances. Handed a free transfer by Mansfield Town, Johnny joined Division Four side Darlington in May 1959 and scored in his August 1959 Quakers debut against Barrow. Within two months he had drifted out of the first team at Feethams, having scored two goals in 15 appearances.

Downie then saw out his playing days on the Manchester non-league scene while training with Halifax Town during the week. He joined Cheshire League side Hyde United in July 1960 and switching to divisional rivals Mossley a year later. In February 1962 he switched to Stalybridge Celtic, a third Cheshire League side, seeing out the 1961/62 season at Bower Fold. At the start of the 1962/63 season Downie played briefly for Halifax Town’s Reserves before hanging up his boots in November 1962.

After football Johnny had a newsagent’s business in Bradford before retiring in the 1980s to Tynemouth near Newcastle, where he died in February 2013.

Details

Nationality: Scotland
Date/Place of Birth: 19 July 1925, Lanark
Hull City First Game: 21 August 1954, Leeds United H (Division Two), 29 years, 33 days old
Hull City Final Game: 11 April 1955, Bury H (Division Two), 29 years, 266 days old

Clubs

Bradford Park Avenue (1944-1949), Manchester United (1949-1953), Luton Town (1953-1954), Hull City (1954-1955), King’s Lynn (1955-1957), Wisbech Town (1957-1958), Mansfield Town (1958-1959), Darlington (1959-1960), Hyde United (1960-1961), Mossley (1961), Stalybridge Celtic (1961-1962), Halifax Town (1962)

Hull City Record

Career: 28 apps, 5 goals