Lisbon Lion John Clark attained football immortality with Celtic, funeral told
His most famous match was undoubtedly the 1967 European Cup final in the Portuguese capital when Celtic defeated Inter Milan 2-1 to become the first British side to lift the European Cup – a victory that ensured a place in footballing folklore for the players and manager Jock Stein.
Celtic stars past and present gathered in the east end of Glasgow on Friday for the funeral mass at St Mary's Church in Calton – a setting synonymous with Celtic, with the club's formation traced back to a meeting in the church hall in 1887.
One of the last surviving Lisbon Lions, Jim Craig, attended, as did current manager Brendan Rodgers, club captain Callum McGregor and several other members of the first-team squad.
Roy Keane and Ian Wright, who both played for Celtic, and former club captain and manager Neil Lennon were among the many well-known footballing figures in attendance.
Portuguese flags hung from the balconies inside the church during a service that also heard the Celtic anthem You'll Never Walk Alone played on the organ.
At the start of the mass, priest Father John Mulholland extended his sympathies to Clark's widow, Eileen, his children Mairi and Martin, his three grandchildren and other family members.
He then reflected on the legacy created by Clark and his team-mates from 1967.
'How many people would be able to name those 11 men without even thinking, they are second nature to all of us, simply because of what they did that afternoon,' he said.
'That immortality has gone with them for what is now nearly 60 years – wee boys at school can rhyme off the names of the Lisbon Lions.'
Delivering the homily, priest Father Mark O'Donnell described Clark as a 'happy and quiet man' who was known for his displays of 'authentic kindness'.
Clark's association with Celtic extended long beyond the end of his playing days.
He also served spells as coach, assistant manager and kit man.
As well as his European Cup winners' medal, Clark also won four league championships, three Scottish Cups and four League Cups during his playing career.
In a 25-minute eulogy, renowned Scottish football commentator Archie Macpherson hailed Clark as the 'most modest and genial footballer' he had ever encountered.
The broadcaster also shared his memories of the final whistle in Lisbon.
'I remember the scenes well. I remember the scenes of the players at the end, utterly exhausted and the supporters pouring on. The goals themselves you all know about, you've seen them so often,' he told mourners.
'And, yes, the word has been used – immortal – about Stein and the others, and that is the case.
'For myself, personally, I am simply a privileged man to have been there and rubbed shoulders with the greats, saw in that glorious sunshine a Scottish victory that nobody will ever forget.
🍀 The Funeral Mass for Lisbon Lion, John Clark, took place today (July 4) at St Mary's Church, Calton, as his family and many footballing friends and former colleagues gathered to pay tribute to a great Celtic man.
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) July 4, 2025
'And John was part of that, the wee Lanarkshire boy who grew up wanting to be an aristocrat in football, and attained it.
'But, he showed his other side by becoming the kit man at Celtic Park. And I remember so many times from different players talking about how this man could suddenly do that, and he did it simply.
'He wanted Celtic still to be a success, and although he wore his boots magnificently, he also carried other people's boots and their jerseys just to keep Celtic going.
'That gives you an idea of another side of his personality. Yes, I'm honoured to have met him, honoured to have been in Lisbon and certainly honoured to be with you today.'
After the service, hundreds of fans braved wet and windy weather outside Celtic's Parkhead stadium to pay their own tributes as the cortege passed.
The mourners gathered at Celtic Park in response to an invite to send a 'final farewell to one of the club's greatest ever servants'.
