Harry Grant Forsyth Johnston (born 24 December 1949)[3] is a Scottish retired footballer who played as a midfielder, featuring briefly in the country's top division for Partick Thistle between longer spells with Montrose.
Born in Orkney and raised in Aberdeen,[3] Johnston began his career with local Junior club Lewis United,[4] from where he was signed by semi-professional Montrose, then playing in the lower of the two divisions of the Scottish Football League.
[8] The contribution of Johnston (who by now had successfully graduated from Jordanhill College to become a Physical education teacher)[3] in Montrose's strong period had not gone unnoticed, and in summer 1976, after over 200 matches for the Angus club, he was approached by Partick Thistle, who had just achieved promotion to the Premier Division.
[9] After signing for a fee of £20,000, his spell with the Glasgow club was short, encompassing little more than one season due to injuries[10] and a loss of trust from manager Auld, himself a combative character who eventually concluded that Johnston had been correct in his self-assessment of being not good enough for the top division, or at least not sufficiently confident in his own ability to make an impact.
Johnston spent three further seasons with Montrose and two with Stenhousemuir, who were playing at the same level and closer to his home and workplace in the Central Belt, amassing 128 further league appearances between the two clubs, before returning to the Juniors with Viewpark-based Thorniewood United in his mid-30s prior to retiring.