Mourners remember Celtic and Hibs midfield legend Joe McBride

Published on 18/07/2012 15:58

HUNDREDS of people have attended the funeral of former Celtic striker Joe McBride.

• Joe McBride died at Glasgow Royal Infirmary last week after suffering a stroke

• Members of Celtic’s famous Lisbon Lions squad in attendance at funeral in Bishopbriggs

Members of the Lisbon Lions squad, including Billy McNeill and Bertie Auld, lined the front row of St Dominic’s Church in Bishopbriggs, near Glasgow.

McBride’s son, also Joe McBride, a first-team coach at Cardiff City football club, was a pallbearer at the requiem mass.

Mourners included former Celtic player Tosh McKinlay, the club’s chief executive Peter Lawwell and former Rangers defender Sandy Jardine.

McBride died at Glasgow Royal Infirmary last week after suffering a stroke. He was 74.

He is best known for his goalscoring exploits at Celtic between 1965 and 1968, hitting the back of the net 86 times in 94 games, and also had success at clubs such as Motherwell and Hibernian.

He won two League titles and a couple of League Cups at Celtic Park but was not part of the famous Lisbon Lions side which became the first British team to win the European Cup in 1967.

The Glasgow-born striker got injured in December 1966, which ruled him out of the rest of the season, although he already scored 35 goals in just 26 games.

At the packed-out funeral which saw people standing in the doorway of the 500-capacity church, a black and white picture of McBride during his playing days at Celtic featured on the order of service.

It ended with an Irish blessing being read out: “May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, the rains fall soft upon your fields and, until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.”

The family asked for any donations to be given to Marie Curie Hospice.

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