Product Description

In this biography in exclusive interviews Willie Johnston lays bare for the first time the truth about what happened in Argentina in 1978 when he was controversially sent home from the World Cup having tested positive for drugs and how he was made a pariah by the Scottish football authorities, being deemed persona non grata for many years. Willie's career as a silky, classy player who jinked his way down the wing to create goal after goal, and score the odd one too, took him from Glasgow Rangers, where he helped the club win the only European trophy in their history, the Cup Winners Cup in 1972, netting the winning goal in the final, to West Bromwich Albion, Vancouver Whitecaps, Birmingham City, Hearts and of course Scotland, for whom he won 22 caps. At all of his clubs he became a cult hero. He still commands huge crowds wherever he goes. Johnston was perhaps the most controversial player of his times. Stricken with a legendary temper, he was sent from the field of play on a record 22 occasions in his remarkable career. Indeed controversy seemed to follow Willie about the place. He once raced naked around the Hawthorns for a bet, teased opponents by sitting on the ball in matches and was incredibly both sent off and drummed out of South America at gunpoint. With contributions by Ron Atkinson, Johnny Giles and Sandy Jardine amongst a stellar cast, Sent Off At Gunpoint tells Willie's incredible story in full for the first time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13615 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-09
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

About the Author
Tom Bullimore is an established author in his own right. His children's fiction books and puzzle books have sold thousands of copies, but his passion for Scottish football knows no bounds, and when he was approached by Willie Johnston to write the true story of his career, he could do nothing but accept!

Customer Reviews

A story worth telling, but...
Willie Johnston's is very much a story worth hearing. But I feel it could have been told a little better than this.

The blame isn't Johnston's - it's the man he chose to write the book, Tom Bullimore. Bullimore is perhaps better known for his children's fiction and puzzle books. He may well be a firmly established writer in those fields, but I certainly don't think he shows any qualities as a biographer here. I think it's at times very biased and often even amateurish.

Then there are the photographs in the centre of the book. In these alone, I saw four very careless errors. In one, it states "Willie's first major trophy at age 17 - League Cup 1964", when in fact the picture clearly shows Johnston holding the Cup Winners' Cup 8 years later. In another, it states the "shameful incident in the Old Firm derby" when he was dismissed for supposedly headbutting Provan, when in fact that incident didn't involve Rangers at all - Johnston had moved to Hearts by then. As I said, these mistakes are from the photographs alone - God knows how many more are in the text.

Also, again factually incorrect, Bullimore says this is the first time Johnston has revealed all - isn't he aware of Johnston's first (auto)biography, "On the Wing!", published around 1986?

To me, Willie Johnston was one of the finest wingers this country has ever produced. He fully deserves a biography that does him justice, without bias or plain amateurism (or cock-ups). This book falls well short. Sorry, Bud.

Interesting insight
Bought this for my husband, he was a really big fan of Willie Johnston. He enjoyed the book very much. It has opened his eyes to what a fantastic professional Willie was and how committed to the game and his various teams he was too. Anyone who has an interest in Willie or just good old fashioned football values will enjoy this.

Sent off at gunpoint review
this book was purchased as an exmas present so i cannot review the content unfortunately. the delivery from amazon was very quick and the packaging was great preventing any damage being made in transit. The person who the book was for was overjoyed when they opened it.