Scotland’s Shame- John Clark and the pathetic cap tally of the Lisbon Lions

The death of John Clark has been mourned by Celtic fans, the sad loss of one more of the Lisbon Lions. 

Clark was alongside Billy McNeill throughout the greatest days in the history of the club with one famous image of them the night of the Lisbon Final lying asleep either side of the European Cup which had a teddy looking after them.

Back in the nineties one of Dave Murray’s favoured messengers got all excited when he was told that for every fiver Celtic spend Rangers will spent a tenner, in football terms for every international cap that Clark won Ronnie McKinnon collected SEVEN.

In the sixties Scotland averaged around seven matches a season, for every cap that Jim Craig won John Greig made 44 Scotland appearances.

Clark experienced the bleak days of the early sixties at Celtic and enjoyed the glory that followed on from the 1965 Scottish Cup Final win over Dunfermline.

For a Lanarkshire boy that win over The Pars was something very special but no-one inside Hampden watching that match could have guessed at what was around the corner,

Over the next few years that group of players became the greatest club side Scotland has ever known, as well as one European Cup there was another final and two semi-final appearances.

Strangely that success was never reflected international recognition.

When Celtic won the European Cup in Lisbon Bobby Brown was the Scotland international manager, the first to have that job on a full time basis.

Previously a ‘trainer’ would be appointed by the SFA to do exactly what the title described with the team selected by Committee.

Brown, a former Rangers goalkeeper took on the job after managing St Johnstone, while he technically was able to pick the teams he was employed by the SFA with the Committee men still heavily influential.

Being diplomatic some of the SFA types would happily pick anyone other than a Celtic player, that attitude survived through until at least the turn of the century as the cap totals of the Lions highlights.

Seven of the Lisbon Lions earned less than 11 caps, watching Celtic winning 9-in-a-row John Greig was picked 44 times for Scotland!

Ronnie McKinnon won 28 Scotland caps, one less than Billy McNeill. Ronnie wasn’t even the best defender in his house, his brother Donnie at Partick Thistle was far better, he went uncapped despite a 14 seasons career in the top flight.

Ronnie Simpson– 5 caps

Simpson was part of the UK squad at the 1948 Olympic Games, he won the FA Cup twice for Newcastle in 1952 and 1955 but was completely overlooked for Scotland recognition. He made his debut in the 3-2 win at Wembley a month before the glory of Lisbon, in this rare case all of his Scotland recognition came as a Celtic player.

Jim Craig– 1 cap

Six months after Lisbon Craig picked up his one and only Scotland cap, in a 3-2 home win over Wales. While Tommy Gemmell on the left created goals and headlines Craig was ahead of his time with his partnership and understanding of Jimmy Johnstone critical to Celtic’s success during the golden era.

John Clark– 4 caps

Another bizarre international career, if you can call four games a career. He made his debut in June 66, Pele remembered him 15 years later when they met up in New York. His fourth and final cap was a fortnight before Lisbon in the 2-0 home defeat from Russia with that team rammed with Celtic Players. If only his surname was Greig or McKinnon.

Billy McNeill– 29 caps

Made his Scotland debut in 1958 in a best forgotten 11 goal thriller at Wembley, he was rarely a Scotland regular despite his obvious leadership skills and ability. Fourteen years later he earned his last Scotland cap, in a 1-0 defeat Hampden defeat to England. Basically it was two caps a year for the man that lifted the big cup above his head in Lisbon.

Tommy Gemmell– 18 caps

Another pitiful cap tally although a well documented red card against Germany in 1969 didn’t help, it also accelerated his Celtic departure to Nottingham Forest. Gemmell won his first cap in April 1966 with his final Scotland appearance coming in February 1971.

Bobby Murdoch– 12 caps

An absolute travesty- for Scotland how he was overlooked. For about four years he was one of the best midfielders in Europe but rarely in favour as far as Scotland caps are concerned. His twelve caps were spread over three and a half years and included six goals including an equaliser against Germany in 1969.

Bertie Auld– 3 caps (all in 1959!)

What more to you need to say, the fresh faced Bertie found his international career over and done with eight years before he won the European Cup. True Scotland had Billy Bremner, Pat Crerard and Jim Baxter around but Auld was at least on a par with them in terms of ability and personality. He was sent off on his debut away to Holland in May 1959, earned two more caps and it was over with Scotland. That debut was breaking into a squad that had played in the 1958 World Cup in Sweden but there were no caps throughout the seventies.

