Top facts about John Wark, the Scottish beast

John Wark is a retired Scottish footballer who played for Ipswich Town for most of his career. Before becoming one of the four founding members of the club's Hall of Fame, he earned a record four Player of the Year accolades.

Wark spent extensive years with the club at the start and conclusion of his career, as well as a third, brief break between his stints at Liverpool and

. Wark was a versatile player who spent most of his professional career as a midfielder, although he also played as a central defense and striker on occasion.

Wark, who was born in Glasgow, played international football for

, earning 29 caps and scoring seven goals. He was selected for Scotland in the 1982 FIFA World Cup when he appeared three times and scored twice.

The first top fact of

top facts about John Wark

is that he had an appearance in the film Escape to Victory during his acting career. He has worked for Ipswich Town since September 2008 in the corporate hospitality department, after retiring as a professional player in 1996. Wark On, his autobiography, was released in 2009.

Soaring through the life of a legend and top facts about John Wark

In this article of top facts about John Wark, we will talk about his life as well as his career on different stages of his walk of life. The main purpose of this article is to dig out any hidden treasures that one can find from the mentioned legend's successful life.

Now without any further introduction let us open our wings and soar through the life and

top facts about John Wark

.

John Wark information

Let's start with the most important John Wark data for those who are unfamiliar with him or who wish to brush up on their knowledge before reading the top John Wark facts.

Personal information

• Full name:

  John Wark

• Date of birth:

  4 August 1957

• Age:

  64

• Nationality:

  Scottish

• Place of birth:

  Glasgow, Scotland

• Marital status:

  Married

• Religion:

  Christianity

Football information

• Position:

  Midfielder

• Total appearances:

  252

• Club appearances:

  223

• National appearances:

  29

Last team:

Physical stats and appearance

• Height:

  1.80 m

• Hair color:

  Salt and pepper

• Skin color:

  White

• Facial hair:

  Mustache

Now that you know everything there is to know about John Wark, we can safely move on to the next section of the top facts about John Wark article. This section will provide a summary of the current section's contents as well as additional information.

John Wark prime years

The story begins with the hero of our top facts about John Wark article being born into a Scottish family. Wark was born at Glasgow Royal Maternity Hospital on August 4, 1957, to parents Alex and Helen.

He has an elder sister Wilma, an older brother Alex, and a younger brother Andrew. He is the third of four children. In Partick, the family resided in a four-story tenement building.

Wark's parents were poor, and as a tiny boy, he slept in a drawer from a sideboard since his parents couldn't buy a crib. Despite being given the name John, Wark's family began to refer to him as Johnny, a nickname that he kept throughout his football career.

The family relocated to another tenement block, this time in Scotstoun, in the early 1960s, and Wark's father found work at neighboring Albion Motors. Wark began playing football in the backyard of his new house when he was six years old and this was when he started to develop an interest in what would become the highlight of his life.

"Football seemed to fill 99 percent of my time as a child," he remarked, as he strove to follow in the footsteps of his brother Alex, a professional at St Mirren.

John Wark school years

The school years were when Wark started his career as a youngster, although he faced many setbacks by being a lifelong Rangers supporter. Let’s learn more about this matter in this section of top facts about John Wark.

Wark went to Scotstoun Primary School, where he became the football team's captain. He was chosen for the Glasgow Schools representative squad when he entered high school. He also played at the under-14 level with Drumchapel Amateurs, when he was managed by David Moyes' father, also named David, for a while.

During Wark's tenure at Drumchapel, he drew Celtic's notice. Before obtaining an offer to sign schoolboy papers for the club, he trained with them at their Parkhead field. Wark paused on the offer as a lifetime Rangers supporter, with whom

has a significant rivalry, and despite offers from "many English teams," including Bristol City, Manchester City, and Ipswich Town.

He went through trials with both Ipswich Town and

, eventually choosing Ipswich when the latter remained uncommitted. When Wark arrived at Portman Road, Town manager Bobby Robson, subsequently described by Wark as "the single largest impact on him in football," personally welcomed him and signed him as an apprentice.

John Wark international career

After signing for Ipswich, he had an easy time with the club and spent most of his playing career with the team. But when did he find his way into the Scottish national squad?

