John "Dixie" Deans

"Disambiguation: for "Dixie" Deans, the former RAF WWII bomber pilot and POW camp leader, see James 'Dixie' Deans

John Kelly Deans (born in Johnstone 30 July 1946), commonly known as Dixie Deans was a Scottish footballer. He played centre-forward for Celtic in the 1970s, under the management of Jock Stein, and was a prolific goal-scorer. He was nicknamed "Dixie" in honour of the great English centre-forward Dixie Dean.

Deans joined Motherwell from Neilston Victoria in 1965 and spent six seasons with the Fir Park side.cite book | last = Lamming | first = Douglas | title = A Scottish Soccer Internationalists Who’s Who, 1872-1986 | format = Hardback | publisher = Hutton Press | year = 1987 | id = (ISBN 0-907033-47-4) ] He signed for Celtic in a £17,500 deal in 1971 and played for the "Hoops" until 1976. During this time he scored 132 goals in just 184 games for the club and set several scoring records. The six goals he struck in a defeat of Partick Thistle is a post-war record for goals scored in a single game, especially notable as Partick's goalkeeper on the occasion was the Scotland custodian Alan Rough. He is also the only player in Scottish football history to twice score a hat trick in a major cup final, achieving the feat in the 1971-72 Scottish Cup final and the 1974-75 League Cup final , both against Hibernian.

He is probably best remembered for the part he played in the semi final of the 1971-72 European Cup, where Celtic were paired with Inter Milan, who they had beaten in Lisbon five years earlier. The two legs and extra-time failed to yield a single goal and so the tie proceeded to penalties.

Dixie, who had come on as a substitute, took the first for Celtic, firing it high over the bar. Inter Milan then scored all five of their penalties and moved onto the final against AFC Ajax.

Deans earned two caps for the Scotland national football team in 1975 but a year later was transferred to Luton Town in a £20,000 deal. He spent a month on loan to Carlisle United in 1977 and played briefly with League of Ireland side Shelbourne before moving to Australia to play for Adelaide City. He is still a hero to the Adelaide fans for his goal-scoring abilities when he was the leading scorer in Australia in 1977/78. He returned to Scotland with Partick Thistle in 1980, where he retired.

Deans is now a match-day host at Celtic Park, where he entertains corporate facility guests along with other Celtic legends. He is also involved with business interests in Glasgow, owning "Dixie's" pub in Rutherglen as well as being involved with former Celtic player Tommy Callaghan in the firm Esperanza Property Development, a company that buys, renovates and sells properties throughout Central Scotland.

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