Jimmy Johnstone– 23 caps (unused in the 1974 World Cup squad, scored twice v England in 1966)

Being a popular Celtic player his international career was in direct opposition to Scotland fan favourites Willie Henderson and Willie Johnston. His 23 caps were spread out over 10 years, ridiculously he turned England inside out in a 2-0 win World Cup send off in 1974, played in both friendlies in the build up to the finals in Germany then never played for a minute in Germany. Tommy Hutchison was decent but he was no Jinky. In 1966 Johnstone scored twice against England.

Stevie Chalmers– 5 caps, scored v Brazil in 1966

Scored the most famous goal in Scottish football history, a year earlier he scored against Brazil but was only worth five international caps. Denis Law was clearly first choice through the sixties but five caps that delivered three goals is a fair record, after that goal against Brazil in 1966 there was only one more cap, despite that iconic goal in Lisbon there were no more caps.

Willie Wallace– 7 caps

Picked up three caps as a Hearts player before than December 1966 transfer to Celtic, like Chalmers Scotland had some great forwards around, pre striker days, but over his first three seasons at Celtic there wasn’t a more effective goalscorer and team-mate than Wallace. The last of his seven caps came in May 69 at Wembley, the highlight was at the same venue two years earlier.

Bobby Lennox: 10 caps

A goal scorer in the famous 3-2 Wembley win over the then World Champions scored v England at Wembley 1967 in just his second international appearance. With his pace and scoring record there should be a place for Lennox in every team of the mid to late sixties, Scotland thought otherwise with just 10 caps awarded, yielding three goals.

John Fallon: No Scotland caps with Jock Stein closing the door on an Ireland call up with his good pal Charlie Gallagher.

As the spring of 67 opened up the real prospect of Celtic winning the European Cup the SFA stepped in to do their thing.

With 11 Scots playing in the biggest match on club football only four were selected to play against England at Wembley, six weeks before the glory of Lisbon. Seven Celtic players weren’t selected including Clark and McNeill making way for Greig and McKinnon who were a few weeks away from their places in folklore as part of the Nurenburg Numpties.

With Lisbon fast approaching and Jock Stein needing every possible minute with his players there was a mass call up of Celts for a friendly match against Russia, coming four days after the exhausting 2-2 title clincher at Ibrox.

All of a sudden Scotland wanted to involve Celtic players, six started in the 2-0 defeat with two more in the squad!

England v SCOTLAND 15 April 67: Simpson; McCreadie, Greig, McKinnon, Gemmell; Baxter, Bremner, McCalliog; Wallace, Law Lennox

SCOTLAND v Russia 10 May 67: Simpson, Clark, McNeill, McLintock, Gemmell; McCreadie, Baxter, McCalliog; Johnstone, Law, Lennox. The squad included Murdoch and Wallace.

Incredibly, or maybe not, the midfield duo of Auld and Murdoch never featured in either match. A fortnight before Lisbon, three weeks after the heralded win at Wembley Brown and the SFA decided to insert another fixture into Celtic’s packed campaign.

Of course the amount of Scotland caps awarded to Celtic players has been a long running joke, Jimmy McGrory is the highest goalscorer in Scottish football history, despite over 500 career goals he was picked just seven times for Scotland, scoring six times.

These issues were just accepted as a matter of fact, Celtic players were the last resort selections from the SFA Committees.

In 1976 Kenny Dalglish’s run of 33 consecutive appearances for Scotland came to a sudden halt for a match against Wales in May 1976, allowing Rangers defender George Young to retain his Scotland record of 34 consecutive appearances.

A week later Dalglish scored the winning goal at Hampden against England, at that time it was as significant a match as Scotland played.

Dixie Deans, a prolific scorer in the early seventies alongside Dalglish was picked just twice for Scotland, both late in 1974 after being left out of the squad for the World Cup Finals.

Things do seem a little better these days but there are few Celtic fans committed to supporting Celtic, maybe 50% will have some sort of interest in the SFA side.

Most fans despair at the September, October and November interruptions to their Celtic watching routine, Callum McGregor’s decision to quit Scotland last summer caused no concerns or worry for Celtic supporters.

As future generations celebrate John Clark’s life and achievements the joke is on the SFA on how he only picked up four international caps, the same number as Kirk Broadfoot!

An original press photo I bought a few years ago. Celtic greats for sure! 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/tyYzfQgC4m

— Eddy Grady (@EddyGrady) July 3, 2025

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