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Johnny Hubbard passes away


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https://www.ayradvertiser.com/news/19962878.plaque-unveiled-prestwick-honour-penalty-king-johnny/?fbclid=IwAR0MmpXYRCI6GuJfmIk0ZlLpH9haIdaNOqM78fKmLdWanQasMNokmhm0P9o
 

12 hrs ago

Plaque unveiled in Prestwick in honour of ‘Penalty King’ Johnny

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By Calam PengillyReporter
Johnny Hubbard Court

Johnny Hubbard Court

 
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A NEW housing development in Prestwick has been completed – and named in honour of a football legend who played for Ayr United.

The amenity housing on Main Street, right in the centre of the town, was delivered by Ashleigh Housing and has been officially named Johnny Hubbard Court.

The building contains 11 new homes designed for the elderly or infirm.

It was named in honour of South African, Johnny Hubbard, who was known in his playing days as “The Penalty King”.

Johnny’s playing career encompassed 10 years at Rangers where he took 68 penalties for Rangers, and scored 65, earning him his nickname.

He also spent three years at Bury, and two years with Ayr United, a move which saw him settle in the South Ayrshire area after his playing career came to an end.

Johnny died in 2018 at the age of 87.

He was involved in local community sport, working for the council. He captained Prestwick Cricket Club and managed and coached at Prestwick Tennis Court, as well as coaching football at schools across the Ayrshire.

 

A plaque featuring a likeness of Johnny is displayed at the front of the building.

A group of around 30 people gathered outside the development on Friday, February 25 to hear from those involved in the project.

Councillor Phillip Saxton, speaking at the opening of the Johnny Hubbard Court, said: “Construction has been built to a very high standard and fits in with the town centre, with the exterior matching the surrounding buildings. I would like to say a personal thank you to the fundraising group for the plaque.”

Speaking on behalf of the fundraising group that raised £4,500 for the plaque to be made, Bill Baillie said: “The plaque was the endpoint of what we started just after Johnny passed.

“Tam Cairns, is actually the one who initiated it and we got a small team together. We were actually going to go for a statue at one point, but because of Covid, it all fell down and we had to downsize it a bit. I’d like to thank Tam (Cairns), Allan (Hago), and Gordon (McKenzie) for all their help and sticking with me to get this done, I’d like to thank Linda, Linda Burridge, for coming along and being part of the group for the plaque as well.

 
 
 
 

“And Ruth Davis, Ruth is the Sculptor, who did the plaque.

“I want to say one small thing about this, it’s composite material, it’s not worth stealing.

The plaque cost £4,000 and with money left over from donations, the group is to install a memorial bench at Prestwick Cricket Club.

Bill added: “Thanks to everyone from the whole community for investing in it.”

Bill also relayed a message from Sir Alex Ferguson, who praised Johnny’s sporting impact.

“As a young fan growing up in Govan supporting my team Rangers, the emergence of Johnny Hubbard was starting to catch supporters attention, was his intelligence he’d arrived from South Africa in 1951 and was not your normal well-built players Rangers were accustomed to, he was a small diminutive left-winger but bit by bit he became an important player in the mid-50s.

“This culminated on New Year’s Day in 1955 for the Old Firm match where he scored a goal that would equal the Ryan Giggs’ goal of the 1999 FA Cup semifinal against Arsenal.

“I was also at Broomfield Park in Airdrie when Hubby missed his first penalty, cutting his shot to the right-hand side of the Airdrie goal keeper, however his record of converting 65 penalties out of 68 22 of them consecutively, takes some beating. It was my pleasure to meet Johnny in later years, he was an absolute gentleman.”

Johnny Hubbard’s daughter, Linda Burridge, said: “It’s a great honour for the family that he’ll always be remembered in Prestwick, his adopted home, it’s a massive honour.”

“He loved sport that was his passion he loved nurturing young people regardless of their ability. to take part and enjoy it as well he could be quite a disciplinarian sometimes, but that was his upbringing with sport and everything.

“He’s sorely missed, it’s three and a half years now since we lost him and then we lost my mum in April, so she’s not here to witness this, so it’s a bit bittersweet, but yes, it’s a huge honour for the family.”

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