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Lucy Pinder[1] is just the latest glamour girl to be associated with the Old Firm courtesy of her relationship with Rangers[2] manager Russell Martin.
It can’t have been easy for the former pin-up to see her partner face a storm of criticism from fans, with many screaming for his departure following a string of disastrous results.
That’s just life in the Glasgow goldfish bowl, however, as ex-Coronation Street star and model Helen Flanagan[3] could probably testify after she joined former fiance Scott Sinclair in the football-mad city during his time at Celtic[4].
And, as A Place in the Sun[5] presenter Jean Johannson tells Daily Mail Sport, being a WAG is very often not as wonderful and glamorous as it’s made out to be, as she discovered during her husband Jonatan’s spell as a striker with the Ibrox club.
TV presenter Jean Johannson was only a teen when an over-exuberant Rangers fan jumped into the back of her partner’s car and proceeded to plonk himself in behind her.
Rangers had just beaten Celtic, her boyfriend Jonatan Johannson had scored, and emotions were running high.
Lucy Pinder on a luxury holiday with her partner, Rangers manager Russell Martin who is currently experiencing the rough side of life in the Old Firm goldfish bowl
TV presenter Jean Johansson admits there were happy but also difficult times when husband Jonatan was playing for Rangers
Former Coronation Street actress Helen Flanagan also spent time in Glasgow when her former fiance Scott Sinclair starred for Celtic
‘We were just leaving Ibrox,’ Jean told Daily Mail Sport, ‘when someone opened the back seat of the car and jumped in. Luckily, it was a Rangers fan but, for one second, I had no idea who it was that had come in behind me. It’s an incident that really, really scared me. It was the shock, you know? It could have been anyone, and I was terrified.’
According to Jean, a long-term presenter of A Place in the Sun, the man in question had wanted to say congratulations, give a quick hug, and then just jump back out again.’
‘I didn’t know what he was doing, of course,’ she admitted,’ But things like that just remind you that life could be unpredictable. People could be unpredictable. You felt the lines could be crossed quite easily.’
This, it seems, was all part of the goldfish bowl of life in the Old Firm.
‘There were definitely eyes on you, especially back then, you know, if you were a Celtic or Rangers player,’ said the broadcaster.
‘So, if you just happen to be their partner, of course there are going to be eyes on you as well. I’d just gotten my first TV job at 18, so there was already a bit of profile there. Then we had lots of papers in Scotland, photographers outside clubs, and things like that, which was a whole new world to me.
‘I wouldn’t say I was traumatised by it, or that it was always negative. When I was modelling and on TV, it’s not always a bad thing to have your photograph taken. But then there are times when you don’t want to be photographed, and that’s very different.
‘Obviously, you don’t want to be complaining that your boyfriend earns great money and gets to live out his dreams but, at the same time, there was nobody to really share that with, because nobody really gets it unless they’re in the same position as you. Sometimes you did get a bit panicky and anxious about going out. It often felt like everyone was watching you and having an opinion.’
Lucy Pinder poses for photographers during her time as a top glamour model
Jean Johansson takes to the water for her job as a presenter on A Place in the Sun
Jean’s perspective is certainly refreshing. She is, she admits, loath to complain about the lifestyle, because it also had its perks.
‘Whether it’s getting a nice table at a restaurant, sponsored cars, discounts in fashion stores, there was loads of great stuff, depending on what kind of person you were.’
That’s not say, however, that she didn’t find it difficult at times.
‘It was all before picture phones and social media came about, so when people saw you out, the way to connect to you was by coming up and talking to you or coming up and saying something. And that could go one way or the other in Glasgow, if you know what I mean.
‘That was quite difficult for me as a teenager to deal with, being in that goldfish bowl and people watching you and talking about you and having opinions on you. It was definitely something that was quite hard to navigate. It was also tricky for Jonatan as well, coming from a small town in Finland and plonked into a city where football is like a religion. He really had to adapt fast.
‘From my point of view, it was feeling a bit vulnerable when you were out and then feeling like you were open to whatever people’s perceptions of you might be. It was definitely hard for me to deal with back then.’
Jean had met Jonatan, who she married in 2008, while working at a golf club in Langbank. She was modelling part-time, and had just won her first TV job when the two first became a couple. Life, as she knew it, was about to change beyond all recognition.
