Allan Johnston (born 14 December 1973) is a Scottish football player and coach, who was most recently the manager of Queen of the South. Johnston started his professional playing career with Heart of Midlothian and then followed on to French club Rennes before a spell in English football with Sunderland before returning to Scotland with Rangers. Johnston then returned to England with Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday. Johnston returned to Scotland and played out his playing career with Kilmarnock, St Mirren and Queen of the South. Johnston played for Scotland 18 times in full internationals, and also played for the Scotland under-21 and B international teams. Johnston started his managerial career in 2012, as player-manager of Queen of the South. Johnston won the Second Division championship in his first season as a manager, then moved to Kilmarnock. Johnston departed Rugby Park after 18 months after a dispute with the club's board about the sale of a player. Johnston was appointed manager of Dunfermline Athletic in 2015, where he won the League One Championship in his first season. Playing career Club Heart of Midlothian Johnston began his career with Heart of Midlothian, becoming a first-team regular in the mid-1990s. In January 1996, Johnston scored his first career hat-trick, scoring all three goals in a 3–0 win against Rangers at Ibrox. Johnston picked up a Scottish Cup runners-up medal that season in the defeat to Rangers where Brian Laudrup dominated the final. Rennes During the summer of 1996, Johnston moved to French club Rennes (Aberdeen defender Gary Smith making the same move), but he left after less than one season. Sunderland Johnston finished the season with FA Premier League side Sunderland as they were relegated to the Football League First Division. Although Sunderland were defeated in the 1998 play-off final, the club won the title the following season. During the summer of 1999, with just one year left on his contract, Johnston began negotiations about an extension. During this time, interest in Johnston was expressed by Rangers and after negotiations broke down with Sunderland, Johnston stated his desire to move to Glasgow. Despite previously being a first-team regular he never appeared for Sunderland in 1999–2000 season and was subsequently loaned to Birmingham City and Bolton Wanderers, the latter with whom he appeared in the FA Cup semi-final. However in the semi-final versus Aston Villa he was one of two Bolton players to have