Brian James Johnson "Johnno" (26 June 1956 – 12 January 2016) was an Australian professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played as a in the 1970s and 1980s, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

ed in the 1980s and 1990s. He played in Sydney for the

St George Dragons The St. George Dragons are an Australian rugby league, rugby league football club from the St George, Sydney, St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales Rugby League, New South Wales competition ...

and Eastern Suburbs clubs, and in England for

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

Playing career

Dapto Dapto is a suburb of Wollongong in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia, located on the western side of Lake Illawarra and covering . As at the , the suburb had a population of 10,954. History The name Dapto is said to be an Abor ...

junior, Johnson's only representative appearance was for Country New South Wales in 1978.

New South Wales Rugby Football League

Johnson started his Sydney career at

St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons are an Australian rugby league, rugby league football club from the St George, Sydney, St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales Rugby League, New South Wales competition ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, and played . He was a crowd favourite at

Kogarah Oval Jubilee Stadium (also known as Kogarah Oval) is a multi-purpose stadium in Carlton, a suburb in Sydney, Australia. The stadium is mainly used for rugby league and the A-League, and is one of the home grounds of the National Rugby League (NRL) ...

and won a Premiership in his first year with the Dragons. Johnson played seven first grade seasons with

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

and totalled over 140 games, although he lost his first grade berth to

Glenn Burgess Glenn Burgess (born 17 November 1963) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s. Playing career Burgess was graded by the St George Dragons from the local junior club Penshurst RSL in 1981. He debuted ...

following a back injury in the opening game of 1985 and when fit again played almost entirely in reserve grade. Johnson did set up the match-winning try and score another in the reserve grade grand final against

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. Johnsonʼs last year in the Sydney premiership was 1986 when he joined Eastern Suburbs for one season. He then moved to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and joined

, where he played had three seasons and scored 48 tries, winning the Premiership Final in his first season.

County Cup Final appearances

Johnson played , and scored a try in

's 8–34 defeat by

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

in the 1985 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1985–86 season at

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road is a former football stadium in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. It was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For ...

, St Helens, on Sunday 13 October 1985, and played in the 16–28 defeat by

in the 1987 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1987–88 season at

, St. Helens on Sunday 11 October 1987.

John Player Special Trophy Final appearances

Johnson played in

's 4–18 defeat by

in the

1986–87 John Player Special Trophy This was the sixteenth season of the rugby league League Cup, again known as the John Player Special Trophy for sponsorship purposes. Wigan won the trophy, beating Warrington 18–4 in the final. The match was played at Burnden Park, Bolton, Gre ...

Final during the 1986–87 season at

Burnden Park Burnden Park was the home of England, English association football, football club Bolton Wanderers F.C., Bolton Wanderers, who played home games there between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting the 1901 FA Cup final replay, in 1946 it was the sc ...

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

on Saturday 10 January 1987.

Coaching

In 1988–89 season Johnson became head coach at Warrington. He guided the team to the Lancashire Cup victory in 1989. Brian Johnson was the

's 14–36 defeat by

in the

1990 Challenge Cup Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno D ...

Final during the 1989–90 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on Saturday 28 April 1990, in front of a crowd of 77,729. Under Johnson, Warrington also won the

Regal Trophy The Regal Trophy was an annual knock-out competition for British rugby league football clubs. Organised by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the competition was open to all professional clubs in the British rugby league system, but amateur teams ...

in 1990–91 season. In 1993–94 season Warrington finished third in the league on points difference behind Wigan and Bradford Northern. The following season Warrington made the

Final once more, again losing to Wigan. He resigned from his position in January 1996 in the Rugby League Centenary Season following a club record 80–0 defeat against St. Helens at

. Johnson was later employed by the AIS as a rugby league coach.

Death

Johnson died from Alzheimer's Disease on 12 January 2016. He was survived by his wife and two sons.Illawarra Mercury – Death Notice 14 January 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Brian 1956 births 2016 deaths Australian Institute of Sport coaches Australian rugby league coaches Australian rugby league players Country New South Wales rugby league team players Deaths from dementia in Australia Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Australia Rugby league fullbacks St. George Dragons players Sydney Roosters players Warrington Wolves coaches Warrington Wolves players Rugby league players from Wollongong 20th-century Australian sportsmen