WHEN John Clark celebrated Celtic winning four-in-a-row, he thought he was putting down a landmark.

 

The Lisbon Lion has waited 46 years for another group of Celtic players to match the achievement of Jock Stein's side but he does not think Ronny Deila's side are finished, yet.

The man who looks still after the kit at Celtic Park believes his club could win at least two more titles before someone breaks their stranglehold on the Scottish Premiership.

"Records are there to be broken," said Clark, now 74. "I played with great players but the team just now will feel they can keep going. Celtic have superior players. Aberdeen have had a great season from their players but we are still above that."

Clark knows that nothing goes on forever. The league triumph in 1968-69 was the defender's fourth champions' medal, even if injuries limited him to ten appearances, and it was the same in 1969-70 for his fifth medal. Within a year, Stein had moved on many of the Lions, such as Tommy Gemmell, Willie Wallace and Stevie Chalmers, because of age.

"Winning the fourth title was a great moment because we had to work very hard for the league that season, to hold off Rangers," recalls Clark. "Jock obviously brought in some new blood at Celtic and the club went onto to get nine in a row.

"I think everyone thought then it would not be equalled but Rangers obviously did that. I'm not saying I never thought another Celtic team would get this far, but it's a hard thing to do.

"Celtic have the best players and team in the country right now, and I think this side are capable of winning at least another couple of times, maybe even three. The manager has great players and he has improved the team by bringing in the lads from Dundee United, Gary Mackay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong. I think their signings gave Ronny's side a real boost at the right time.

"That was what Jock did with the Lions. I maybe didn't play as often in my last two seasons as earlier in my career but I still have my league medals. I made a contribution."

Clark refuses to compare his four-in-a-row side to the current Celtic side, or the standard of the opposition. "If you win the league and become champions in any year, that is good enough, you deserve to be called champions," said John.

"It means you are the most consistent team. Player by player, this Celtic side is the best in the country and as a team they are also the best. Whether you win one or two, or even three, four, five or six, it does not matter. The important thing is being the best that season and the new lads get when they come to Celtic, like Tommy Callaghan or Harry Hood did in my time.

"We got Tommy from Dunfermline that season, he'd helped them win the Scottish Cup in 1968. In fact, in 68-69, it was Dunfermline who finished third but they were a strong club who got to the semi-finals of the Cup Winners cup that season and it's sad that they are now down in the third tier of Scottish football.

"But you have to earn the right to be in the top league. Alex Ferguson and Jim McLean did that with Aberdeen and Dundee United in the 1980s. They won the league and were a force in Scottish football, but also did superbly in Europe. Aberdeen have really improved. They did well this season and made the league competitive."

Clark was at Celtic Park last Sunday, watching Scott Brown lift the Premiership trophy. At least Deila's team had a slightly different experience to Stein's four-in-a row side. Clark and his team-mates paraded all three trophies from their treble success of 1969 on a sunny Parkhead Monday night just two days after beating Rangers 4-0 in the Scottish Cup final, and were beaten 4-2 by Morton.