Celtic on this Day – A Celtic legend signs, Mark McGhee gets a hat-trick and the appreciation of the Jungle and the Jambos face Celtic for the first time since Albert Kidd broke their Hearts…
1. John Clark signs for Celtic, 8 October 1958
On this day in 1958, John Clark aged 17 signs for Celtic. The Lisbon Lion went onto make a total of 316 appearances for Celtic from 1958-1971. An unsung hero of the Lions team, ‘The Brush’ became Mr Celtic. He had a trophy-laden spell at the Hoops claiming silverware on 15 occasions. Those included the first six league championships of Celtic’s first nine in a row during the period of 1965-1971. Clark won the Scottish League Cup five times as a player. The Scottish Cup three times. The most important of them all came on the 25 May 1967 where he was a stalwart in the side that clinched the European Cup in Lisbon.
Between April 1965 and September 1967, John Clark did not miss a single game for Celtic in any competition. He averaged a goal in Hoops colours every 4 years, netting in total three times for Stein and McGrory. A summation of his time at his boyhood club was summed up by the man himself in an interview in 2014, “I was a Celtic supporter, a Celtic player, it’s been my life. I have really enjoyed my life, when I look back, I couldn’t ask for any more.” Absolute Legend.
2. “He’s fat, he’s round, he’s worth a million pound, Mark McGhee, Mark McGhee…” the Jungle, 8 October 1988
8 October 1988, Celtic demolish St Mirren with a 7-1 victory at Celtic Park. Sportswriter Ian Paul wrote in the Glasgow Herald, “relationship between players and fans is impossible to explain, other than that some gain an instant rapport with the troops, others never cross the invisible bridge between field and terracing, Mark McGhee has taken three years to find a way across but he has now established a link which might prove as firm as any he had with supporters at Pittodrie.” McGhee scored a tremendous hat-trick in torrential rain. Stark grabbed a double and Miller also netted. Intriguingly, on the same day as the first team played, so too did the reserves. Celtic beat St Mirren 3-2 at Love Street in a Reserve League match. Gerry Creaney scored a hat-trick.
3. Judas and Brian McClair both were on target for Celtic on 8 October 1986…
38 years ago today, Celtic 2-0 Hearts. It was the first game between the two teams since Celtic’s famous 1986 title victory thanks to Albert Kidd. A victory for the Hoops against Alex MacDonald’s side made it a first win in five games against the Tynecastle club. Judas and McClair both were on target. During the same week, Celtic had a £250,000 bid for current Scotland manager and then St Mirren player Steve Clarke.
Conor Spence
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