Original 'Yogi' Hughes of Celtic dies

[heretoday]

Big John Hughes dies aged 79. Played for Celtic in the sixties and got a European Cup medal although not playing in Lisbon.

The guy of whom it could be said he was light on his feet for a big man!

[Lago]

Big John Hughes dies aged 79. Played for Celtic in the sixties and got a European Cup medal although not playing in Lisbon.

The guy of whom it could be said he was light on his feet for a big man!
A very good player, sad news.

[Alfred E Newman]

A legendary player for Celtic but unfortunately he will always be remembered by Hibs supporters of my generation for his late tackle from behind that more or less finished Bobby Duncan’s career.

[Mick O'Rourke]

He was a very good player.
On his nickname
A popular US cartoon show in the sixties had a character named Yogi Bear.
Celtic fans adopted that name for Big John .
They would chant "Feed the bear"!
He played in,without doubt in my view, the finest team in Britain in the mid to late 60s.

RIP Big Yogi



Yes Alfred, I was there too. It was an ugly tackle.
Bobby was never the same player.
But i dont think John had an overall bad reputation.

[ancient hibee]

A legendary player for Celtic but unfortunately he will always be remembered by Hibs supporters of my generation for his late tackle from behind that more or less finished Bobby Duncan’s career.

It was a shocker. Don't remember if he was booked.

[James70]

'Yogi Bear is always in the Rangers hair' in Jellystone Park, popular 60s cartoon.

[gbhibby]

He was a very good player.
On his nickname
A popular US cartoon show in the sixties had a character named Yogi Bear.
Celtic fans adopted that name for Big John .
They would chant "Feed the bear"!
He played in,without doubt in my view, the finest team in Britain in the mid to late 60s.

RIP Big Yogi



Yes Alfred, I was there too. It was an ugly tackle.
Bobby was never the same player.
But i dont think John had an overall bad reputation.
Was there as well horrible tackle. I am sure we were linked with signing him at one time.

[The Harp]

Sorry to hear of big Yogi's passing. As another poster has said though, he will always be remembered by a lot of older Hibees for that horrendous tackle on Bobby Duncan. Sadly Bobby was never the same player after that.

[heretoday]

'Yogi Bear is always in the Rangers hair' in Jellystone Park, popular 60s cartoon.

That's good! I think Feed the Bear was eventually associated with Roy Aitken, another uncompromising type.

[BILLYHIBS]

Like many other older posters I remember John Yogi Hughes for his poor tackle on our Bobby Duncan who was on the verge of a Scotland call up at the time

A heavy set nimble footed forward reminiscent of our Tony Higgins I always thought of him as being a bit part player in Jock Stein’s Celtic but was surprised to learn that he played 434 games for the hoops scoring 197 goals and was unlucky to miss out on the 1967 European Cup win

No too shabby

The Beeb used this clip against the Hibees in which he scored the winner which summed up his style of play perfectly charging through like a battering ram before scuffing a shot past Gordon Marshall

https://youtu.be/HY0uyOXNKtQ

Check the Celtic in the Cave

Arthur Duncan scored for HIBS on his debut


RIP

[heretoday]

Hughes scored a hammer of a goal for Crystal Palace - https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkx-h81pLdwMhK50nmWPYqtmitHt0CQ6ezl

Hope it comes out! It's near the end of the clip.

[lapsedhibee]

Presume it's out of respect for the deceased that all posters so far have described Hughes's assault on Duncan as a 'tackle'. There was no intention whatsoever to get the ball.

[DanishJohn]

John Hughes was also a cousin of our very own John McNamee.

[Mick O'Rourke]

Presume it's out of respect for the deceased that all posters so far have described Hughes's assault on Duncan as a 'tackle'. There was no intention whatsoever to get the ball.


Yes, i suppose we have.

The link below has a "Celtic View" of the game.
They describe it as a "collision" between the players.!


https://www.thecelticwiki.com/1968-01-20-hibernian-0-2-celtic-league-division-1/

At the bottom of the page linked is a news report of the game that clearly states John went in from behind Bobby.
I was 16 years old,in the Cave, fighting off the invading celts.:greengrin

As the years went on,the incident grew legs (no pun intended)
People would say they heard the crunch and Bobby scream from the other end of the ground .
Some say they heard it from their flat in Bothwell Street !!

Correct me if i am wrong -)
I think it happened on the touchline of the old main terracing (East) closer to Dunbar End.
And it was a brick wall that separated the track from the terracing back then.I think Bobby ended up there .

Hey ,it was a long time ago !!
From being on the verge of a Scotland cap,not long after his "recovery",Bobby was sold to East Fife.

I know the thread is about Yogi,but its no surprise older fans here will recall that game.
Bobby of course scored the screamer of a first goal in one of the clubs most famous European wins V Napoli 5-0
He and Jimmy O'Rourke were close pals.

Yogi it seems was rumoured to come to Hibs as someone said.
I think what happened to Bobby was to raw for John to haved joined Hibs .

PS
I note there was near double our current ground capacity at that game.
38.000 plus
Pubs shut at half 2 till 5pm back then.
Must have been some cairry oots in the ground.
Buckfast, as now, would have been the Glesga favourite too.

[lapsedhibee]

Yes, i suppose we have.

The link below has a "Celtic View" of the game.
They describe it as a "collision" between the players.!


https://www.thecelticwiki.com/1968-01-20-hibernian-0-2-celtic-league-division-1/

At the bottom of the page linked is a news report of the game that clearly states John went in from behind Bobby.
I was 16 years old,in the Cave, fighting off the invading celts.:greengrin

As the years went on,the incident grew legs (no pun intended)
People would say they heard the crunch and Bobby scream from the other end of the ground .
Some say they heard it from their flat in Bothwell Street !!

