Craig Johnston Quotations

Our football program is bigger than any one person.

The main thing I do now is I coach kids, and all of these stories along the way are based in reality.

OK, the wonderful thing about soccer is, a football is a perfectly round object, and it doesn't make mistakes. The player using it makes mistakes. And the more you use it, the less mistakes you make.

I've been ignored for 20 years but now it's heartening to get some recognition.

Now Jack Charlton wasn't wrong, I was a bad footballer.

It used to be standard practice that the pre-match meal consisted of egg, steak and chicken. But I talked them into changing to complex carbohydrates. So now they will sup on porridge, pasta or rice.

We were having a trial game against Leeds, and Jack Charlton was the boss of Middlesbrough at the time.

So I did in fact spend two and a half years in the Middlesbrough car park practising skills. But if you spend four or five or six hours a day practising, you get better.

And I think they loved me because I loved being part of their team, you know, and I quite often say to kids, that I was the worst player in the world's best football team - and that was good enough for me.

I've always had an inquisitive mind about everything from flowers to television sets to motor cars. Always pulled them apart - couldn't put 'em back, but always extremely interested in how things work.

You know, I was crap. But I had the commitment, and I had the understanding, that the basis of football is skill on the ball, and if you spend the time with it, you're gonna reap the rewards.

There is a reason I sit up in the booth and observe. I have a lot of faith in my staff.

So for a year I spent all my time hiding from Jack Charlton in the car park practising my skills.

I have a real affinity with Ireland and Dublin and the Irish, and I'm your greatest fan whenever there's a World Cup or European Championships on.

For the seniors, this is an important part of their lives. We need to get ready to beat Santa Cruz. I don't want this to be a distraction. I don't tackle anyone. I don't run, throw or block.

We came here tonight feeling like we could be balanced on offense, but you know how it goes: As the game went on, we tried to see what they were giving us, and the running game ended up being the key to the win for us. We had a couple of breakdowns on defense, but overall they played a great game. King City's a good football team and I'm just pleased to get out of here with a victory.

They were in a little shock. There really wasn't much said. Our football program is bigger than any one person.

It was the lowest point of my life and I needed help,

The new structure looks good. One day I would like to get involved from top to bottom.

It's strange, it's a British Inventor of the Year and I'm Australian, but I've been here for 25 years, so I guess I'm sort of qualified.

I want to learn from this mistake and learn what I have to. I feel real bad about this. Parents were watching. I wasn't trying to pull anything.

I'm not denying anything. I wasn't trying to deceive anyone. But it was wrong. I overstepped the rule. It has happened before. But it won't happen in the future. I should have known better.

I really liked what I saw of them and respect them as businessmen, they are clearly good operators,

I appreciate Karl backing me up and minimizing the penalties. No individual player on the team is being penalized. It was just an adult that made a wrong decision.

I appreciate Karl backing me up and minimizing the penalties, ... No individual player on the team is being penalized. It was just an adult that made a wrong decision.