Yogi might have missed the final but he was every inch a Lisbon Lion
LEGEND CRAIG PAYS TRIBUTE TO HUGHES
HIS legend was forged at Parkhead with the trademark rampaging runs and fine finishing that earned John Hughes his rightful place in the pantheon of all-time Celtic greats.
For fellow Lisbon Lion Jim Craig, however, Govan was the unlikely venue for a sneak preview of the kind of fearsome form that would eventually leave defenders across Europe ruing the day they came up against ‘Yogi.’
‘Yogi was a great player — and I first encountered him as a 15-year-old,’ Craig tells Sportsmail. ‘I was playing for St Gerard’s Secondary School in Govan and we were drawn against St Pat’s of Coatbridge in the Scottish Cup.
‘We had been used to only playing schools from Glasgow and this was the first time we had drawn a team from further afield. I’d never even heard of Coatbridge and, when the draw was made, we were all discussing where Coatbridge actually was.
‘I remember when the St Pat’s team arrived at Pirie Park on the Saturday, this bloody giant came off the bus. It was Yogi.
‘We got beaten 6-0 that day and Yogi scored all six goals. Fortunately, I was playing at right-back and Yogi was playing centre-forward. That meant our poor centre-half took all the stick for not being able to deal with him.
‘But dealing with Yogi was an impossibility for a schoolboy player because he was a grown man when we were all still kids. His runs through the middle were unstoppable.’
Hughes, who died this week aged 79 after a short illness, was a prolific presence at Celtic where he won seven league titles, four Scottish Cups and five League Cups in his 11 years at the club.
He was a valued member of the squad that reached the European Cup final in 1967, beating Inter Milan 2-1 in Lisbon. But he declared himself injured the day before the final and missed out on Celtic’s greatest day after playing five matches on the road to the Portuguese capital.
The chance of redemption arrived in Milan three years later, but Celtic lost the 1970 European Cup final 2-1 to Feyenoord in extra-time at the San Siro.
He always rued missing out on lifting European football’s biggest prize. But one of Yogi’s best performances came en route to the 1970 final Celtic’s finest-ever victories when he scored in the 2-1 European Cup semi-final win over Leeds United at Hampden in front of a crowd of 136,505.
‘I always feel it must have been a terrible situation to miss out on the biggest moment in Celtic’s history,’ said 79-year-old Craig, who is one of four surviving Lisbon Lions alongside John Clark, Willie Wallace and Bobby Lennox.
‘Yogi never got on the park but he was a very important part of the squad and he is rightly considered a Lisbon Lion.
‘He did get the chance to play in the 1970 European Cup final but unfortunately Celtic did not win that one. But he did very well against Leeds in the semi-final.
‘But I always feel sympathy with those guys who missed out on Lisbon. Even all these years on, I still think about Joe McBride. Joe had scored 35 goals before Christmas when he got injured, and he would undoubtedly have been the first name on the team sheet in Lisbon.’
Yogi’s 189 goals in 416 appearances place him eighth on the list of all-time top Celtic goalscorers. Craig believes it is a remarkable yield for a player who was not an out-and-out centre forward.
‘Yogi is a bona-fide Celtic legend,’ he said. ‘He had such a great career at Celtic Park.
‘He did well for Scotland, too, but he was a really talented player with Celtic with a really good goal return, especially for a player who spent most of his career at outside left. How will he be remembered? As a great player, a nice guy, and a Celtic man.
‘The wonderful thing about that team in 1967 was we all got on so well. We were sometimes rivals for positions but there was never any great animosity. I think one reason for that was we were all from in and around Glasgow.
‘When we came down for breakfast in the morning you didn’t bother who you sat next to because we all got on so well.
‘The camaraderie in the squad was really excellent. They were all great guys and all superb players.’
While fans gathered at Parkhead this week to honour Hughes, fellow Celtic greats paid their own tributes.
Former Parkhead striker Chris Sutton said: ‘Really sad news to hear about John ‘Yogi’ Hughes passing. Thoughts and prayers go out to his family.’
Ex- Celtic goalkeeper Rab Douglas added: ‘Very sad to see John “Yogi” Hughes pass away. Always used to see him in Majorca every summer, he had time for everyone. Thoughts go to all his family. RIP Mr Hughes.’
Former captain Tom Boyd Tweeted: ‘Thoughts are with Theresa and all the Hughes family at this sad time. Yogi was Celtic to the core on and off the pitch.’
Yogi’s son, John, revealed yesterday that his father spent his final moments backing his beloved Parkhead club. After watching Callum McGregor unfurl the Premiership flag on Sunday to mark the start of the new season, he was delighted to see Stephen Welsh open the scoring three minutes into a 2-0 win over Aberdeen.
‘He rallied one last time on Sunday to sing us Grace as best he could,’ said Hughes Junior.
‘His last conscious acts were hanging on for You’ll Never Walk Alone and giving us a wee fist pump for Stephen’s goal.
‘Thank you all so much for your messages and support. Struggling to respond as there are many thousands. The whole family is reading them though, and it’s an important part of the process. Some tremendously thoughtful and kind responses.’