‘I always sort of credit Walter Smith for me even meeting Jonatan, because he was the one who brought him to Scotland,’ said the 44-year-old.
Former Rangers star Jonatan Johansson and wife Jean enjoy a night out on the town
Russell Martin has not had his troubles to seek since becoming Rangers manager, with some fans calling for him to be sacked
Jean Johansson fixes husband Jonatan’s tie as they enjoy a romantic evening
‘I know that most managers, like Dick Advocaat, are quite happy for the players to be settled down and have a girlfriend and a stable life at home. It makes for a more stable time on the pitch, rather than going out every weekend and partying. I think, for most managers, that’s the preferred option.
‘Games were big occasions. It was just about trying to work out how to balance everything. As soon as you step out on the pitch, you’re out there for everyone else. There’s an ownership with fans.
‘Jonatan had some of the best times of his life at Rangers. The big European nights, that Champions League music playing at Ibrox and Rangers really competing at the top level. We had some amazing experiences. and I would never have met him if it hadn’t been for football.’
There were, undoubtedly, some less savoury times as well. Like when Jonatan moved into management.
‘There was a stage at Morton (who Jonatan managed from 2018 to 2019) where the fans were singing songs about me,’ recalled Jean.
‘I think that was quite hard for him, to be on the touchline and have somebody singing about your wife. It’s difficult when you’ve got so much else to think about.
‘But that can be the nature of football fans. If there’s a weakness or something, and they can get on you, they will. There was definitely a lot of pressure that came from being a manager and, of course, you bring that home. I was travelling a lot, he was managing a club, and there were stresses and pressures like everyone else out there.’
Online abuse also raised its ugly head.
‘I’ve received quite a lot of sectarian abuse on social media, which is bizarre to me as Jonatan left Rangers as a player in the year 2000,’ said Jean.
‘Sometimes I’ll post about an episode of Place in the Sun and someone will say something sectarian, which is strange, because we’re now 25 years on from the last time Jonatan kicked a ball for Rangers. But it shows how deep the hatred can go at times. So, yeah, I still get it. I left X for obvious reasons.
It can’t have been easy for Lucy Pinder to see her partner Russell Martin on the receiving end of severe criticism in Glasgow
Helen Flanagan with former fiance Scott Sinclair, who was a star for Celtic during Brendan Rodgers’ first spell in charge of the club
A Place in the Sun presenter Jean Johansson arrives for a TV and radio industry lunch
‘You still get the odd person seeping through for some reason, that wants to talk about Celtic or Rangers, when that’s really in the past. I’m very much doing my own thing now, so it’s weird when people bring it back to football rivalry.’
Her husband’s move from Ibrox to Charlton Athletic was a relief in some ways.
‘I think the nice thing about leaving from Rangers to London was to have complete anonymity.
‘When we moved to Charlton Athletic, nobody knew him really.
‘He had a great first season and he started to be recognised as that curly-haired striker who was scoring against Man City and Chelsea and Tottenham. There were a few people, football fans, that would recognise him, but it was a real breath of fresh air. To go out and not have anybody talking or whispering or have the paps outside, there were much bigger fish to fry than us by the time we got to London.’
Jean, who was born in Kenya but brought up in Port Glasgow, is adamant that the ‘good times’ ultimately outweigh the bad when it comes to being the wife of a famous footballer.
She admits, however, that the age of social media means a ‘ whole different ball game’ for those now coming into the fray.
‘You do have to be really thick-skinned.
‘I’m now 44, I’m a mum and a really busy broadcaster. I’m so grateful for everything I had in my 20s, my husband playing in Scotland and then the English Premier League, living his dreams.
‘We were extremely privileged to have had that life. However, that chapter has now closed, and I’m probably at the peak of my career right now.
‘A Place in the Sun continues to go from strength to strength, I’ve just finished a documentary for STV, and a pilot I’ve shot is being pitched to the big streamers. I’m very lucky to have faced up to my own challenges and had a very successful career. I hope I can continue to do so.
‘I can only imagine for the current crop of players, wives and girlfriends, it a whole other level of intrusion and abuse out there.
‘People have access through social media, they can say what they like, comment on your appearance, have opinions that go public.
‘The best thing you can do is just to always be supportive for your partner.’
References
- ^ Lucy Pinder (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Rangers (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Helen Flanagan (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Celtic (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ A Place in the Sun (www.dailymail.co.uk)