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Note: There has been more than one player to have played for Celtic with the same name, so please check the other namesakes if need be.

Personal

Fullname: John Clark
aka: "The Brush", "Luggie"
Born: 13 March 1941
Birthplace: Larkhall, Lanarkshire
Position: Defender, Sweeper (hence "The Brush" nickname)
Signed: 8 October 1958
Left (as player): 12 June 1971 to Morton
First game: Arbroath away 5-0 league 3 October 1959
Last game: Clyde home 6-1 league 1 May 1971
First goal: Hibernian away 1-0 Scottish cup replay 15 March 1961
Last goal: Hamilton Academicals away 4-2 League cup 25 September 1968
Internationals: Scotland
International Caps: 4 Caps
International Goals: 0

Biog

John Clark is a member of the glorious Lisbon Lions who won the European Cup back in 1967 and has one of the longest records of anyone with first team involvement with Celtic in playing and coaching.

Raised in Chapelhall and Holytown (both in Lanarkshire), he grew up in a tough environment in a large family which likely engrained in him a strong work ethic and a drive to succeed.

At seventeen, John Clark was approached by Celtic to sign him as a player. “I was fortunate enough that Celtic approached me to sign for the club. I was seventeen at the time and I felt as though I had won the pools!”. It was to be even greater than that.

He is perhaps the most undervalued player among the Lisbon Lions team by observers, but his subtle sweeping up in the half-back position beside Billy McNeill was integral to their success. Many people say that it was John Clark who made Billy McNeill the great player he was on the pitch, although fairer to say that each complimented each other.

He played for Larkhall Thistle before moving to Parkhead in 1958. The early years of Clark's playing career as a wing-half showed few signs of his later glory. He first attracted attention after scoring the only goal on his debut in a Cup tie replay against Hibernian in 1961 where he deputised for the injured Celtic Captain Bertie Peacock. Sadly the injury took it's toll and Bertie didn't play for Celtic again. John's performance won him a place in the Cup Final but the task of taking over from the great Bertie Peacock was a hard one for any player, and it wasn't at all easy for John, especially as Celtic were mostly woeful for much of the time in his early years at Celtic.

It was the arrival of Jock Stein at Celtic Park that marked the transformation for John's career. Stein employed him as sweeper behind Billy McNeill and he never looked back. Clark was a quiet, down-to-earth character and his cool head was one of his best attributes. He used to read the game very well. A defender through and through, some even joked that he needed a map any time he crossed the half-way line. His role as Celtic's sweeper earned him the nickname "The Brush"!

If ever anyone wanted evidence of his commitment to the first team and his desire to see the club turnaround, then they only need look to the glorious Scottish Cup final v Dunfermline in 1965. This match saw the club win some silverware for the first time since 1957, but it was the performances and effort that showed a marked change in the players' outlook. John Clark received a nasty facial knock after 50 minutes that would undoubtedly have forced him off the park in today's football, he soldiered on. Celebration pictures from the day show his jersey saturated in blood. He literally bled for the cause you could say.

From there on in, it was onwards and upwards for John. The quadruple in 1967 was the high-mark for John, but he also played an important role in the European Cup final, a day not to forget for anyone. Not an easy task to play Inter Milan at that point, and it was likely a lesson on defence from the masters in the opposition for Clark as much as anything else. We won and he got to get his hands on the trophy. He may be overshadowed by the other greats in the side, but John Clark was about the last man who the manager would have replaced in that side. John Clark was integral to the set up of the side, and was a very underestimated player who was the lynchpin of the Lions' defence.

Funnily despite correctly having the persona of a good gentleman, possibly one of his most celebrated moments was from the despicable World Club Championship match play-off against Racing Club. After sending offs and complete commotions, with the referee totally out of his depth to control the match, one of the Racing Club players decided to try to take John Clark on, and in retaliation John Clark raised his dukes to the guy who simply scarpered off quick time. Admittedly he got a bit fed up of it being brought up by so many in conversation with him as it's not his usual character, but due to the events of that day, we all still privately admire him for that moment and love him even more for it!

