REMEMBERING JOHN CLARK: CELTIC LEGEND WHO REPRESENTED EVERYTHING GOOD ABOUT OUR CLUB
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- Jun 23
- 4 min read
Like all of you I am sure, I was saddened today to hear of the passing of John Clark today at the age of 84.
I never saw John play, so I can’t speak directly to the absolutely phenomenal footballer that, my father assures me, he was.
What I can comment on though is the man himself.
I may have never directly seen him kick a ball for Celtic in person, but having had the pleasure of meeting him on a number of occasions, I can say he was one of the kindest, most humble and warm human beings associated with Celtic I’ve ever met.
John Clark: Celtic Servant for Over 50 Years
I first met John Clark in the early 2000s. In those days, my father and I were at Celtic Park most matchdays.
I had a season ticket, but my parents also ran a staffing agency, with Celtic as one of our biggest contracts. So, we would be on-site for several hours before and after each game.
In his role as Celtic’s kit man at that time, John probably worked a similar shift, so our paths would often cross on matchdays.
Win, lose or draw, he always had a kind word to say, and greeted us like friends, even if, in reality, I doubt he ever had any idea why we were there.
Of course, John Clark’s proudest moment would come in 1967, when alongside the rest of the Lisbon Lions, he brought that big European Cup back to Celtic Park, humbling Helenio Herrera’s all-conquering Internazionale in the process.
In a Celtic playing career that spanned from 1958 to 1971, Clark made over 300 first team appearances, winning every honor Scottish football had to offer along the way.
Initially a left-sided midfielder (or left-half) as they were known in those days, it was the arrival of Jock Stein as Celtic manager in 1965 that would see John Clark unleash his full potential.
Recognizing that Clark’s qualities weren’t being fully utilized in a wide role, Stein converted him to the position of sweeper, backing up Celtic’s main central defender, and captain Billy McNeill.
Never a flair player, Clark was, nonetheless, an integral and highly effective part of the Celtic team, not just during our utterly dominant Lisbon season, but throughout most of the 60s.
Zinedine Zidane once said that the most important player in the legendary Real Madrid Glacticos side of his time wasn’t Ronaldo, Raul or Figo, it was Claude Makelele.
He said Makelele did all the real, hard work, that allowed players like him and Figo to do the more exciting stuff. He described Makelele as “the engine of the Real Madrid team”.
From what I’ve been told of Celtic in the Lisbon era, John Clark was very much our Claude Makelele equivalent.
Of course, his 50+ year association with Celtic didn't end when he joined Morton in 1971 for the final 2 years of his playing career.
In 1973, he became a coach with Celtic”s reserve team. This led to an invitation to join his friend and former team-mate Billy McNeill as his assistant manager at Aberdeen in 1977.
For these two men raised on Celtic though, they couldn't stay away from home for long. They enevitably returned to manage Celtic in 1978 following the end of the Jock Stein era.
Over 5 years, they won 3 league titles, a Scottish Cup and a League Cup. This may sound like small change by today’s standards, but in those days Scottish football was a genuine 4 way title race each season. Aberdeen and Dundee United more than held their own against Celtic and Rangers. So, to win 3 out of 5 championships in such an era was an incredible feat.
Following the end of McNeill’s first spell as Celtic manager in 1983, Clark branched out into management on his own. He enjoyed spells managing Cowdenbeath, Stranraer and Clyde. Later he would also have a stint in the Junior Game as manager of Shotts Bon Accord.
However, Celtic remained the only club he truly loved. In 1997, John returned to Celtic Park as the first team squad’s kit manager.
It’s a well-known story that Henrik Larsson, the greatest Celtic player of the past 50 years, was shocked to hear that this humble, unassuming man who washed his kit was a European Cup winner and a Lisbon Lion.
He struck up a friendship with John Clark, one that continued long beyond the end of his 7 years as a Celtic player.
Even after retiring from is role as kit manager, John Clark maintained a presence at Celtic Park and at the Lennoxtown training ground.
He continued to serve Celtic in an ambassadorial capacity, right up until shortly before his passing.
With over 50 years of service to Celtic, across a hugely diverse range of roles, John Clark leaves a legacy that may never be surpassed. Only Willie Maley, Celtic’s manager from their inception until his retirement in 1940, served Celtic for longer.
From what I knew of John Clark however, he’d probably just laugh and shrug his shoulders at the thought of him even being mentioned in the same article as the likes of Henrik Larsson and Willie Maley.
However, in a hundred years from now, when future generations write about Celtic, John Clark’s name will, rightly, be up there with the very best of them.
