He played for Celtic – John Higgins, scored 41 goals in 84 appearances

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The Celtic Star

·15 de enero de 2026

He played for Celtic – John Higgins, scored 41 goals in 84 appearances

John Higgins – He played for Glasgow Celtic – And made himself a name…

John Higgins, Celtic FC. Photo The Celtic Wiki

Say the name John Higgins to the Celtic supporters or anyone in the country for that matter, and they will immediately think of one of Scotland’s most successful sporting figures and former Snooker world champion the Wizard of Wishaw, and well known Celtic supporter John Higgins.

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But back in the 1950s, the name John Higgins was well known in Scottish football circles, especially amongst the Celtic Park faithful, where he was cherished because of his great ability.

Uddingston born John was an outside right who signed for the club as a seventeen year old back in 1950, but only went full time in 1952 as he was completing an apprenticeship as a draughtsman before deciding to opt for football as his full-time career.

John made his debut in May of the same year as he went full time in a dreary 0-0 charity cup draw with Clyde, but would have to wait a further 17 months before making a league appearance.

Once he got into full flow, John was a mainstay in the team, and played a major role in our impressive double win under Jimmy McGrory in 1953/54, indeed he scored the goal that secured the league title, and had a fine game in the Scottish Cup Final win over Aberdeen.

Celtic 1954

It was a remarkable rise for a player who just a year earlier was a unknown reserve player, but due to his ability to create and score goals from the wide position he had become an integral part of McGrory’s side.

Sadly for John that campaign proved to be his peak in the Hoops as he was plagued by a number of injuries which derailed his career, although he did have a productive 1956/57 season scoring 17 goals in 29 games, including notching four in a 7-3 league win over Airdrieonians.

That was to prove as good as it got for John in a Celtic shirt, and he would miss the entirety of the 1957/58 season before making a comeback the following year although he was limited to just 10 appearances in which he scored two goals.

John was eventually freed by the club in 1959 and signed for Queen of the South in a bid to kickstart his career, but unfortunately called time on his career just weeks after joining the Doonhamers after succumbing to a knee injury.

John would return to the club a few years later in a scouting capacity, and also helped out with the youths and reserves before resigning in 1975, and thereafter he would dedicate his life to the trade he trained in, and earned his living as a Draughtsman right up until he sadly passed away at the age of 61 in 1994.

His time at Celtic after his playing days was mentioned by Jim Craig, writing on The Celtic Star in 2018, describing John Higgins as one of his mentors at Celtic alongside Alec Boden.

The Lisbon Lion wrote: ‘When I arrived at Celtic Park in January 1965 and started training with the part-timers in the evenings, the coaches in charge were Alec Boden and John Higgins.

‘Both were good guys although their approach to the task was slightly different. Alec was a former centre-half, had been in the Army for three years during WW2 and had been a sergeant of physical training. He certainly knew his stuff – having played for the club from 1943 to 1956, with 158 appearances – and put us through some tough sessions in his time, making sure that we lived up to the expectations required to be first-team players for Celtic.’

Alec Boden

Jim Craig added: ‘John was the more mild of the two. He had been quite a frail looking outside-right in his time at Parkhead from 1950 to 1959 but even so, he made full use of his talent, scoring 41 goals in 84 appearances for the first team. He was the one you spoke to about any problems you might have and he was always keen to lend an ear to listen and help out in any way.

John Higgins

‘I was lucky to have both of these guys as mentors when I first started at Parkhead and it was great that they were still there for the glory days of the late 60s and early 70s.’

John made a grand total of 84 appearances scoring 41 goals, which is a mighty impressive stat. He was also an integral part of the 1953/54 double winning side, so will always be a part of the club’s illustrious history.

John Higgins lived the dream

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