John Clark - An appreciation

Saint Anthony pays tribute to the Lisbon Lion

Like many of the Lisbon Lions, John Clark had a difficult start in his Celtic career in the early 1960’s. John was one of the ‘Kelly Kids’, a group of young players who all came through the Celtic youth system at that time which produced such luminaries as Billy McNeill, Pat Crerand, John Hughes, and Steve Chalmers. Success was hard to find and there were a number of disappointments. John became a regular in the team in 1963 after Pat Crerand was sold to Manchester United. In 1964 he was part of the Celtic side which blew a 3-0 European Cup Winners Cup first leg advantage to MTKBudapest by 4-0, and as a result Celtic missed the opportunity of reaching their first European final.

It’s well documented how desperate things were by January 1965 and how easily some of Celtic’s greatest ever players could have faded into obscurity had it not been for a twist of fate. That all changed when Jock Stein was appointed as the new Celtic manager and within weeks of Stein’s return, John had won his first winners medal as part of the team which beat Dunfermline Athletic in the Scottish Cup final. The glory days had arrived for both for Celtic and for John Clark.

Stein revamped the Celtic side he inherited. The full backs were now played in an attacking mode, encouraged to overlap at every opportunity, whilst Bobby Murdoch was converted from a forward position into a world class midfield player. John Clark had a new role too. Stein employed a modern 4-2-4 formation and John’s role was now as a sweeper alongside Billy McNeill, a position he was to excel in. Whilst McNeill was well-nigh unbeatable in the air, it was John whose job it was to sweep up behind him and he was nicknamed ‘The Brush’ by his team mates, so effective was he in this newmodern role. Many older Celtic fans describe how John could read a game so well and intercept to stop opposition attacks. He was one of the best exponents of the shoulder challenge and was a solid tackler. A fine passer of the ball, he was encouraged by Stein to build moves from the back, something which Celtic would become renowned for through the Stein years.

John Clark, along with the other Lisbon lions, became the stuff of legend after Celtic’s 2-1 win against Inter Milan in the 1967 European Cup final. He had a fine game on that sunny evening and should be congratulated for having the presence of mind to cover for Ronnie Simpson’s back heel, an act which is now in Celtic folklore but could easily have ended in catastrophe. Armando Picchi, the Inter Milan captain, was said to be the greatest exponent of the ‘Libero’, the European sweeper, but John Clark proved in that final that he was a player of the highest calibre.

By 1968, a cartilage problem meant that he lost his place to Jim Brogan, who himself had served a long apprenticeship at Parkhead before gaining a first team place. John’s appearances became more sporadic and whilst playing in the reserves he became a great mentor for the new breed of Celtic player from the ‘Quality Street Gang’ which produced such great players as Kenny Dalglish, Danny McGrain, and George Connelly. This was something Jock Stein noticed and was keen in later years to employ John in a coaching role with young players.

In 1971 John left Celtic to join Morton. The club allowed him a free transfer for his service and it was agreed that he would receive signing on fee from Morton. However, Hal Stewart the then Morton Chairman, reneged on this agreement and wouldn’t pay the agreed sum. Ironically, shortly after, Morton drew Celtic in the League Cup at Celtic Park in the days whengate receipts were split between both clubs, and Jock Stein arranged for John’s signing on fee be deducted from Morton’s share of the gate. In 1973 Stein contacted Morton to bring John back to Celtic to play in the reserves and assist with the development of young players. Hal Stewart, insisted on a transfer fee and the result was that John was required to retire from playing to became a coach at Celtic at the age of just 32.

When Billy McNeill became Aberdeen manager in 1977, he appointed John as his assistant manager. Within less than a year Billy replace Jock Stein as Celtic manager and John was back at Parkhead as Billy’s assistant. In a five year spell McNeill and Clark achieved a great deal. They won three League titles, a Scottish Cup and a League Cup, by playing fast, entertaining, attacking football, at a time when Aberdeen and Dundee United were big players in the Scottish game. They also employed a new youth policy which spawned such great Celtic players as Charlie Nicholas, Pat Bonner, Paul McStay and Mark Reid.

In 1980 Partick Thistle approached John to replace his old Celtic pal, Bertie Auld, as their manager. John showed great loyalty to Celtic by staying in his assistant role rather thanleaving to become a manager in his own right. In 1983 Hesadly found himself as a pawn in an acrimonious battle between Billy McNeill and Celtic chairman Desmond White, which had been smouldering for some time. The result was that John was dismissed from his assistant manager’s role and McNeill moved to Manchester City. He had been poorly rewarded by the Celtic board for his loyalty in declining Thistle’s offer.

John spent some years in the wilderness of Scottish football’s lower leagues until returning to Celtic in 1997. This was a difficult time for Celtic with Wim Jansen taking over as manager and the club trying to stop Rangers achieving 10-in-a-row. There was something inspiring about John returning to the Celtic backroom staff, as well as other great Celts such as Danny McGrain, Murdo MacLeod, and Peter Latchford, and all ended well with a Celtic league win in May 1998. Happily,John remained at Celtic Park and there were fine celebrations in 2017 on the 50^th anniversary of Lisbon, when he and the other Lions were royally treated by the club and the supporters, in a whole series of special events.

In the days before websites and the internet, John impressed many of his contemporaries with his encyclopaedicknowledge of World football. He was always a keen student of the game. In 1981 Celtic travelled to New York to play prestige games against New York Cosmos and Southampton. John was in an elevator in the hotel and was with some Celtic players. To their astonishment, the lift doors opened and the great Pele got in. Pele looked at John and said, ‘Scotland number 6, 1966’, a reference to the time Scotland played Brazil at Hampden in 1966. Fifteen years later and the great Pele could remember John Clark. He must have made a fine impression.

It’s a very sad day for Celtic that another of our great Lisbon Lions has passed. John Clark was a man of loyalty and a man of great faith. He represented Celtic in a number of different roles for many years and always with distinction. He will be forever revered as one of Celtic’s greatest ever servants.

May eternal light shine upon him.