European Cup’s not needed to make him a legend in my eyes
My grandad is my best friend and my hero. We are super-close and if I don’t see him every day, we talk on the phone.
Growing up, I was aware he had been a footballer but I had no idea just how great a player he was until I was older and people got impressed when they found out I was John Clark’s granddaughter.
One of my early memories is of being in Tesco, aged about four, and people stopping us to ask for grandad’s autograph.
I remember thinking, ‘He’s mine, not yours’. Years later, I realised how famous he was and why.
I think it’s only this year’s 50th anniversary that has made me realise the enormity of it as everyone is talking about it again. Sometimes, I feel like I was there as my grandad can relay every second of that final – he can do that with most Celtic matches.
My mum Marie was still a baby in 1967 and my gran Eileen didn’t go to Lisbon.
She watched it on TV and jokes about how she got anxious when grandad got the ball in case he destroyed Celtic’s chances of winning. My grandad is really humble about the whole experience.
He made a very emotional return to Lisbon last month to unveil a plaque at the Estadio Nacional as a tribute to the team.
There are not many Lions left and he was touched that a Celtic supporter and local fans would want to honour them in this way.
He’s still the kitman on match days for the club, which means he has worked in six different roles for Celtic in a career that has spanned 58 years.
He is very sprightly for 76 and says working keeps him young. At the end of every season, he says he will retire then never does.
My grandad had a rough upbringing and was determined his children would have a better life. He’d do anything for us all.
My ambition is to make him proud. I’m a year away from qualifying as a doctor and he is over the moon.
I’m due to graduate from Aberdeen University on my gran and grandad’s 55th wedding anniversary and Grandad jokes that it will be a day to rival Lisbon.
It doesn’t take a European Cup to make him a legend in my eyes. As my grandad, he is my champion, my friend and the main man in my life.
But it is lovely to share the Lisbon Lion with the rest of the world.
Clare Clark, 21, is the granddaughter of Celtic defender and Lisbon Lion John Clark, 76.