LISBON LION Jim Craig, 82, has been awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours List.
The club ambassador, who was right-back in the team’s historic European Cup triumph over Inter Milan in the Portuguese capital on May 25 1967, has been recognised for his services to sport and charity.
Craig, nicknamed Cairney by his team-mates after the actor and Hoops fan John Cairney who starred in the popular TV series This Man Craig, joined Celtic from Glasgow University Football Club, where he studied dentistry.
CAESAR AND CAIRNEY…Billy McNeill and Jim Craig, nicknamed Cairney after a character in a popular TV show ‘This Man Craig’, with the European Cup at a Celtic Park reunion.
He continued as an amateur until signing professional in January 1965. He made his first-team debut at the age of 21 while still studying.
Craig, who came from Govan and was inducted into the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden in 2017, made 239 appearances for Celtic between 1965 and 1972 and won 15 major trophies.
The popular figure had an interesting tale to tell about his first appearance for the club in a European Cup-winners’ Cup-tie against Dutch side Go Ahead Deventer at Parkhead on October 7 1965.
He told all to author Alex Gordon for the writer’s tribute book, ‘Celtic: The Awakening‘ which was published in 2013.
Please follow the link, if you wish to read about Jim Craig’s big day.
THE ARRIVAL OF A LISBON LION 60 YEARS AGO – COURTESY OF THE No.62 TO AUCHENSHUGGLE
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