Albert Louis Johanesson was born in March 1940 in Johannesburg, South Africa, and was brought up in one of the poverty-stricken townships of the city.

In his youth in South Africa, he played football for Germiston Coloured School and Germiston Colliery. However, in an interview with the Yorkshire Evening Post in 1992, Albert claimed that he didn’t even like football much when he was growing up, and only got into the game when the local team was a man short. “Football, I never even liked the game. We used to play by the light of a shop until one or two in the morning. Honest to God, there were better players than me. The football team was a man short. They asked ‘can you play?’ I had no boots. They said to me ‘can you play barefoot?’ I scored the winning goal and my toe was sore”.

By all accounts, this was typical of his modesty and self-effacement. Team mates have since described him as ‘a joy to watch and play with’, ‘a really nice man’, and ‘braver than most’.

He was signed up to Leeds United in 1961, although it’s not entirely clear exactly when he came to England. Newspaper reports of his early life mention a schoolteacher who took him in hand and brought him to England, recommending him to Leeds United Football club, which suggests that he may have been quite young, and yet, if his date of birth is correct, he would have been 21 when he was signed for Leeds.

The young Albert must have been feeling like a fish out of water, and later confessed that he hadn’t even known there was an England, or heard of the Queen. The British climate got to him as well – “One Monday in Leeds I did not want to get out of bed because it was so cold. I had a trial and they took me off because it was too cold. I thought I was finished”.

Albert was married to a lady named Norma, but when and where this took place is not known – there is no record of his marriage in the GRO indexes from 1961 to 1967, and by all accounts his marriage was already breaking down by the late 1960s, so perhaps Norma was South African – certainly he did return to his native country shortly after his trials, or maybe he was already married? He mentions having ‘a beautiful house in Moortown, a beautiful wife and two children (his daughters, Yvonne and Lisa) and two cars’.

His footballing style was brilliant but erratic, and he found himself in competition with a young Scots player, Eddie Gray. Eddie was a much more consistent player, and Albert’s appearances on the pitch were limited as a result. He did manage to play one game with Gerry Francis, a fellow South African, and the first black player to play for Leeds United.

His playing improved, however, and in 1965 he was the first black player to play in an FA cup final, although his performance was patchy by all accounts. He played as a left-winger for LUFC for 9 years, made 197 appearances and scored 67 goals, including two hat tricks in European games.

Sadly, by the late 1960s his career, as well as his personal life, was in decline, mainly due to his worsening drink problem. Albert himself confessed that, as a boy growing up in the grinding poverty of a South African Township, he and his pals would often sniff benzadrine, so the alcohol addiction was a natural progression from this habit.

In 1970 he was transferred to York City, but his career with them lasted less than a year, and by 1971 it was over. His wife left him, taking their two daughters, and emigrating to Canada. He admitted that he had driven them away, ‘I was a bastard. I couldn’t handle the fame’, he said, adding sadly, ‘I’ve got nothing’.

Descending into full-scale alcoholism, his life became a blur, and he ended up first in St. George’s Crypt, totally broke and destitute, but was turned away and ended up sleeping in the railway station. A kind-hearted Leeds supported who worked at the Griffin Hotel recognised him, and used to let him sleep on a bench in the TV lounge of the hotel.

Things must have improved slightly, because for the last few years of his life Albert lived with his brother, Trevor (who had similar problems) in a flat in Gledhow.

In 1992, his nephew, Hepburn Graham Junior, an actor, met up with his uncle whilst he was appearing at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. Hepburn was horrified at his uncle’s physical and mental condition, and was instrumental in persuading him to book into a detox clinic. He also announced his intention of writing a biography of his uncle, although this has never materialised.

In June of 1992, Albert entered a detox clinic in Middlesex, the same clinic that had helped Jimmy Greaves. Sadly, Albert’s problem seems to have been too deeply embedded. Three years later, he died, alone in his flat, his body undiscovered for several days.

A certain amount of drama continued even after his death. He was buried at Lawnswood Cemetery on 9th October 1995, and his funeral was well attended. His daughters flew in from the States, and over 100 mourners, including former team mates Eddie Gray and Peter Lorimer, were in attendance. However, a few months later, the newspapers were full of headlines claiming that he was buried in ‘a pauper’s grave’, with no headstone to mark his final resting place, just a wooden marker with a number. This state of affairs had been discovered due to the fact that a visiting South African dignitary was due to lay a wreath at his grave.

Shortly after this, Leeds United bosses announced that they would pay for a headstone for Albert.

Albert’s name, however, also lives on in the form of an annual trophy at Bracken Edge Primary School. The pupils had mounted an exhibition celebrating the life and career of Albert Johanneson the year before, and Leeds United marked the exhibition by sponsoring a trophy in his honour. The first recipient of the award was 10 year old Patricia James.

Furthermore, Albert’s granddaughter Stephanie, whom he probably never met, is carrying on the football tradition. In 2008, she and the rest of his family flew back to Britain to find out more about him, and Stephanie was to take part in a football tournament.

Although no biography of the man has yet been written, another researcher into his life is teacher Paul Eubanks, who has taught at both Bracken Edge, and more recently Matthew Murray High School. He has been collecting information about him after the school won a grant to fund a research project into his life.

Perhaps a fitting end to this short biography would be the obituary notice placed by his family in the Yorkshire Evening Post of 6th October 1995:

JOHANNESON-On September 28, at home, aged 53 years, Albert Louis (ex Leeds United Football Player), a beloved father and dearly loved brother of Trevor. Will be sadly missed by all his Friends. Service and interment at Lawnswood on Monday October 9, at 11.30 am. Flowers may be sent to the Co-operative Chapel of Rest, Marsh Lane, Leeds 9, or donations, if so desired, to the Chaucer Clinic. A plate for this purpose will be provided at Lawnswood. Friends and supporters please accept this intimation. His skills will never be forgotten.

Almost all of the above information has been gleaned from articles in the Yorkshire Post and Evening Post.