The fans applauded as a cortege passed by the stadium.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
38 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Holly McGill on her early breakthrough and her World Champs debut
The Edinburgh native, who turned 20 just a few weeks ago, made her GB senior debut at last year's European Championships and so she began this season with the explicit aim of retaining her place in the GB team. Given the current strength of British Swimming, this is no mean feat but McGill has proved her mental fortitude is as impressive as her talent, with her performance at the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships in April - she won silver in the 200m backstroke and bronze in the 100m backstroke - enough to ensure selection for this year's World Aquatics Championships, which begin in Singapore on Friday. While her selection came as little surprise to many observers, McGill admits she was pleasantly surprised with how she handled her first ultra high-pressure British Championships. 'At the start of this season, I was well aware that I could swim very well at the British Champs and still not make it into the team for the Worlds - nothing was guaranteed because the 200m backstroke field is so tough,' she says. 'You never know quite how you're going to react when you're in that high pressure environment. 'Last year felt different for me because making the GB team felt much more of a long shot whereas this time, I knew I could do it so it was just a case of actually performing on the day. Luckily, it worked out." Holly McGill (l) won 200m backstroke silver at this year's British Championships behind her compatriot, Katie Shanahan (r) (Image: Sam Mellish) McGill began swimming purely as a result of her desire to copy everything her elder sister did so, as a 7-year-old, McGill duly followed her sibling to Heart of Midlothian Swimming Club. This was the same year as the London Olympic Games and although McGill had a passing interest in the 2012 Olympics - she can remember watching Missy Franklin and Michael Phelps but not much else - it wasn't until a few years later that she began to ponder taking swimming seriously. 'It wasn't until I was 12 that I started having bigger goals and I remember thinking that I'd love to go to the Olympics - but I had no idea what that meant or what I would need to do to get there,' she says. 'Around that time, Keanna MacInnes, who was also at Hearts, went to the 2018 Commonwealth Games and that did make me think well, if she can do it and she's come from the same kind of background and does the same kind of training as me then why shouldn't I be able to do it too?' As McGill hit her mid-teens, she became a very big fish in the relatively small pond of Heart of Midlothian swim team but a move to Stirling University, which is the home to a sizeable chunk of the GB squad including Olympic gold medallists Duncan Scott and Kathleen Dawson, meant McGill was shunted right down the pecking order. For some, this would be disconcerting but McGill insists being surrounded by swimmers who were better, and had achieved far more than her, was an extremely welcome change. 'In my last year at Hearts, I started realising I was one of the better swimmers but then moving to Stirling really grounded me because the swimmers there have so much experience and have achieved so much so it made me realise I still had quite a way to go to really make it," she says. 'I actually think it was a really good thing for me to go to the bottom of the ladder - seeing the skills these other swimmers had was a good reminder of how many things I still have to work on. 'The likes of Duncan (Scott) and Kat (Dawson) act like normal people and they're really nice so it's not like they're sitting speaking about winning Olympic medals but it is quite eye-opening training alongside people that I've looked up to for so long.' McGill is, she hopes, on the path to emulating her Stirling teammates by becoming an Olympian, with LA 2028 the goal. First, though, McGill is looking towards her second Commonwealth Games appearance at Glasgow 2026 where she will, she hopes, make more of an impact than she did as a teenager on her Commonwealth debut three years ago. 'Ultimately the aim is to get to LA in 2028 but first, there's the Glasgow Commonwealth Games,' she says. 'In 2022, I was only 16 and I had no idea what to expect in Birmingham. I was so wide-eyed to everything and I was just there to experience it all whereas next year's Commie Games, providing I get there, I'll be trying to really compete.' Alongside McGill in the British team for next week's World Championships in Singapore are her fellow Scots, Duncan Scott, who is going for his tenth World championships medal and fifth world title, Katie Shanahan, Keanna MacInnes, Lucy Hope and Evan Jones, who will be making his World Championships debut. The GB team also includes Olympic gold medallists Matt Richards, James Guy, Freya Anderson and Tom Dean.