John Clark had it particularly difficult to keep his place with young whipper snappers from the "Quality Street Gang" behind him. He lost his regular place to Jim Brogan in 1968 (the first of the Lisbon Lions to do so) and with the other competition he was pushed down in the pecking order but was still a valued member of the first team squad until his departure in 1971.

In the summer of 1971 Clark left Celtic for Morton with team-mate Stevie Chalmers, where he retired two years later. He played in the Scottish League twice and won four caps for Scotland which included a memorable game against Pele's Brazil at Hampden in 1966. In 1973 Jock Stein tried unsuccessfully to bring him back as a player but Morton chairman Hal Stewart was looking for a fee which was totally unreasonable given he had signed John for free. In the summer of 1973, John returned to Celtic as a coach where he assisted with the youths and reserves. He then teamed up with McNeill as his assistant manager at Aberdeen and Celtic, reflecting the respect and due that McNeill had for Clark for their time playing together.

Clark enjoyed a managerial career with Cowdenbeath, Stranraer and Clyde in the 1980s and early 90s. Notably, John Clark worked as a driver for Strathclyde Fire Brigade when he was the manager of Shotts Bon Accord.

Since then he has been a kit-man for the first team and has been a very popular member of the Celtic backroom team. He worked alongside manager Martin O'Neill and one of his main requests was for John to tell old tales about the Lisbon Lions and in particular about Jimmy 'Jinky' Johnstone. He continued to work alongside successive incumbent managers, being a welcome and popular addition to the first team staff.

Only Willie Maley has given more years to Celtic in terms of length of service. A truly remarkable Celtic man whom more should recognise for all the time and effort he has put into the club without asking for anything in return.

Out with of Scotland, his talent didn't get unnoticed either. A fine debut performance for Scotland v Brazil in 1966 left a good impression on one of the opposition, so much so that on bumping into John Clark again a few years later, the player recognised him at once and went to speak to him. The Brazilian player in question? None other than the legendary Pele!

Football was in the blood, and his son Martin also became a professional footballer, with Clyde, Nottingham Forest and Partick Thistle in the 1990s.

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

European Cup

• 1966-67

Scottish Division One

• [needs checked]
  

Scottish Cup

• 1965, 1967, 1969,

Scottish League Cup

• [needs checked]
  

Quotes

"Celtic has been my life and I have worked here in every decade over 50 years, around 37 years in total. It meant a great deal to me as a youngster, because you can only thrive if you are a Celtic supporter, who gets the opportunity to play for the club, it’s every supporter’s ambition. I am just so fortunate that I have had the opportunity to play and work here, but I never thought that I would I enjoy such a long association with the club and could never have imagined, when I signed, the success we would have under such a great manager as Jock Stein. He pushed us to be the best we could be and drove us to the greatest honour that any club can win. It’s been a major part of my life and as I said, I always attach that word ‘luck’ to me and Celtic."
John Clark (2008)

"John Clark was always there when you needed him. He read the game very, very well and, like all the guys in that defence, was calm and collected."
Jim Craig on John Clark

"It wasn’t a game of football, it was horrible. I must say that I am fed up looking at footage of me in that John L Sullivan pose, boxing. You would have thought there was another clip of me in action, but it seems to me that you guys in the media department like that one! Looking back to that moment, the guy ran away and I never saw him again. In fact, I couldn’t see him for dust!"
John Clark on the Racing Club v Celtic World Championship match (2009)

Pictures

• John Clark pictures

Links

• Lisbon Lions

Articles

• Misc Articles
  
• John Clark (the Winning Zine)
  

Anecdotes

Jock Stein and John Clark - The Morton Signing On Fee.

When Lisbon Lion John Clark left Celtic to play out his final footballing years with Morton it was agreed that John would receive a small signing on fee from Morton as a thank you for his services to Celtic.

Hal Stewart the then Morton Chairman reneged on this agreement and Morton wouldn't pay John the agreed sum.

Eventually Jock Stein got wind of this and was far from happy about the treatment of one of his players. When Morton drew Celtic in a Cup game at Celtic Park as was the way for Cup games in those days the gate receipts were halved and Jock utilised this opportunity to sort out matters.Jock arranged that John Clark's signing on fee be deducted from Morton's share of the gate and John was subsequently paid the money he was due by Morton albeit it came from Celtic

Hal Stewart could do nothing about it and had to accept that Jock had put him in his place and got one over on him..

