Campaigners for disabled urged to keep the flame of hope alive after Games

Craig Johnston is not your typical celebrity over supporting the Special Olympics

Craig Johnston is not your typical celebrity over supporting the Special Olympics. The former Liverpool soccer player quit football in 1988 at the zenith of his playing career to look after his disabled sister Fay.

She was in a serious accident in Morocco when she suffered a brain injury and was in a coma. Johnston had a life-altering choice to make: continue to live his dream at Liverpool or dedicate his life to her welfare.

"I didn't miss it because I had to focus on my sister. If I thought about the game I'd want to return to England, but I couldn't," he explained yesterday at the five-a-side football in Belfield.

At the end of the 1980s, Liverpool was the best team in the world and Johnston simply walked away.

READ MORE

"I was just 27 when I retired. It was far too young but saying that I fitted in so many years and I got far more medals than I ever thought I would. It was all a shock as I couldn't believe that I was actually playing for that team, at that era, with Dalglish, Souness, Hansen, Lawrenson and Rushie up front.

"I still can't believe I had that career. It all happened so quickly but also the plug got pulled very quickly."

After returning to Sydney, he eventually got back into football on the media, marketing and now coaching side of things but he is mindful of the knowledge he has gained over the past 15 years. "I have a long history of living with a disabled sister and understanding the extra needs that special cases require," he outlined.

Today and tomorrow he is holding a FIFA-endorsed football clinic in Belfield called the "Craig Johnston Supaskills".

"After returning to Australia to care for my sister I moved into coaching kids there. Not traditional coaching, I developed this system which is a universal measurement and rating system called "Supaskills", he explained.

"I worked that up with FIFA. And now we are launching globally. Supaskills allows you to measure yourself against the likes of Michael Owen for dribbling, Zidane for passing and so on in order for kids to measure themselves on a daily basis," said Craig.