E' l'unico dei lions che ancora siede in panchina come kit man (non so bene cosa significa questo incarico), ma lui è sempre presente. fu un prezioso collaboratore di mcneill nel primo periodo di caesar come allenatore del celtic. uomo mite ma arcigno in difesa, ma una parola o un polemica.
come dovrebbe essere un calciatore.
John Clark
Difensore (Centro)
John Clark (born 13 March 1941) is a former Scottish footballer and member of the Lisbon Lions.
Born in Larkhall, Lanarkshire, he was part of the famous Celtic team that won the European Cup in 1967. John is perhaps the most undervalued player among the Lisbon Lions team, his subtle sweeping up in the half-back position beside Billy McNeil was integral to the success of the team. His role as Celtic's sweeper earned him the nickname "The Brush."
Clark earned four caps for Scotland. He left Celtic for Morton in 1971, where he retired two years later. Clark enjoyed a managerial career with Cowdenbeath, Stranraer and Clyde in the 1980s and early 90s. His son Martin also became a professional footballer, with Clyde, Notingham Forest and Partick Thistle in the 1990s.
Experience in the world of sport is usually gained by an individual who has endured a long-spanning career, perhaps participated in a high profile competition or world-class event, and if fortune has been on their side, they may have grasped a piece of silverware for the trophy cabinet.
Experienced is therefore a fitting adjective to describe In The Winning Zone’s ‘Past Master’ for December. Boasting almost fifty years’ participation at the highest level of sport in this country, John Clark has accumulated most of the rewards going in his chosen sport, and he played a major part in placing his team on the world footballing map.
His club office is a remarkable room. After an exchanging of handshakes, he abruptly apologises for the strong stench of leather that clogs up the air, wafting from the boxes of brand new footballs and columns of boots, which line the walls. Four colossal cupboards resemble the kind of high-security vaults that may be found in a bank. These cupboards are jammed full with what seems like an endless amount of shorts, socks, jerseys, jumpers and jackets.
After a quick guide of the surroundings, he offers a cup of tea. No longer than five minutes later a platter of tea and toast arrives at the door. As one of the best defenders in the country in his day, you can be sure that he hasn’t treated all the visitors who have come to his football club with the same hospitality throughout his football career.
A local lad hailing from North Lanarkshire, John Clark is best known as being one of the few Scottish owners of a European Cup medal, which he won as part of the legendary Celtic team who overcame Inter Milan in Lisbon on the 25th May 1967 to become the first British club to claim the trophy.
Following his retirement from football, Clark moved into the managerial side of the game, taking control of Cowdenbeath, Stranraer and Clyde, before returning to Celtic to take up his current role as kit man. Now at sixty-six years-old, he still bursts with as much energy at the club he supported as a youngster as he did when he was a player all those years ago, back in the heart of the action.
Clark explains that football was his only vice as a youngster. Due to the fact that there was no frequent bus service from North Lanarkshire to Glasgow, Clark was unable to attend many first-class football matches, especially to watch Celtic, his boyhood team.
“When you were young in my time it was either boxing or football. I came from a mining village called Chapelhall. Football was at the centre of my life when I was growing up, I played for as many hours as daylight would allow. I started playing at my local school and then my local boys club Larkhall Thistle.”
At seventeen years of age, many teenagers have yet to begin planning their lives or career paths. In 1958, a seventeen-year-old John Clark was approached by the same club that employed his boyhood heroes 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!” exclaims the living legend.
However, as is the case in life, signing on the dotted line did not mean Clark was ensured a place amongst the 11 men who emerged from the tunnel at Celtic park week-after-week.
“At the beginning when I moved to a big club like Celtic it was hard. There were a lot of good players of my own age along with some professional players at international level, so I had to put the work in and eventually I made it into the team.”
Lucky enough to be taken under the wing of one of this country’s greatest ever managers, Jock Stein, Clark believes that the successes of arguably the most outstanding Celtic team of all time are down to the advanced tactical nature of his biggest influence. According to the kit man, it was special relationship that started at youth level, between Jock Stein and his players, which helped to bring about such unprecedented success.
