All at Wigan Athletic are saddened to learn of the death of our former player, Johnny King, at the age of 75
- Obituary | Johnny King (1947 - 2023)
- Former Wigan Athletic player dies at the age of 75
- All at the Club send their best wishes to Johnny's friends and family at this difficult time
All at Wigan Athletic are saddened to learn of the passing of our former player, Johnny King, at the age of 75.
Jeff Rourke writes...
Johnny was born in Liverpool on Thursday 8 May 1947 and started his career in Sunday league football in his hometown city. He spent two and a half years as a junior with Everton, six months with Shrewsbury Town and also had a spell at Welsh side Blaenau Ffestiniog amateurs before joining Kirkby Town. He made his debut for Kirkby on New Year's Day in 1971 at Altrincham.
He started out as a robust centre-half before developing into a very skilful, but hard midfielder. Aged 24, Johnny joined Wigan Athletic in March 1972, and he made his debut at centre-half on Saturday 4 March 1972 in a 3-1 victory at Altrincham in a Northern Premier League game. At that time, he was also employed as a diesel fitter and had a liking for golf as a relaxing hobby.
His first goal for Latics came on Wednesday 19 April 1972 in a 4-0 win at Gainsborough Trinity in the Northern Premier League Cup Final First Leg – won 4-2 on aggregate. Latics were also Lancashire Challenge Trophy winners and finished Lancashire Floodlit Cup runners-up.
The 1972/73 campaign saw Les Rigby's Latics win the Northern Premier League Shield, win the Lancashire Floodlit Cup but finish runners-up in the Northern Premier League Cup and in the FA Trophy at Wembley losing to Scarborough after extra time.
Season 1973/74 saw Latics finish runners-up to Boston United in the Northern Premier League by a point and they won the Lancashire Challenge Trophy.
The 1974/75 season saw Brian Tiler's Latics lift the North Premier League title and Johnny was a member of the side that knocked Shrewsbury Town out of the FA Cup in a replay after he had scored in at Gay Meadow. He also scored in the prestigious friendly against Moscow Torpedo (2-3).
Season 1975/76 and Latics won the Northern Premier League Shield and finished runners-up in the Lancashire Challenge Trophy.
During the season, manager Brian Tiler left for America and after a brief spell under caretaker Kenny Banks, Ian McNeill was to take charge. Surprisingly, “Kingy” was one of the players to be released by the club.
His last game for Latics was on Friday 30 April 1976 in a 2-0 defeat at Runcorn, a result that earned them the Northern Premier League title. John had played 191 (130 league) games for Latics scoring 19 (12 league) goals.
After leaving Latics, Johnny joined Northwich Victoria in season 1976/77 and under his undoubted leadership skills, Vics only just missed out on the Northern Premier League title on goal difference to Boston United. They also had a fantastic FA Cup run beating Rochdale, Peterborough and Watford before losing 3-1 to Oldham in the Fourth Round with 28,635 present at Maine Road. Vics started season 1977/78 strongly and were top of the league before Johnny joined Tony Sander's Altrincham in November 1977. He scored on his home debut and was appointed captain, and now back with his former teammate John Rogers, he led Altrincham to a 1978 FA Trophy 3-1 win over Leatherhead at Wembley with both of them among the goals. Leatherhead had been the side that had knocked out Latics.
In 1979, he was in the side that drew 1-1 at Spurs at White Hart Lane and introduced himself to World Cup winner Osvaldo Ardilles with a first-minute crunching tackle, saying it was just a 50/50 challenge between two great players.
Altrincham won the Alliance Premier League in 1979/80 but missed out on Football League entry by one vote as Rochdale got 26 votes to Altrincham's 25. Ironically, two clubs had promised them their votes but didn't get to vote for different reasons. They retained the Alliance Premier League title in 1980/81 but managed only 15 votes at the FL meeting. Imagine having both John King and Graham Barrow in your midfield and they did.
Johnny's playing career with Alty ended at Wembley after the 1982 1-0 FA Trophy defeat to Enfield at the age of 35. John had played 215 (142 league) games for the Robins and scored 28 (17 league) goals. He then went into management with South Liverpool before returning to Moss Lane to become boss in January 1984. At that time, John owned a scaffolding firm and he scaled the heights by leading them to a shock 2-1 win at First Division side Birmingham City in the FA Cup Third Round. He also led them to a 1-0 FA Trophy win over Runcorn at Wembley before resigning in May 1986.
He took over at Runcorn in season 1986/87, helping rebuild the side after most players had left for Altrincham. He masterminded a FA Cup win giant-killing win at Chester City and had two Cheshire Senior Cup Final wins. Johnny returned to Altrincham in May 1988 for a second spell as manager, only to leave again in July 1991 to manage Barrow in the Conference but they were relegated that first season. He then became assistant manager to Mike Walsh at Bury in 1992/93 and they reached the Play-Offs, only to lose to York City. In February 1994, he returned for a third time to Alty and on Saturday 3 December 1994, and his side beat Latics 1-0 in the FA Cup Second Round before losing 3-0 at Tottenham Hotspur in the next.
He then had short spells managing Ashton United from July 1998 until the end of August and then Bangor City from August until September. His first game in charge for Bangor had been a home UEFA Cup Qualifying Round tie against Finnish side Haka who won 2-0 before winning the return 1-0 as well.
Johnny was a born winner, an icon and truly a one-of who will always be fondly remembered. He sadly passed away on Tuesday 7 February 2023.
All at Wigan Athletic send their heartfelt condolences to Johnny's family and friends.