John Hughes remembered as Yogi's Celtic heroics hailed by Lisbon Lions pal in epic tribute

John Hughes was a colossus at Celtic. A giant. But fellow Lisbon Lion Jim Craig knew that long before the duo even got to Parkhead after a first fearsome encounter during the pair’s school days.

Hughes’ tragic passing at the age of 79 has deeply saddened Celtic fans across the globe. Being part of the club’s most-successful squad who went all the way in Lisbon in 1967 to lift the European Cup during an incredible period of success places him forever in their hearts. Yogi’s character and style also made him a hero.

Wholehearted, brave, yet crucially, extremely talented to such an extent his pal feels he was underrated by many. Jimmy Johnstone was the undoubted wizard of the squad with his skills but Craig says Yogi wasn’t far behind. Hughes’ tally of 187 goals puts him in an elite bracket of Celtic players. Craig had felt the force of that scoring knack even before the duo went to Celtic.

He’d had first-hand experience of the attacker’s power and nose for the net before he’d even stopped putting a school bag over his shoulder. He said: “What memory of John stands out?

"I have to go even further back to before Celtic. When I was 15 at St Gerard’s secondary school in Govan, we were entered in the Scottish Cup and drawn against St Pat’s, Coatbridge. None of us knew where it was. In those days, you tended to stay in your own area!

“Anyway, their bus arrived and there was this giant who came off it. We were all 15 years old. I was about 5ft eight and skinny as a poker and this giant came off the bus. He looked like a colossus. From another planet, to be honest!

“They beat us 6-0 and he scored all six from centre-forward. Fortunately I was at right-back that day and I managed to avoid him for most of the game. I became an