Name: John Cushley
Born: 21st January 1943
Died: 23rd March 2008
Celtic Debut: July 1960
Position: Centre-half
Appearances: 41
Signed from: Blantyre Celtic

Hamilton-born John Cushley signed for Celtic from Blantyre Celtic as a 17-year-old in July 1960 after impressing as a schoolboy with Our Lady’s High School in Motherwell.

He made his first-team debut in a nightmare 6-0 league thrashing at Kilmarnock on March 27th 1963.

For most of his time at Celtic Park the centre-half was understudy to Billy McNeill – another Our Lady’s old boy - and his appearances where limited mostly to times when McNeill was injured. It says much about the quality of Cushley that he would perform this task with such assurance that often McNeill’s absence was totally painless.

Cushley combined his football with studying and earned an MA in modern languages from Glasgow University. Celtic used his skills to good advantage and Cushley was part of a party sent to Spain in 1964 in a futile bid to sign Di Stefano!

One of John’s final roles with Celtic was as part of the player squad that travelled to Lisbon for the European Cup final.
In June 1967 he finally departed Celtic after 41 appearances for West Ham for £30k. Later he played for Dunfermline and appeared on Quizball for Dunfermline also!

Even without being a first team regular for any sustained period Cushley had impressed everyone at Celtic Park – including the fans – with both his performances and all round attitude and all were sorry to see him go.

Cushley later entered teaching as a profession, and retired as deputy head teacher at St Ambrose, Coatbridge, in 2003. At the school he spotted the talent of one pupil, right-back Mark Wilson, who became a first team player after Cushley helped recruit him to the club.

Sadly in March 2008, John Cushley died at the age of 65 from Motor Neurone Disease, the same disease that former team mate Jimmy Johnstone died from.



Pictures

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Quotes
"John was a first-class defender and made sure Billy McNeill was always on his toes. He never let down the team any time he played."
Lisbon Lion Tommy Gemmell

"John would have been a regular in any other side if it hadn't been for Billy. He was a lovely man and will be sorely missed. John never complained about his lack of first-team games. He accepted that Billy was one of the best centre-halves in the world at the time and he was just happy to do his best when he got the call.
"It was a real tragedy to see how the illness affected him. He will always be remembered as a fine human being and a guy you would be proud to call a friend and colleague."
Lisbon Lion Bertie Auld

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Celtic statement on his death
celtic statement on john cushley Gregor Kyle
Celtic Football Club today confirmed that former player John Cushley has been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease.

A former school-mate and team-mate of Bobby Murdoch at Our Lady’s High School, John joined Celtic as a 17-year-old in 1960 and went on to spend seven years at Celtic Park playing at centre-half.

John, now Celtic's Education and Welfare Officer, was in the Celtic squad that travelled to Lisbon for the European Cup final against Inter Milan and his career highlights included both games against Dinamo Kiev in season 1965/66 and a 5-1 victory over Rangers in January 1966.

In July 1967 John moved south to West Ham United where he became a firm favourite among the Hammers fans and starred in the same side as the late greats, Bobby Moore and John Charles.

Throughout his playing career, John continued his career as a teacher off the park, working in schools in both Glasgow and London and his skills in this particular field eventually saw him return to the club as Celtic's Education and Welfare Officer, working with the younger players at Celtic Park.

Celtic's Chief Executive Peter Lawwell commented: "John is a highly valued member of our team here at Celtic.

“He has served the club with distinction over many years and will continue in his current role at Celtic Park.

“John and his family will receive every support from Celtic Football Club. Clearly the club would request that the privacy of John and his family is respected.”