“Come on you Jam Tarts, get the ball to Red Johnny, he’ll rip this German crew apart,” shouted a boisterous and loud Hearts fan behind me as I found my spot on the terrace at Tynecastle. The opposition was Bayern Munich in the Europa League Cup and the date was 28th February 1988.
Hearts did get the ball to him and the Jambos famously won the first leg one-nil with a fine team display and a super performance from ‘Red Johnny’ who ripped it up that night.
It was no surprise, Colquhoun had been terrorising the best defenders in Scotland for the best part of five years for Celtic then Hearts. His trickery, ball control, acceleration and strength on the ball were mesmerising at times. His ability to see a pass and create mayhem in the opposition box was all part of his repertoire. The tap-in goal was for other mere mortals, Red Johnny loved a ‘worldie’, if you don’t believe me have a look at his volley that won the 1986 semi-final at Hampden for Hearts against Dundee United. Or his goal against Atlético Madrid in the UEFA Cup.
John Colquhoun started his football journey at his hometown club Stirling Albion, signing his first contract in 1978, (following in his father’s footsteps who also played for Oldham and Stockport in a career of 382 appearances and 64 goals).
Colquhoun worked part-time painting and decorating as he racked up 104 games and 45 goals for the Binos.
His potential and performances soon had a trail of club scouts beating a path to Annfield Stadium. Celtic were his boyhood team and when they came calling in 1983, he signed for the Hoops. Twenty-nine appearances and three goals between 1983/85 were just not enough for Colquhoun to continue at Celtic Park and he signed for Alex MacDonald at Hearts in 1985 hoping to kick-start his career.
Soccer - UEFA Cup First Round - First Leg - Heart of Midlothian v Atletico Madrid - Tynecastle Stadium Photo by Jeff Holmes/EMPICS via Getty Images
A fine team was coming together at Hearts under the management of Alex MacDonald and Sandy Jardine. Within a couple of years a squad boasting Dave McPherson, Craig Levein, David McCreery, Eamonn Bannon, Sandy Clark, Tosh McKinlay, Kenny Black and Henry Smith along with the lethal duo of John Robertson and Red Johnny Colquhoun was pushing the Old Firm hard.
Between 1985 and 1991, Colquhoun made two hundred and thirty-one appearances scoring fifty-four goals. His partnership with Robertson was a joy to behold at times and his assist count just for ‘Robbo’ must have been huge (let alone the rest of his team). He also earned two Scotland caps in 1988.
Colquhoun would probably have been described as a No. 10 in today’s game, or an inside forward in the Sixties. It was not that unusual to see him careering down one wing or the other, or looking for all the world like a twin striker at times in games, such was his movement and game management/intelligence.
Millwall boss Bruce Rioch liked the look of Red Johnny and signed him for £400,000 in 1991.
The 1991/92 season for Colquhoun at Millwall was a little underwhelming, with twenty-seven appearances and three goals. Millwall finished fifteenth in Division Two having changed manager from Bruce Rioch to Mick McCarthy halfway into the season. Adding to the Sunderland connections, Alex Rae was the club captain. Colquhoun, however, was not settled and when Crosby came in with a £200,000 offer, he was glad to make the move North.
Sunderland Assistant Manager Malcolm Crosby
Caretaker Manager Malcolm Crosby had been given the manager’s job somewhat reluctantly by Chairman Bob Murray in 1992 (following the sacking of Denis Smith) as he steered Division Two Sunderland to Wembley and the FA Cup final against Liverpool. In the league we had looked more in danger of relegation rather than promotion in 1991/92 and the £900,000 Sunderland made on their FA Cup exploits was given to Crosby’s team rebuild.
Apart from Colquhoun, Terry Butcher joined as a player having previously been player/manager at Coventry and Halesowen Town. Crosby also invested £650,000 on the highly rated box-to-box midfielder Shaun Cunnington.
Adding these three to the likes of Tony Norman, Kevin Ball, Gary Bennett, Gary Owers, Gordon Armstrong, Brian Atkinson, Peter Davenport and Don Goodman, the squad looked like it had enough to at least raise a reasonable challenge for promotion. Sadly it was not to be, in a dreadful start to the season we sunk to the bottom three of the table and spent much of the season fighting relegation.