The Herald Scotland
39 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Onley: It's a good and a bad thing knowing just how tough the Tour is
When he lines up this weekend at the Tour de France, the Scot knows exactly what's coming. It's three weeks and 3320km of bike racing and, for good or for bad, Onley knows exactly what the race will entail, and how it will feel. And he knows it's not going to be easy. "I'm really excited to be racing the Tour again. This year, I come in with a few less unknowns and I have a better idea of what I need to do,' he says. 'During the three weeks of racing, you just have to accept that you're going to have bad days and certain stages are going to be very, very tough. 'I know quite how hard those last few days of the race are, so that maybe makes it a little bit more daunting. 'There are upsides of knowing what to expect because I can prepare myself, but there's also downsides because I'm well aware of just how tough a race the Tour is.' Over the past few years, Onley has transitioned from a young rider with plenty of potential to a World Tour team rider who is riding the biggest races in the cycling calendar. (Image: @Dario Belingheri/@Getty Images) The 22-year-old from Kelso, who rides for Team Picnic PostNL, made his Tour de France debut last summer, making history by becoming the first Scottish-developed rider since Robert Millar three decades previously to ride the world's greatest bike race. Onley applied himself admirably in his maiden Tour, ultimately finishing tenth in the youth classification and 39th in the general classification. Last year's Tour was followed by a second-place finish in the general classification at the Tour of Britain, with Onley cementing his status as a bona fide world-class road racer. 2025 has seen Onley continue to build his resumé, leading to the Scot once again be selected in Team Picnic PostNL's Tour de France squad. Onley may still be only 22 years old but a year makes quite a difference at the sharp end of elite sport and the Scot admits he feels like a considerably more experienced rider this summer compared to the rookie who made his Tour debut last year. "This year I go into the Tour having gained so much more experience, not just from last year's Tour, but from other races too. The different situations that I've been in all add up so it means that whenever I find myself in a certain position, there's more chance of me knowing how to handle it,' he says. 'And physically, I feel good. Towards the end of last season, I felt like I'd stepped-up physically - doing these hard races builds your engine and makes you more resilient each year. "This season, I feel like I've earned a little bit more respect from the other riders. 'I've been talking to some of the bigger riders and competing against them week in, week out, and you start to realise that actually you are at this level and you deserve to be here. So I definitely feel less daunted this year.' The 2025 Tour will begin in Lille and will remain within France for the entire three weeks, finishing in Paris on the 27th of July. Onley may feel physically and mentally in peak shape but given this race is one of the hardest physical tests on the planet, he's under no illusions as to how close to his limit he'll be pushed. The lessons learnt from last year's race, though, will be invaluable as he navigates the ups-and-downs that inevitably come with a race of this length. 'The biggest thing I took from last year is remembering that everyone's tired. Everyone, when they wake up each day, is hurting,' he says. 'Last year, there were times I'd wake up and be on my hands and knees just praying to get through the day. But actually, even in the last week, I was quite competitive which is a reminder that everyone's feeling so tired - you can quickly forget that and start to believe that you're the only one who's feeling bad, but that's really not the case. 'You just have to not get too worried about the harder moments and know there's better days coming.' Onley's highlight of the 2024 Tour was his fifth-place finish on Stage 17 and while observers on these shores lauded the fact that a Scottish rider was competing with the world's best for a stage win, Onley plays down the achievement and insists it merely served to increase his appetite for greater success this time around. With Robert Millar and David Millar the only Scottish riders ever to have won stages in the Tour, it would be no mean feat for Onley to add his name to this list but he goes into this year's Tour with the belief that he cannot just compete but, on his day, beat the very best on the planet. And his current form - in the recent Tour de Suisse, Onley won stage five on his way to finishing third in the general classification - suggests a Tour stage win is an entirely realistic goal. 'There's a huge difference between being top five in a stage and winning a stage. Nobody remembers who's fifth on stage 17 of the 2024 Tour but people do remember when you win a stage,' he says. 'Of course it'll be tough, but I definitely believe I can get some stage wins. I'm not sure I would turn up if I didn't believe I could do well. I don't want to slog away for three weeks and just end up with a mediocre GC placing - I would rather pick my days and go hard for stage wins. 'When you do these big races, you have to believe in yourself and believe in the work you've done and I do believe that I can get good results over the next three weeks.'