Correct me if i am wrong -)
I think it happened on the touchline of the old main terracing (East) closer to Dunbar End.
And it was a brick wall that separated the track from the terracing back then.I think Bobby ended up there .

Hey ,it was a long time ago !!
From being on the verge of a Scotland cap,not long after his "recovery",Bobby was sold to East Fife.

I know the thread is about Yogi,but its no surprise older fans here will recall that game.
Bobby of course scored the screamer of a first goal in one of the clubs most famous European wins V Napoli 5-0
He and Jimmy O'Rourke were close pals.

Yogi it seems was rumoured to come to Hibs as someone said.
I think what happened to Bobby was to raw for John to haved joined Hibs .

PS
I note there was near double our current ground capacity at that game.
38.000 plus
Pubs shut at half 2 till 5pm back then.
Must have been some cairry oots in the ground.
Buckfast, as now, would have been the Glesga favourite too.

I remember it as being much nearer to the middle of the pitch than the touchline, with Hughes chasing Duncan a good many yards to hack him down, viciously. Duncan had been getting the better of Hughes up to that point and he didn't like it. Other recollections may differ!

[Cat Stanton]

Like many other older posters I remember John Yogi Hughes for his poor tackle on our Bobby Duncan who was on the verge of a Scotland call up at the time

A heavy set nimble footed forward reminiscent of our Tony Higgins I always thought of him as being a bit part player in Jock Stein’s Celtic but was surprised to learn that he played 434 games for the hoops scoring 197 goals and was unlucky to miss out on the 1967 European Cup win

No too shabby

The Beeb used this clip against the Hibees in which he scored the winner which summed up his style of play perfectly charging through like a battering ram before scuffing a shot past Gordon Marshall

https://youtu.be/HY0uyOXNKtQ

Check the Celtic in the Cave

Arthur Duncan scored for HIBS on his debut


RIP

In that clip the whole ground seems to be full of Celtc supporters...?

[.Sean.]

In that clip the whole ground seems to be full of Celtc supporters...?
Noticed this too. Maybe there was just as much Edinburgh based OF gloryhunting filth back then as there is now

[Alfred E Newman]

Noticed this too. Maybe there was just as much Edinburgh based OF gloryhunting filth back then as there is now

No segregation and pay at the gate.

[IberianHibernian]

Noticed this too. Maybe there was just as much Edinburgh based OF gloryhunting filth back then as there is now
RIP Yogi
At the time of these matches Celtic were one of the best teams in Europe , better than any English or Spanish teams and their fanbase grew enormously after winning the EC in 1967 . I wasn`t at the game where Bobby Duncan broke his leg but remember stories of people hearing the bone break . My first Hibs v Celtic was a year or two later ( before game of video here ) when a Joe McBride double ( one of the goals is still my all time favourite Hibs goal ) gave us a 2 v 0 win . I was in Cave at that and remember it being split 50 - 50 . Some bottles flying about , maybe a bit more work for police than now but in general trouble at matches then was between gangs . All parts of ER will have had Hibs and Celtic fans with relatively little trouble . Segregation helped in some ways but has also created a situation where a generation or two think it`s normal and we have ridiculous situations like American tourists struggling to get tickets for a match .as seen on other thread .

[Mick O'Rourke]

Noticed this too. Maybe there was just as much Edinburgh based OF gloryhunting filth back then as there is now


From the end of WW2 till mid 60s,Hibs,rAngers and Hearts, it could be said were amomg the best sides in Scotland.
Dundee and Killie,too.Winning titles and trophies.
Celtic went through a drought till Jock Stein arrived.
My brother recalled games at Celtic Park with very low attendances in this period.

So Jock Stein arrives and the revolution has started.
Our faither hailed from New Lanark and was a Celtic fan.
He took me and my brother Billy to a few Celtic European nights.
Although we were already Hibernians.
Our Mothers side from Cowgate/Grassmarket made sure of that !!

Anyway,i digress.
Celtic attendances soared as Stein built the team that would dominate Europe.
In 1966,our dad took me and Billy to a Scottish cup replay at Celtic Park v Hearts.
A midweek game Celtic won 3-1 and crowd was recorded as 72.000.
(John Hughes played that night,Jimmy Johnstone tore Hearts apart)
Many who knew the ground well say it was nearer 80.000 (creative accountancy! ?)
Willie Wallace would leave Hearts soon after that game and go on to be a Celtic legend winning European Cup.

If you look at Hibs attendances of that era,you will note a home game of 5000 or so, followed by another home game involving Celtic .....Crowds increases to 35.000 plus.
It was all pay at the gate then.
True crowds were never really recorded properly!:wink:
They (Celtic) travelled from all over in hordes back then.
Hundreds of bus loads and special trains.

The days when youngsters were "banned" mostly by parents ,from going to games involving the big two from Glasgow.
They could and would cause mayhem inside and outside grounds.

The Buckfast and Ruby Wine Brigade with open cut throat razors and metal beer can openers as tools.
Todays nonsense, the wee dafties on drugs.whilst bad enough,had nothing on the 60s at games for violence.
They would get leathered before they started their choreographed pavement dance !!:greengrin

As Max Boyce, the Welsh comedian and big rugby fan use to say about the great Welsh sides...

"I was there "!

Me too,at those Hibs games !

It was scary !
But i survived !!

[ancient hibee]

It was always said that Jock Stein had told Willie Wallace he didn’t need to try too hard for Hearts as Celtic were going to sign him regardless of his current form. A really good player of course.