LISBON LION John Clark will take centre stage as Celtic unfurl the Ladbrokes Premiership flag this Saturday.

The Parkhead legend, now the club’s kitman, said he was humbled to have been chosen to raise the flag, which marks Celtic’s four-in-a-row triumph.

Clark is assured of a hero’s ovation for the ceremony before the season’s curtain-raiser against Ross County.

And today Celtic chairman Ian Bankier said it was a fitting honour for a man who first signed for the club in 1958.

Bankier said: “There can be very few men more deserving of this magnificent honour.”

Clark graced the Hoops for 13 years, making a total of 318 appearances and scoring three goals. As well as winning every domestic honour several times over, he was part of the legendary Celtic side which lifted the European Cup in1967.

His partnership with Billy McNeill was the defensive foundation upon which Jock Stein’s Celtic side built their success, and it was a partnership that would later pay further dividends for the club when the pair took over the managerial reins in 1978.

By then, Clark had already been working for the club as a coach before a brief spell alongside McNeill at Aberdeen. He later returned to Celtic as kit controller.

Clark said: “I am very humbled to be asked to perform this honour. Celtic has been everything to me and my family and this will be a tremendous honour.”