We are here to talk about it in this section of top facts about John Wark. Since 1979, Wark has been picked to play for Scotland, primarily as a defender, gaining 29 caps and scoring seven goals. Scotland manager Jock Stein handed him his debut in a British Home Championship match against Wales at Ninian Park on May 19, 1979; Scotland lost 3–0.

On the 26th of May, our hero scored his first international goal, this time against England at Wembley, in another British Home Championship encounter. Scotland was trounced 3–1 despite Wark's first-half effort. A week later,

Wark represented Scotland in a Hampden Park friendly against Argentina. The game is mainly known, though, for

, which was his first international goal, and for Argentina's convincing 3–1 victory over Scotland.

The midfielder was not picked for his country again until February 1981, for the 1982 World Cup qualifying match away against Israel, following a 3–1 home defeat by

in December 1979. Wark was included in the Scotland side that traveled to the World Cup in Spain under Stein's guidance after a successful qualification campaign.

Wark appeared in three games and scored two goals, two of which came in Scotland's 5–2 victory over New Zealand in the first match. Scotland was eliminated from the group stage.

This legend made his final game for Scotland in September 1984, under Stein, when he was substituted at halftime in a 6–1 triumph against Yugoslavia by Paul McStay.

John Wark personal life

Wark married Toula on July 1, 1981, and they had a son, Andrew, who was born in June 1983. In April 2009, he married Karen at Gretna Green.

In 1981, Wark was one of numerous Ipswich players who participated in the Second World War football film Escape to Victory, starring Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, and Max von Sydow, among names like as

and Pelé. Wark portrayed Arthur Hayes, however, because of his thick Glaswegian accent, his lone line was dubbed.

On April 9, 2009, Wark's autobiography, Wark On, was released.

The book contains information that piqued the curiosity of the media.

Wark's mustache has become synonymous with him over the years. "Ipswich's famous mustache," according to Owen Slot, while Wark himself says, "... it is something of a hallmark, even though people are continually calling me Bruce..."

John Wark after football

Football players usually either become commentators or retire after a successful career and John chose the latter and put football aside for good, let us talk about his life after football in this section of top facts about John Wark.

Following his retirement from professional football, Wark, like many other ex-Ipswich players such as Allan Hunter, Mick Mills, Roger Osborne, and Mick Lambert, remained to reside in Suffolk.

Despite retiring from professional football, Wark continued to play amateur football, signing with Woodbridge Town in 1999 alongside former Ipswich teammate Paul Mason.

He has also represented the

veterans in the Sky Sports Masters series and has played veterans football for Windsor and Eton. He has also played with Soccer AM's Badgers squad at the Millennium Stadium.

Ipswich Town supporters selected Wark as "all-time cult hero" on the BBC television show Football Focus in 2005. In 2008, he announced that he will join Radio Suffolk's commentary team as a summariser, alongside

and Bryan Hamilton, with whom he had previously worked.

In September 2008, Wark was employed by Ipswich Town in the corporate hospitality department. He is still employed there as of March 2014.

John Wark international rivalry

In this section of top facts about John Wark, we will talk about the tense rivalry between

and Scotland from John's perspective.

'I was at Ipswich as a youngster, England defeated us 5-1, and Kevin Beattie scored,' Wark, who has spent practically his entire life south of the border, said when asked to explain the intensity of passion that kept the old Home Internationals running for so long.

I only spent time with the first team. On Sunday, I received a phone call informing me that I would be accompanying the first team on an end-of-season trip.' Kevin Beattie was on the same tour as me, and I refused to speak with him. I wouldn't talk to him since he scored against us.

Kevin is a legend, and I'm a young lad on my first tour, ostensibly attempting to impress and blend in. I simply refused to speak to him.

It's difficult to argue against a guy whose attacking midfield style for Ipswich and Liverpool made him such a valuable asset for the national side. His 29 caps and seven goals convey just half of the tale of his importance to the country.

His inherent hostility and 'who's like us' mentality were well suited to the world's oldest international event, and he was never more essential than in those games versus the Auld Enemy.

John Wark net worth

How much has John amassed throughout these years? While there is no exact information on how much he has, many websites have estimated that his net worth will be somewhere near a million dollars. His main income was his professional career back in the day and now he is retired and is enjoying his life the best that he can.

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top facts about John Wark

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