John Clark dead aged 84 as Celtic mourn the loss of another legendary Lisbon Lion
The heartbreaking news has sent shockwaves through the Parkhead support and Clark was recently by Dermot Desmond and Brendan Rodgers
Lisbon Lion and Celtic legend John Clark has sadly passed away at the age of 84.
The huge Hoops figure spent almost half a century as part of the Parkhead club as player, coach, assistant manager and kitman.
Clark was immortalised as part of Jock Stein 's heroic side who became the first British team to win the European Cup, defeating Inter Milan in Lisbon in 1967.
Celtic won an unprecedented quadruple that season and Clark and Tommy Gemmell were the only to members of the squad to play in all 59 matches.
Aside from that historic Lisbon win, Clark won three league championships, three Scottish Cups and four League Cups.
When he left Parkhead after 13 years as a player he moved to Morton where he spent two years but returned in 1973 as a coach, working with the reserves.
He left to join Lisbon Lions captain Billy McNeill at Aberdeen in 1977 where he was assistant manager before returning to Celtic the following year when McNeill was appointed manager. The pair won five major trophies together, including three league titles.
Clark went into management on his own at Cowdenbeath, Stranraer, Clyde and junior side Shotts Bon Accord before again returning to Celtic in 1997, this time as kit controller, where he spent 20 years. Only Celtic's first ever boss Willie Maley spent more years serving the club.
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'Luckily the guy was a Celtic supporter and let me away, as you wouldn't get many people letting you away on your first day in the job. 'So I managed to go and watch the Busby Babes. And the year before I signed for Celtic I was on the Hampden terracing for the 7-1 game (against Rangers). Those are the games that stick out.' Clark played for Larkhall Thistle before he signed for the Hoops as a 17-year-old in 1958, making his debut in a 5-0 win at Arbroath a year later. Then Celtic manager Martin O'Neill (left) with John Clark in 2003 (Maurice McDonald/PA) However, it the 1960-61 season that he made his mark as a left-half with Jock Stein, who arrived in 1965 to revolutionise the Parkhead club. Clark was switched to sweeper beside captain Billy McNeill and became a lynchpin of the side, integral to their relentless success for the rest of the decade. His final game for Celtic came on May 1, 1971 when Stein brought the Lisbon Lions together to take a final bow at Celtic Park in a 6-1 win against Clyde (Ronnie Simpson's shoulder injury meant he was involved only in the warm up). He left Celtic for Morton in the summer of 1971 with team-mate Stevie Chalmers and he retired there two years later. For all his success at Parkhead, Clark earned only four caps for Scotland, making his debut against Pele's Brazil in 1966 at Hampden Park where the game ended in a 1-1 draw. Pele (c) remonstrates with Scotland's Ronnie MacKinnon at Hampden Park in 1966 (PA) He also played European Championship qualifiers against Wales and Northern Ireland the same year with his final appearance in dark blue coming against Russia in 1967. After finishing playing with Morton, Clark returned to Parkhead as a coach in 1973, helping with the youths and reserves before joining former defensive partner McNeill as his assistant manager at Aberdeen and Celtic. Clark went into management himself and had spells with Cowdenbeath, Stranraer and Clyde in the 1980s and early 90s before returning to Celtic Park as a kit man in 1997. He was a fixture at the Celtic's Lennoxtown training complex where he would see players come and go, many not initially familiar with the club great. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of John Clark following his passing today. A Celtic stalwart and beloved member of the Lisbon Lions, John was also capped by Scotland during a glittering playing career. — Scottish FA (@ScottishFA) June 23, 2025 In a Daily Record interview in 2014, he said: 'Well, I don't go about telling them. But the players spread the word. They will come up and ask if it's true. 'If they are down in my room I just show them the photograph of us with the European Cup. I'll say to them, 'There have been big changes since then but take a look at that. The thing in the middle with the big handles is the thing you'll always want to win. I won it!'.' Clark treasured his life-long association with the club. 'I was a Celtic supporter, a Celtic player, it's been my life,' he said in a matchday programme interview. 'I get a lot of satisfaction when I think that I started my working life with Celtic and I'll finish it with them. I've really enjoyed my life. When I look back I couldn't ask for any more. I've been a really lucky guy.'
