Jim Craig (Scottish footballer)

{{Other people|James Craig|James Craig (disambiguation){{!}}James Craig}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Jim Craig

| image =

| image_size =

| fullname = James Philip Craig{{Hugman|4275|access-date=12 May 2017}}

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1943|04|30|df=y}}

| birth_place = Glasgow, Scotland

| height =

| position = Right Back

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 =

| years1 =

| years2 = 1965–1972

| years3 = 1972

| years4 = 1972–1974

| years5 = 1974–1975

| clubs1 = Glasgow University

| clubs2 = Celtic

| clubs3 = Hellenic FC

| clubs4 = Sheffield Wednesday

| clubs5 = Waterford

| caps1 =

| caps2 = 148

| caps3 = 16

| caps4 = 6

| caps5 = 1

| goals1 =

| goals2 = 1

| goals3 = 1

| goals4 = 0

| goals5 = 0

| totalcaps = 161

| totalgoals = 2

| nationalyears1 = 1967

| nationalteam1 = Scotland

| nationalcaps1 = 1

| nationalgoals1 = 0

| manageryears1 = 1974

| managerclubs1 = Waterford United

}}

James Philip Craig (born 30 April 1943) is a Scottish former footballer, who played as a right back. Most closely associated with Celtic, he was a member of their Lisbon Lions side which won the 1967 European Cup.

Playing career

A student at Glasgow's St Gerard's School, Craig was a Celtic supporter as a child, with the first game he attended being the Saint Mungo Cup final in 1951.{{cite web|url=http://www.celticfc.net/news/10243|title=Jim Craig: Five games that changed my life|author=Mark Henderson |publisher=Celtic F.C.|date=26 March 2016 |access-date=24 September 2018}} He was a Scotland schoolboy international, while his first senior side was the University of Glasgow representative team which he played for while studying dentistry 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 to overlap 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 back Tommy Gemmell he found willing protagonists.

During his tenure at Parkhead, Craig collected 14 domestic honours (7 League titles, 4 Scottish Cups and 3 League Cups) as well as a European Cup medal in 1967. He made 239 appearances for Celtic scoring 6 goals{{cite web|url=http://www.fitbastats.com/celtic/player.php?playerid=2676|title=Celtic player Jim Craig|website=FitbaStats|access-date=12 May 2017}} with his final match being the victorious 1972 Scottish Cup Final. He won one cap for the Scotland national team.

Craig left Celtic to live in South Africa in May 1972, where he played for Hellenic FC, however after six months he returned to Britain. He joined Sheffield Wednesday, with the South 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.

Later years

In July 1974 he succeeded Shay Brennan as player-manager of Waterford United.{{cite web|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1974/0720/Pg023.html#Ar02306:680C9A6A6CAF6A5C976A8CAA71E99C7909D3793A3D7B1A575B6C6C5CEC81|title=Irish Times archive|publisher=IRISH TIMES.COM|date=20 July 1974|access-date=4 December 2008}} However, in December, after one substitute appearance, Craig informed the club that he was unable to commit to the role due to a "domestic problem".

In the 1980s Craig regularly appeared as a football pundit on the BBC Scotland programme Sportscene. In 2001, he was made Honorary President of the Belfast Shamrock Celtic Supporters Club, which subsequently changed its name to Jim Craig Celtic Supporters Club in 2011.{{cite web|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1974/1211/Pg003.html#Ar00303:6FC46873047F7064D07214E57254D072D4E580543682044B82443682C44B74F32F7643456E34D06F94E5|title=Irish Times Article|publisher=IRISHTIMES.COM|date=11 December 1974|access-date=4 December 2008}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bscsc.com/content/view/8/43/|title=Belfast Shamrock Celtic Supporters Club|date=29 April 2004|access-date=5 December 2008|archive-date=10 February 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210102517/http://www.bscsc.com/content/view/8/43/|url-status=dead}}

Craig is now actively part of the Celtic community; he has hosted Channel67, an online streaming service which provides video streams and audio streams of every Celtic match. He regularly updates the Jim Craig CSC blog site.{{cn|date=September 2020}}

Personal life

Originally from Leith, his father supported local team Hibernian and the family was later to settle in Craigton, Glasgow.{{cite web|url=https://thecelticstar.com/jim-craigs-7am-start-go-1923-scottish-cup-final-gran-said-no-remarkable-footage/|title=Jim Craig's 7am start. Go to the 1923 Scottish Cup Final? My gran said no! Remarkable footage |author=Jim Craig|website=The Celtic Star|date=31 March 2018|access-date=24 September 2018}}

His son James Craig is a notable rugby player who was capped for the Scotland national rugby union team four times between 1997 and 2001.Bath, Richard (ed.) The Scotland Rugby Miscellany (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 {{ISBN|1-905326-24-6}}), p140

Honours

Celtic

Scottish First Division (7): 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72
Scottish Cup (4): 1966–67, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72
Scottish League Cup (3): 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70
European Cup: 1966–67
Runner-up 1969–70
Glasgow Cup: 1967–68, 1969–70

References

External links

{{SFA profile|id=113253|name=Jim Craig}}
{{NeilBrownPlayers|player/jimcraig}}
[http://www.celticnewsnow.com/s/jimcraigcsc/ Jim Craig CSC at Celtic Quick News]
[https://football50.co.uk/ Football 50], blog series by Craig on the events of his career 50 years earlier

Category:1943 births

Category:Living people

Category:Footballers from Glasgow

Category:Alumni of the University of Glasgow

Category:Scottish men's footballers

Category:Scotland men's youth international footballers

Category:Scotland men's international footballers

Category:Celtic F.C. players

Category:Hellenic F.C. players

Category:Scottish expatriate sportspeople in South Africa

Category:Scottish Roman Catholics

Category:Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players