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Holly McGill on her early breakthrough and her World Champs debut
It was three years ago that McGill broke onto the international scene, making her Commonwealth Games debut at Birmingham 2022 at the tender age of 16. It's in the past twelve months, though, that she has begun to really capitalise on her potential. The Edinburgh native, who turned 20 just a few weeks ago, made her GB senior debut at last year's European Championships and so she began this season with the explicit aim of retaining her place in the GB team. Given the current strength of British Swimming, this is no mean feat but McGill has proved her mental fortitude is as impressive as her talent, with her performance at the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships in April - she won silver in the 200m backstroke and bronze in the 100m backstroke - enough to ensure selection for this year's World Aquatics Championships, which begin in Singapore on Friday. While her selection came as little surprise to many observers, McGill admits she was pleasantly surprised with how she handled her first ultra high-pressure British Championships. 'At the start of this season, I was well aware that I could swim very well at the British Champs and still not make it into the team for the Worlds - nothing was guaranteed because the 200m backstroke field is so tough,' she says. 'You never know quite how you're going to react when you're in that high pressure environment. 'Last year felt different for me because making the GB team felt much more of a long shot whereas this time, I knew I could do it so it was just a case of actually performing on the day. Luckily, it worked out." Holly McGill (l) won 200m backstroke silver at this year's British Championships behind her compatriot, Katie Shanahan (r) (Image: Sam Mellish) McGill began swimming purely as a result of her desire to copy everything her elder sister did so, as a 7-year-old, McGill duly followed her sibling to Heart of Midlothian Swimming Club. This was the same year as the London Olympic Games and although McGill had a passing interest in the 2012 Olympics - she can remember watching Missy Franklin and Michael Phelps but not much else - it wasn't until a few years later that she began to ponder taking swimming seriously. 'It wasn't until I was 12 that I started having bigger goals and I remember thinking that I'd love to go to the Olympics - but I had no idea what that meant or what I would need to do to get there,' she says. 'Around that time, Keanna MacInnes, who was also at Hearts, went to the 2018 Commonwealth Games and that did make me think well, if she can do it and she's come from the same kind of background and does the same kind of training as me then why shouldn't I be able to do it too?' As McGill hit her mid-teens, she became a very big fish in the relatively small pond of Heart of Midlothian swim team but a move to Stirling University, which is the home to a sizeable chunk of the GB squad including Olympic gold medallists Duncan Scott and Kathleen Dawson, meant McGill was shunted right down the pecking order. For some, this would be disconcerting but McGill insists being surrounded by swimmers who were better, and had achieved far more than her, was an extremely welcome change. 'In my last year at Hearts, I started realising I was one of the better swimmers but then moving to Stirling really grounded me because the swimmers there have so much experience and have achieved so much so it made me realise I still had quite a way to go to really make it," she says. 'I actually think it was a really good thing for me to go to the bottom of the ladder - seeing the skills these other swimmers had was a good reminder of how many things I still have to work on. 'The likes of Duncan (Scott) and Kat (Dawson) act like normal people and they're really nice so it's not like they're sitting speaking about winning Olympic medals but it is quite eye-opening training alongside people that I've looked up to for so long.' McGill is, she hopes, on the path to emulating her Stirling teammates by becoming an Olympian, with LA 2028 the goal. First, though, McGill is looking towards her second Commonwealth Games appearance at Glasgow 2026 where she will, she hopes, make more of an impact than she did as a teenager on her Commonwealth debut three years ago. 'Ultimately the aim is to get to LA in 2028 but first, there's the Glasgow Commonwealth Games,' she says. 'In 2022, I was only 16 and I had no idea what to expect in Birmingham. I was so wide-eyed to everything and I was just there to experience it all whereas next year's Commie Games, providing I get there, I'll be trying to really compete.' Alongside McGill in the British team for next week's World Championships in Singapore are her fellow Scots, Duncan Scott, who is going for his tenth World championships medal and fifth world title, Katie Shanahan, Keanna MacInnes, Lucy Hope and Evan Jones, who will be making his World Championships debut. The GB team also includes Olympic gold medallists Matt Richards, James Guy, Freya Anderson and Tom Dean.