They didn't come much shrewder than Jock Stein and his morals and deep seated Lanarkshire mining roots ensured that he was looking after one of his own.

THE CELTIC LEGEND OF JOHN ‘THE BRUSH' CLARK

By David Potter (from KeepTheFaith website)

By David W Potter

John Clark is a grotesquely underestimated figure in Celtic's history. Of all the Lisbon Lions, he is probably the one whom we would come up with last, a good deal below Johnstone and Murdoch, for example, and he certainly was the first to lose his place (in 1968 to the excellent Jim Brogan) after the triumph in Lisbon . Yet those of us who saw John Clark in action saw a master craftsman, and we would certainly never underestimate his value.

So much of the "underestimation" of John comes from his reserved and non-flamboyant nature (he was the very antithesis, for example, of Tommy Gemmell or Jimmy Johnstone or Bertie Auld) and his very position in the team where he was the sweeper-up (hence his nickname, "John The Brush"). Sweepers tend to be quiet and unobtrusive, and in such a fine team as Celtic were in those days, it was very easy for spectators to sing how dominant McNeill was in the air and on the ground and to forget that Billy's rare mistakes were often covered for by "The Quiet Man".

It is less easy to explain why he was sometimes called "Luggy".

John was born in 1941 in Chapelhall and joined Celtic in October 1958 as a "Kelly Kid". He made his first team debut at Arbroath about a year later in October 1959 when Bertie Peacock was away playing for Ireland . He impressed that day as Celtic won very comfortably, 5-0. It was not until spring 1961 however that he began to push his way into the first team, replacing the ageing Peacock. In a tense Scottish Cup Quarter Final replay, John scored the extra time winner for Celtic against Hibs at Easter Road (one of only three goals he scored in 318 appearances for the Club!) and as a result he was preferred (perhaps unwisely) to Peacock in the disastrous Scottish Cup Final and Replay against Jock Stein's Dunfermline of that year.

From 1961 until the arrival of Stein, Clark played sporadically for Celtic, often out of position on the right side of the park, but more often one of the few signs of stability in an otherwise chaotic set up. He was out of favour in 1963 and thus missed the horrors of the Rangers Cup Finals of that year, but 1963-64 saw him coming into his own, although quite clearly on the wrong side of the Clark, McNeill and Kennedy half back line.

Like with many other players, the arrival of Stein in January 1965 was the moment Clark 's career took off. The team began to evolve to 4-2-4 from 2-3-5 and the defence became a "flat back four" of Craig, McNeill, Clark and Gemmell. In this role Clark was superb, always on hand, always there to help out, occasionally being seen to calm things down when Billy McNeill got a little flustered, and generally playing his part in the greatest football team that Scottish football has ever seen. Apart from his Lisbon heroics, he won Scottish League medals in 1966, 1967 and 1968, Scottish Cup medals in 1965 and 1967 and League Cup medals in 1965-6,1966-7,1967-8 and 1968-9.

Even when he had lost his place in the team, John Clark was never far away from the action - either on the bench or simply with the squad, talking to everyone, geeing them up and impressing everyone with his vast knowledge of European and world football. Stein was not unashamed to pick the brains of John Clark when research was necessary on some European opponent.

He won 4 International caps for Scotland , one of them against Brazil in 1966, and never played badly for his country.

In 1971, John Clark moved to Morton where he finished his playing career. He became a coach for Celtic in 1973, then when Billy McNeill became Manager of Aberdeen in 1977, Billy took John there as his Assistant before the irresistible call came for that management team from Celtic Park the following year.

John is thus rightly considered to be a part of the 1979 4-2 League win over Rangers and the development of talent like Charlie Nicholas and Tommy Burns. He has also been Manager of Cowdenbeath, Stranraer and Clyde , but perhaps he lacked the flair and charisma to be a Manager.

In recent years, he has been the Kit Manager at Celtic, a job that he seems very happy with. He is after all working for the Club that he loves and the Club that means so much to him, and in whose history he played such a glorious part.