- Jim Craig (footballer)
James "Jim" Philip Craig (born 7 May 1943,
Glasgow ) is a retired footballer who played as a fullback. Most closely associated with Celtic, he was a member of their "Lisbon Lions " side which won the 1967 European Cup.A conscientious student at Glasgow's St Gerard's School, Craig's first senior side was the
Glasgow University representative side, which he played for while studyingdentistry at the institution. He joined Celtic in 1963, on amateur terms, so as to allow him to complete his studies and having done so, signed as a full professional in January 1965.Craig's abilities and style of play matched manager
Jock Stein 's tactical philosophy and he soon displaced Willie O'Neill and Ian Young as Celtic's regular right back. Stein encouraged his fullbacks tooverlap the side's midfield to provide additional support to the forwards, in the style of the modern "wing-back" role,and in Craig and left backTommy Gemmell he found willing protagonists.During his tenure at Parkhead, Craig collected 14 domestic honours as well as a European Cup medal in 1967. He made 231 appearances for Celtic scoring 6 goals. He won one cap for the Scotland national side.
Craig left Celtic to live in
South Africa in May 1972, where he played for Hellenic FC, however after 6 months he returned to Britain. He joined Sheffield Wednesday, with theSouth Yorkshire side paying Celtic £10,000 compensation, as they had retained his registration. He retired from football in 1973, to concentrate his efforts upon his dentistry career.Jim Craig is now actively part of the Celtic community, he currently hosts Channel67 an online streaming service which provides video streams and audio streams of every Celtic match.
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