Final farewell at Celtic Park for Lisbon Lion John Clark

Mourners gathered yesterday for the funeral of Celtic legend and Lisbon Lion John Clark.

Clark, who died last week at the age of 84, won several major honours in more than 300 games for the Parkhead side.

His greatest achievement came in 1967, when Celtic defeated Inter Milan in Lisbon to become the first British team to lift the European Cup.

In a statement, Celtic FC said: “John Clark was a Lisbon Lion, a cornerstone of our greatest ever team and a dedicated servant to Celtic.

“We come together to honour his incredible legacy.”

Clark’s funeral Mass was held at midday at St Mary’s Church in Glasgow’s Calton area.

It was also broadcast live for fans on the club’s YouTube channel.

Afterwards the funeral cortege travelled down The Celtic Way outside the stadium at about 13:15.

Clark, who made his Celtic debut in 1959, served the club for over four decades.

He returned to Parkhead after his playing career to work in the youth set up.

The Mass for John Clark, took place at St Mary’s Church, Calton, where his family and many footballing friends and former colleagues gathered to pay tribute to a great Celtic man.

The Mass was celebrated by parish priest of St Mary’s, Fr John Mulholland, formerly of St Martin’s, Renton, while the homily was given by Fr Mark O’Donnell.

The priest spoke about the most important thing in John’s life – his family – emphasising that, while he was proud of his incredible football achievements, he was, first and foremost, a husband, father and grandfather.

And that was the perfect illustration of a humble man.

It was a moving and beautiful Mass, with many supporters also gathered in St Mary’s with their own memories of a Celtic legend.

The Celtic board were there, along with manager Brendan Rodgers and many of the first-team squad, along with a number of former players, including John’s friend and fellow Lisbon Lion, Jim Craig.

Towards the end of the service, veteran journalist and broadcaster, Archie Macpherson, delivered a eulogy, with his own memories of John as a player and also his most recent and last meeting with him before he sadly died.

The funeral cortege then made the short trip along from St Mary’s – the spiritual home of Celtic – to Celtic Park, where fans gathered to pay tribute one last time to a legend of the club and a fellow supporter.

John Clark’s daughter, Maihri McConnachie, said later: “Today we wish our dad a happy heavenly birthday. We were brought up with great stories of the Lisbon Lions, my dad’s pride and joy, amongst all the rest, of the Celtic teams.