Signed from mighty Preston North End by the mighty Imps Garvie was a most gifted fellow. Oh that we were there or indeed that he could be here with us. for in the Golden era of the fifties the Imps possessed two golden nuggets, they became known as the G Force. This is a must read for Ali Fuseini and Clarke Keltie the lads we need to pull the strings against Aldershot.
2-3-5 brought the foundary workers Satudays alive
Although Andy Graver grabbed most of the headlines as the centre forward, he owed many of them to the trickery of inside forward Johnie Garvie. We wee Scottish wizard had a pace matched only by his eye for a through ball. If neither of those options suited the terrier he would go alone with a mazy dribble ending with a howitzer of a rising drive. The great Andy Graver may have been the swinging pendulum but Garvie was without doubt the clock maker as the Imps held there own with the big boys in the power house of the old second division, now Championship.
Johnie was plucked from Bellshill Athletic, near Motherwell who played in the Scottish highland league by the mighty Preston North End in the summer of 1949. He managed 5 appearances in a side that had been sensationally relegated the season before and were very much in transition. Heads would roll and the Imps would profit as he was discarded as mighty PNE returned as champions the following season. If Chris Fagan can pick as many pockets as Bill Anderson he will be a star. Anderson unearthed another of his Scottish gems as Garvie hammered 21 goals in his first season at The Bank. It was love at first sight for Garvie and the Imps as he got a hat trick against Accy and braces against rivals Mansfield, New Brighton and Southport to end up top scorer, a feat in itself for an inside forward.
The following season fired us to the Division Three North Championship with the G force wading in with 55 goals to packed crowds. He bagged 21 goals with braces against Chesterfield and Stockport in front of a record home league gate of 21,501. That season saw 21,757 roll up for the 3-1 FA Cup victory over the Mariners with another colossal 19,522 for the league game.
That first season in back Division two was tough with our best ever home crowds. Garvie got a brace against Bury as the bank crammed in 22,029 V Huddersfield, 21,726 V Forest, 21,042 V Blackburn and 20,776 V Donny. We also enjoyed 2 gates over 19,000, 1 over 18,000, 3 over 17,000, 2 over 16,000 and 3 over15,000. The following season Johnny was the leading scorer again with 13 goals bagging braces against Liverpool and Rotherham in front of 18,897 . Johny also scored and was archetypal in Graver’s hatrick in the famous 4-2 silencing of over thirty thousand Scousers. Bet they moaned their way home along the cobbles that night
Johnny joined Carlisle United April 1956 and scored six times in 25 appearances. He later returned to his adopted Lincolnshire joining Boston United (scored in their first game in the Southern League), Corby Town, Stamford Town and Ilkeston Town. Denno may also recall that he was a steward of the Corby Trades and Labour club.
Johnny Garvie passed away in January 1996 aged 68.
Johnny Garvie
(1950/51-1955/56)
Full Name: Garvie, John
Date Of Birth : 16/10/1927
Birthplace : Bellshill
Died : 01/1996
Apps: 192 (184 League);
Goals: 80 (78 League)
LCFC overall record :
Apps : 192 (184 League); Goals : 80 (78 League)
The seasons.
Season 1950/1951 : 5th Div 3 N
Apps : 41 ; Goals : 21
Hat trick: V Accrington Stanley
Braces: Mansfield, New Brighton, Southport
Highest Gates. Scunthorpe 16,857, Rotherham 14,714
Typical Gates 8-9k 1 x 12k 4 x 11k 8 x 10k
Season 1951/1952 : Div 3 N Champions
Apps : 45 ; Subs : 0 ; Goals : 21
Braces: Chesterfield, Stockport
Highest Gates: 21,757 FA Cup (3-1) 21,501 V Stockport 19,522 v Cods
Typical Gates 1 x 17K 1 x 16k 4 x 15k 1 x 14k 4 x 12k 4 x 11k 2 x 10k
Season 1952/1953 : 15th Div 2
Apps : 25 ; Goals : 10
Braces: Bury
Highest Gates: 22,029 V Huddersfield, 21,726 V Forest, 21,042 V Blackburn, 20,776 V Donny.
Typical Gates 4 over 20k, 2 over 19k, 1 over 18k, 3 over 17k, 2 over 16k, 3 over15k
Season 1953/1954: 16th Div 2
Apps : 13 ; Goals : 10 out injured until Xmas
Hat trick: V Fulham
Highest Gates 23,027 FA Cup 4th R Preston (0-2) 17,979 V Leeds (2-0), 17,593 V Everton (1-3)
Typical Gates: 12k, 4 over 16k 1 over 15k, 1 over 14k, 4 over 13k
Season 1954/1955 : 16th Div 2
Apps : 42 ; Subs : 0 ; Goals : 13
Braces: Liverpool, Rotherham. Also scored one in return - a famous 4-2 away win at Anfield
Highest Gates 18,897 V Rotherham.
Typical Gates 11- 12k. 2 over 15k, 3 over 14k, 5 over 13k
Season 1955/1956 : 8th Div 2
Apps : 26 ; Goals : 5
Highest gates 21,025 V Sheff Wed ( we stayed top after a 2-2 draw having beaten Leicester 7-1 at home the week before)
Typical Gates 13,5k 2 over 18k, 2 over 16k
1 Andy Graver (50/51-54/55,55/56,58/59-60/61) Apps : 289 ; Goals : 150
2 Johnny Campbell (33/34-38/39) Aps 198(0) Goals 110
3 Gordon Hobson (77/78-84/85,88/89-89/90 Aps 372 (14) Goals 105
4 John Ward (70/71-78/79,81/82) Aps 243 (20) Goals 99
5 Billy Dinsdale (26/27-30,30/31) Aps 136 Goals 103
6 Johnny Garvie (50/51-55/56) Aps 192 (0) Goals 80
7 Roy Chapman (57/58-60/61, 64/65-66/67) Aps 186 (1) Goals 81
8 Allan Hall (1931/32-1932/33) Aps 76 (0) Goals 68
9 Percy Freeman (70/71-72/73, 74/75-76/77 Aps 166 (15) Goals 76
10 Ernie Whittle (1949/50-1953/54 151 aps 64 goals