John Hughes (3 April 1943 – 1 August 2022) was a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played for

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 ...

, Crystal Palace,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

and the Scotland national team. Hughes was nicknamed 'Yogi', derived from the popular cartoon character Yogi Bear, said to be due to his large build. He was part of the Celtic team that won the

1966–67 European Cup The 1966–67 European Cup was the 12th season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by Celtic for the first time, when they beat Inter Milan 2–1 in the final at the Estádio Nacional, Lisbon, ...

although he did not play in the final due to injury.

Club career

Born in

Coatbridge Coatbridge (, ) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Airdrie, Coatbridge forms the area known as the Monklands (popula ...

, Hughes signed for

from Shotts Bon Accord in 1959, and scored 197 goals in 435 appearances during his eleven seasons with the club. He was part of the Celtic squad who 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 ...

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 ...

and became known as 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 ...

'. Although Hughes was not in the side that won the final, he was awarded a winner's medal because he had played in the requisite number of matches to qualify for a medal, as had Joe McBride and Charlie Gallagher. Celtic reached the European Cup final for the second time in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, after they defeated English champions

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

in both legs of the semi-final. In the first leg, Celtic beat Leeds 1–0 at

Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

with a goal from George Connelly. The second leg, which was played at

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

in front of almost 140,000 people, was won 2–1 by Celtic. Hughes scored Celtic's first goal in that match, after

Billy Bremner William John Bremner (9 December 1942 – 7 December 1997) was a Scottish professional Association football, footballer who played for Leeds United F.C., Leeds United, Hull City A.F.C., Hull City, and the Scotland national football team, Scot ...

had given Leeds an early lead and levelled the aggregate score. Celtic lost the final 2–1

after extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a Tie (draw), tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is ...

to Dutch side

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

, with Hughes playing the whole game. Despite playing primarily on the wing, Hughes remains one of Celtic's all-time highest goal scorers (8th in all competitions). Hughes moved to Crystal Palace in 1971, in a £30,000 joint deal with Willie Wallace.Jock Stein was intimidating, inhumane and corrupt – the damning verdict of former player John 'Yogi' Hughes
''The Daily Telegraph'', 8 May 2014 He scored the 1971–72 runner-up in the 'Goal of the Season' award, in a 5–1 win over Sheffield United. He joined

for £35,000 in January 1973, but injury against

Millwall F.C. Millwall Football Club () is a professional football club in Bermondsey, South East London, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its nam ...

on 27 January 1973 brought a premature end to his career having played only 15 minutes of football for Sunderland.

International career

Hughes earned eight full 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 the Scotland national team between 1965 and 1969. He made his debut in a goalless draw with

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He also scored four goals in six appearances for the Scottish League XI and took part in the 1969 commemorative game Wales v Rest of the UK in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Post-playing career

After coaching with

Baillieston Baillieston () is a working class suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. It is about east of the city centre. It also gives its name to Ward 20 of Glasgow City Council and forms part of the Glasgow East constituency of the UK Parliament. Geographical ...

, Hughes was appointed manager of

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 ...

in 1975, but he left the role after just one year. In 1978, Hughes became the first international team manager of the

Scottish Junior Football Association The Scottish Junior Football Association (SJFA) is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the junior grade of football (soccer), football in Scotland. The term "junior" refers to the ...

. He later worked as a publican in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

.The Bhoy in the Picture – Yogi Bear
The Celtic Underground, 24 October 2013

Personal life

Hughes' younger brother

Billy Billy may refer to: * Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name) * Billy (surname), a surname (and list of people with the surname) Animals * Billy (dog), a dog breed * Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945 * Billy ( ...

was also a professional footballer and played for

at the same time as John. Billy earned his only Scotland

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

five years after John's last international appearance. Another younger brother Pat was also a player. Hughes had three sons and a daughter with first wife Mary; he was later married a second time to Theresa. In 2014, he confirmed that he had recovered from

mouth cancer Oral cancer, also known as oral cavity cancer, tongue cancer or mouth cancer, is a cancer of the lining of the lips, mouth, or upper throat. In the mouth, it most commonly starts as a painless Erythroplakia, red or Leukoplakia, white patch, that ...

after a five-year battle with the disease.Celtic legend John 'Yogi' Hughes on five-year battle with cancer and how he was only told after how slim his chances of survival were
Daily Record, 26 April 2014 He released a biography that year. Hughes died on 1 August 2022, at the age of 79.

International

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, John 1943 births 2022 deaths Scottish men's footballers Footballers from Coatbridge Men's association football forwards Scotland men's international footballers Scotland men's under-23 international footballers UEFA Champions League–winning players Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Shotts Bon Accord F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Scottish football managers Scottish Football League managers Stranraer F.C. managers Scottish Football League representative players