Lee Johnson had dad Gary in tears after masterminding Bristol City win over Manchester United
Goalscorer Joe Bryan is the son of the heart surgeon who operated on Gary when he needed a triple heart-bypass
GARY JOHNSON admits he shed a tear as he watched his son Lee celebrate one of the greatest results in Bristol City’s history.
The Cheltenham manager was caught up in the raw emotion at Ashton Gate alongside his sobbing wife Caron when Lee’s Championship boys put mighty Manchester United to the sword.
As Lee celebrated the 2-1 win with ten-year-old ballboy Jaden Neale, Gary and Caron gave each other a telling hug in the directors’ box.
Both of them had come through a torrid 12 months which had seen their son suffer a death threat when the Robins were doing badly and Gary go under the knife for a triple heart- bypass operation.
But Korey Smith’s sensational late Carabao Cup quarter-final winner over the holders brought the curtain down on their pain.
The fact that City’s opening goalscorer, Joe Bryan, was the son of the heart surgeon who operated on Gary only served to make the occasion more poetic.
It was just 324 days ago when a Tammy Abraham goal in the 2-2 draw with Sheffield Wednesday ended a run of eight defeats and turned the tide for young gaffer Lee.
Gary, 62, admitted: “A year ago we were all feeling the pain. That’s why we were all so emotional.
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“It has been even tougher on Caron, with all the things she’s had to go through as a wife and mother.
“It’s all right for me because I’m involved in football and I get it every week.
“But I’ve seen what’s gone on behind the door with Caron, what with the criticism towards Lee and then my heart operation.
“She has followed the football all these years, the ups and downs, so there is a lot of emotion there.”
Ashton Gate erupted when, in the dying seconds, Smith shot through the legs of keeper Sergio Romero.
Johnson Sr added: “That footage of Lee picking up the ballboy probably made him more famous than the result itself.
“It was an unbelievable night of football. City were like wasps buzzing around the superstars who couldn’t swat them away.
“The journey Lee’s had to go on to where he is now is nothing short of miraculous.
“When the final whistle went I couldn’t speak for half an hour. I went around shaking hands with people and I couldn’t say anything.
“Caron and I knew what had gone into that performance and the work Lee had put into it.
“If that was in the Roy of the Rovers story, you would go, ‘No, that wouldn’t happen!’”
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And Johnson was delighted to see Bryan put the Robins ahead with a great solo goal.
He added: “We have a remarkable relationship with Joe and his father, Alan, who performed surgery on me.
“Dr Bryan is such a nice fella — you want to throw your arms around him, like many people do I would think.
"And his son is a model professional, a boy you would not mind your daughter bringing home.
“Dr Bryan has done a lot for me and Lee, as the player’s manager, has done a lot for Joe.
“I have been made ambassador for the Bristol hospital charity Above and Beyond and Caron and I have helped at different functions.
“Dr Bryan is obviously the main man in all that and I’m giving something back where I can, which is great.”