Hailing from Banffshire, he moved to Glasgow in 1919 to sign for Rangers,[3] playing in one Scottish Football League match during the 1919–20 season as the club won the title, then three in 1920–21 as they retained the championship.
[3] On returning to Ibrox he got slightly more chances in the side, playing in nine league matches of the title-winning 1922–23 Scottish Division One campaign and a Glasgow Cup final (but not its replay)[4] but also being loaned back to Third Lanark intermittently,[3] featuring exclusively in their Scottish Cup run which ended with a defeat at the semi-final stage.
[6] The 1923–24 season was his last with the Gers and most successful in terms of appearances, playing 12 times in another championship campaign[4] – probably enough to be awarded a medal, unlike the previous years.
He did claim medals from the minor Dunedin Cup (two) and the East of Scotland Shield during his Hearts spell.
[3] It was common for players in those circumstances to play abroad, and he may have spent some time in the United States - an 'Alec Johnston' played for Fall River as they finished as winners of the 1928–29 American Soccer League,[9][10] but it has not been confirmed if this was the same player owing to scant details on his origins and position.