Johnny Dixon was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 footballer.

Born in Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

, he played for Aston Villa

Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

 from 1945 until his retirement in 1961, making 430 appearances and scoring 144 goals. He was Villa's last FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

-winning captain, in 1957.

Dixon played for Spennymoor United

Spennymoor United F.C.

Spennymoor United F.C. was an English association football club based in Spennymoor, County Durham.In 1905, they joined the Northern League and won the league title six times in their history. In the 1936-37 season, they reached the third round of the FA Cup, where they lost to top-flight side West...

 before he signed as a professional for Villa shortly after the Second World War, after playing a number of wartime matches for the club. He was voted supporters' 'Terrace Trophy' winner in 1959; and in 1960 helped Villa win promotion back to the top-flight. He played his last game for Villa in April 1961, scoring in a 4-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday. On retiring, Dixon remained at the club for six years coaching the youth team. One of the most popular Villa players of all time, he continued to turn out for the Villa Old Stars into his 60s.

In recent years Johnny had suffered from Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...

and died on 20 January 2009 in Good Hope Hospital.