“The person who influenced me most was Jock Stein. Before he left Celtic to go to Dunfermline and Hibs he was in charge of youth and reserve football at Celtic. He had a knowledge of the youth players in the team before he left and when he came back in 1965, we had experienced and progressed in first team football while he had progressed as a manager”
Indeed, Clark believes that along with a sense of unity within a team who had originated from within a 30-mile radius of the club, the successes of the famous Celtic team were down to the coaching ability and awareness of Stein.
“Jock Stein was a thinking man.” Clark recollects, “He was miles ahead of the situation at the time. I see training situations out on the training pitch now; Jock Stein was doing the same thing forty years ago. They have broken it all down into programmes whereas we would do it in block. The man was ahead of himself. He went to Italy to study some training methods and eventually people were coming to Celtic park to study Jock’s training techniques.”
Handed the role of sweeper by Stein, Clark played a pivotal role in the backbone of the Celtic line-up. A large amount of defensive responsibility lay on his shoulders in the lead up to their European Cup victory in 1967.
A tour to North America, the first of its kind for Celtic, in the summer of 1966 played a crucial role in the gelling of the team. Clark believes that the tour played a central role in the outstanding season the team had when they returned. “Naturally when you are away for 6 weeks, the team bonded. There was a sense of togetherness within the team. It was the start of big things for Celtic.”
The tour also gave Jock Stein the chance to perfect his Celtic team, and the manager’s thinking paid off. During the 1966-1967 season, Celtic won the League championship, Scottish Cup, League Cup, Glasgow Cup, and of course the European Cup in a distinctive year for the Glasgow club. Not only did they have a clean-sweep of victories on home soil, they also won the most sought-after trophy in European club football.
“I remember it was a really warm day. The whole setting was ideal, it was just as if a film was being made, we were going to win and everything was just right” Clark recollects of the infamous summers day in Lisbon.
“There was a fantastic crowd all around the stadium when we came out, the whole arena looked as if it was bedecked in green and white. Celtic played really well that day. If people are being honest about it, the Inter Milan goalkeeper saved them from getting a real punishment with regards to goals”
The 1966-67 season brought an abundance of silverware to John Clark, but it also brought his first International cap. In the early summer, before a Celtic tour to America, Clark pulled on the navy blue jersey for the first time in his career. Aged 25, Clark was arguably at the peak of his career.
And it was a special occasion for the defender, against one of the best teams in the world, featuring one of the most outstanding footballers of all time “My first international was against a Brazil team which featured Pelé – he was the king. The fact I was playing against him almost took my mind off the game, but I managed to stay focused and we drew 1-1” he recalls.
The pinnacle of a somewhat outstanding playing career for Clark obviously involves lifting the European Cup in 1967, but while reminiscing, he places his life into perspective. Although he may have achieved the pinnacle of European football, he stands by the elation of being accepted into top-flight football as a teenager as an overwhelming feeling.
“If the highlight of your career when you’re a footballer is to win, then it was the 1967 European Cup victory. But when you’re a young boy and the opportunity arises to play for a club you have always supported then that’s a big thing as well.”
John Clark has played against the best, worked alongside the best, and been managed by the best. But how does a sportsperson with so many years of experience and success translate winning? “The drive to be successful,” he ponders. “If you want to be a success at any level you need to strive towards goals. You need to make sacrifices”
His passion for the sport is evident from his occupations, which have all been based around football. “Next year, if all goes to plan, I will have been 50 years in football. In some way or another it has been connected with Celtic”
It has connotations of a romantic tale. A boy who was approached to sign for the club he adored. He was a teenager who matured into a Celtic team that has been carved into the annals of Scottish and European football.
Forty years later he is a man with fond memories of a euphoric playing career, and he is still infatuated with the sport.
Having experienced one of Scotland’s greatest sporting club successes, John Clark progressed from a boy with an ambition, to a man, one of only eleven, who can call himself a Lisbon Lion.
Edited by McGiro - 21/11/2011, 17:33
