John Clark (footballer, Born 1941)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

John Clark (born 13 March 1941) is a Scottish former
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player and coach. He has been employed by
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
for more than forty years over eight decades, since signing as a player in 1958, then having spells as a coach, assistant manager and currently kit controller. He was a member of the Celtic team which won the
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...
in
1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
, nicknamed the ''
Lisbon Lions The Lisbon Lions is the nickname given to the Celtic F.C., Celtic team that won the UEFA Champions League, European Cup at the Estádio Nacional in Lisbon, Portugal on 25 May 1967 European Cup Final, 1967, defeating Inter Milan 2–1. Name The ...
''. He was inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2017.


Playing career

John Clark was born in
Chapelhall Chapelhall (from the Gaelic Seipeal Allt - Chapel by a burn) is a village outside the town of Airdrie in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. With house building, the distinction between Airdrie and Chapelhall is being eroded. Established as a small m ...
,
Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...
. His father died in a railway accident when Clark was 10 years old. As a 15-year-old, Clark worked in a mine, before he joined
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
in 1958, aged 17. Clark soon established himself as a regular in the Celtic team. The arrival of
Jock Stein John Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He was the first manager of a club from a Northern European country to win the European Champio ...
as manager in 1965 saw Clark moved from left half to a sweeper position behind
Billy McNeill William McNeill (2 March 1940 – 22 April 2019) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He had a long association with Celtic F.C., Celtic, spanning more than sixty years as a player, m ...
. His undramatic style of play beside fellow centre back McNeill was integral to the success of the team; his role as Celtic's sweeper earned him the nickname "The Brush." Between April 1965 and September 1967, the club's most successful period, he played in 140 consecutive matches. He was part of the Celtic team that won the
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...
in
1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
, defeating
Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...
2–1 in Lisbon. With that triumph, Celtic's 'Lisbon Lions' also became the first European Treble winners and the only Quadruple winners to date. Clark was one of just two Lisbon Lions to appear in all 59 matches in major competitions, the other being Tommy Gemmell. As a player with Celtic, he won three league championships, three Scottish Cups, four League Cups and the European Cup. He left Celtic for Morton in 1971, where he retired from playing two years later. Clark earned four international
caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...
for
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, all during his time with Celtic.


Coaching and management career

Clark became a coach with Celtic in 1973, working with the reserve team. He left in 1977 to become
Billy McNeill William McNeill (2 March 1940 – 22 April 2019) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He had a long association with Celtic F.C., Celtic, spanning more than sixty years as a player, m ...
's assistant manager at
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
, before returning to Celtic in the same role with McNeill from 1978 to 1983. During McNeill's tenure, Celtic won three League championships, in 1978–79, 1980–81 and 1981–82, the Scottish Cup in
1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
and the League Cup in 1982–83. Clark then worked as manager of
Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...
,
Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; ), also known as The Toon or The Cleyhole, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on Loch Ryan and the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland. Stranraer is Dumfries ...
and Clyde, as well as junior club Shotts Bon Accord, in the 1980s and early 90s. He became Celtic's kit controller in 1997, a position he has held for more than twenty years. As of 2021, he has spent 46 years with Celtic across eight decades, making him the second-longest serving Celtic man ever, after Willie Maley. His son
Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...
also became a professional footballer, playing with Clyde,
Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...
and
Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...
in the 1990s.


Career statistics


International appearances


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, John 1941 births Living people Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Celtic F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Scottish football managers Celtic F.C. non-playing staff Cowdenbeath F.C. managers Stranraer F.C. managers Clyde F.C. managers Footballers from Larkhall Larkhall Thistle F.C. players Men's association football wing halves Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Scottish Football League managers Scottish Roman Catholics Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees UEFA Champions League–winning players