Obituary: Joseph Wark, former footballer
Joe Wark, who has died after a courageous battle against early-onset Alzheimer’s, was a footballing icon to the followers of Motherwell Football Club.
He belonged to an illustrious cadre of Scottish full-backs. They were players such as Wark, or his predecessor in the No 3 shirt at Motherwell, Archie “Baldie” Shaw, Paul Jonquin at Airdrieonians, John Murphy at Ayr United, Matt Watson at Kilmarnock, John “Cockles” Wilson at St Mirren and Bobby Cox at Dundee. They were all legends at their own clubs.
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Hide AdThese players were a guaranteed seven out of ten every week in local journalists’ form guides. All were good enough to have worn the lion rampant at international level, but their careers coincided with outstanding Old Firm full-backs. In Wark’s case, this meant Sandy Jardine at Rangers and Danny McGrain at Celtic – therefore Wark and his ilk were never going to get the international recognition their class deserved.
In Joe Wark’s case, he made one appearance for the Scottish League XI. This came on Wednesday, 17 March, 1976, at Hampden Park, in what was to be the last game between the Scottish League and the Football League, a game won 1-0 by Trevor Cherry’s goal for the English team.
But Wark had something money cannot buy – the adoration of the likes of the Ravenscraig workers who spent their Saturdays on the terraces of Fir Park, following the team nicknamed The Steelmen. John Swinbourne, lifelong Motherwell supporter and historian, ranked Wark alongside Shaw and Welshman Ben Ellis – left-back in the League-winning Motherwell team of 1932 – as the three best left-backs in the club’s history.