Niggling injuries and what appeared to me (as someone who had seen him play a lot in the mid to late Eighties) to be a loss of form and confidence all helped to mean that by the start of February 1993 Colquhoun had only started the first two games of the league season. The reality was, the team was struggling and so was Red Johnny!
After a very poor performance and loss at Roker Park to Watford at the end of January, Crosby was relieved of his duties and Terry Butcher took over as player/manager.
This meant that two seasons in a row Colquhoun had experienced the upheaval of the managerial revolving door.
For Red Johnny, the change saw Butcher (who had played for Rangers and seen Colquhoun in his pomp at Hearts) bring him back into the team and he got a run of nine consecutive games in the number nine shirt, where he showed flashes of his ability without really setting the grass on fire!
It was really disappointing and perplexing as someone who had “bigged” him up on his signing. (I really did think he would have been a good fit and a bit of a “baller” for our crowd). Sometimes it just does not work out for a player, no matter how hard they try or professional they are.
Sunderland stayed up by the skin of their teeth in that very disappointing season. Terry Butcher set about yet another team rebuild in the close season and part of this saw £650,000 and John Colquhoun heading up to Hearts in exchange for Scotland midfielder Derek Ferguson.
15/09/84 PREMIER DIVISION.CELTIC v HEARTS (1-0).CELTIC PARK - GLASGOW.John Colquhoun in action for Celtic. (Photo by SNS Group via Getty Images) Photo by SNS Group via Getty Images
I don’t know this for sure, but can easily imagine that Colquhoun would probably be delighted to be going back “home” to Gorgie Road, following two seasons of upheaval and not too much football.
His return to Tynecastle was well received and he settled in quickly, but once again the managerial merry-go-round saw Sandy Clark relieved of his position only to be replaced by another old playing colleague of Red Johnny’s, Jim Jefferies. (Sunderland link incoming - Jefferies got me a ticket for the 2014 League Cup Final at Wembley against Man City)!
In his second spell at Hearts, Colquhoun played 114 games scoring 12 goals. As one of the senior players in the squad he was instrumental in aiding the development of a number of young players at the club, including Allan ‘Magic’ Johnston.
At the end of the 1996/97 season Red Johnny spent a month at St Johnstone and helped them win promotion to the SPL.
He retired at the end of this season having played 531 games and scoring 118 goals.
You might have thought that was it for ‘Red Johnny’ but his story continued.
Always politically active and aware at local and national level (for instance the Poll Tax Rebellion in Scotland), he was elected Rector of Edinburgh University from 1997 to 2000.
He wrote successfully for Scotland on Sunday and not just about football, and was a well-respected pundit on ITV’s Scots Sport programme. He was co-owner of the renowned GEM Golf Swing Aid (used by the likes of Ian Woosnam, Tommy Fleetwood and Sandy Lyle) and set up and sold one of the biggest sports agencies in the country - Key Sports, who represented the likes of Theo Walcott, Steve McLaren and Phil Jones.
In 2015 Colquhoun bought ‘Box Soccer’ from a former player and coach Ian Cathro.
Box Soccer is a technical development programme that runs across twelve sites in Scotland and two in the United States, with seventy coaches employed. In 2019, one hundred and twenty-two Box Soccer graduates had gone on to become professional footballers. John has also been involved in setting up a digital academy, which has interactive lessons, video guides and live seminars. John Colquhoun remains passionate about youth development and the training of top coaches, is a regular donator and fundraiser for local and national charities and causes, as well as enjoying the occasional game of golf on the links heartland of his home on the East Lothian coast.
His time at Sunderland may not have been the most successful, but few will argue that ‘Red Johnny’ Colquhoun marched to the beat of his own drum and, whilst deservedly earning his status as a Hearts legend, he has been far from idle since retiring.
If only things had been a bit more settled at Sunderland during his time with us, who knows what might have been.
Haway Red Johnny!