CELTIC great John ‘Yogi’ Hughes ran amok and scored a blistering 13-minute hat-trick in an 8-1 League Cup romp against Raith Rovers at Starks Park – EXACTLY 58 years ago today.
The giant frontman, the Hoops’ eighth all-time leading scorer with 189 strikes, demolished the Fifers in the early months of the Jock Stein revolution.
Big Yogi, who passed away on August 1 2022 at the age of 79, spoke to author and friend Alex Gordon about the achievement when they got together for his best-selling autobiography, ‘YOGI BARE: The Life and Times of a Celtic Legend‘, which was published in 2014.
READ ALL ABOUT IT…John Hughes with his best-selling autobiography.
“We were 3-1 ahead at the interval and we were looking good,” said Hughes.
“Joe McBride, Bobby Lennox and Jimmy Johnstone had scored and I also remember Big Tommy Gemmell almost turning their crossbar to sawdust inside the first minute with one of his mighty long-range specials.
“We went in at half-time and Big Jock was waiting for me. ‘Oh, hello, Yogi,’ he said, ‘I had forgotten you were playing.’ Our manager could do sarcasm with the best of them.
“He smiled and continued: ‘Join in any time that suits you’. I got the message. I thought I had been playing fairly well wide on the left with Joe McBride and Bobby Lennox coping superbly going through the middle.
SEE YOU LATER, bOSS…John ‘Yogi’ Hughes leaves Jock Stein in his slipstream during training at Barrowfield.
“However, if The Boss wanted me to knock in a goal or two, then I thought I would respond. Mind you, I didn’t think I would hit three in such a short space of time. It was one of those games when everything you hit on target went in.
“And that is no disrespect to Rovers keeper Bobby Reid who was a top-class netminder.
“Joe also completed his hat-trick with two second-half efforts. By the way, I also set up three goals that Wednesday evening in Kirkcaldy.
“I came off at the end and wondered what Big Jock would say about my three strikes after the break. I’m still waiting. He said nothing.
“Ach, there’s nae pleasin’ some people!”
FOOTNOTE: The team: John Fallon; Ian Young, Tommy Gemmell; Bobby Murdoch, Billy McNeill, John Clark; Jimmy Johnstone, Charlie Gallagher, Joe McBride, Bobby Lennox and John Hughes.
