| George Johnston | |
| Fullname: | George Henry Johnston |
| Nickname: | Cheerful |
| Birth Date: | 12 February 1877 |
| Birth Place: | Sandridge, Victoria |
| Death Place: | Hobart, Tasmania |
| Originalteam: | Albert Park |
| Statsend: | 1900 |
| Years1: | 1897 |
| Club1: | Carlton (VFL) |
| Games Goals1: | 1 (0) |
| Years2: | 1899-1900 |
| Club2: | Prahran (VFA) |
| Games Goals2: | 22 (2) |
| Careerhighlights: | Inaugural team captain: Prahran (VFA) 1899. |
George Henry Johnston (12 February 1877 – 11 August 1945) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Carlton in its first-ever match (1897) in the Victorian Football League (VFL) competition,[1] and with Prahran in its first-ever match (1899) in the Victorian Football Association (VFA) competition.
The son of John Johnston (1836-1888),[2] and Susannah Johnston (1844-1914), née Knight,[3] George Henry Johnston was born in Sandridge, Victoria on 12 February 1877.[4]
He married Edith Florence Button (1873-1933) in 1900.[5] They had four children.[6]
Recruited from the Albert Park Football Club, Johnston only played once for the Carlton Football Club: against Fitzroy, at the Brunswick Street Oval, on 8 May 1987, in the first-ever round of the new Victorian Football League (VFL) competition. Three weeks later he was cleared back to Albert Park.[7]
Recruited from Albert Park, Johnston played in the first-ever match that Prahran played on its re-entry into the VFA against Richmond, at Toorak Park, on 6 May 1899 at full-back, and as the team's captain.[8] [9] [10] He played in 17 matches (scoring 1 goal) in 1899, and in 5 matches (scoring 1 goal) in 1900.[11]
He was a Life Member of both the Prahran Football Club and the Victorian Football Association.[12]
He enlisted in the First AIF in November 1915. He served overseas, and was wounded in action twice: in 1917,[13] and in 1918.[14] [6]
He died at the Repatriation General Hospital, Hobart, on 11 August 1945.[15]
