John Sludden

All at the club were saddened to hear of the passing of former player John Sludden yesterday.

John first came to the attention of football fans with two goals in the famous Scotland Schoolboys’ 5-4 victory over England at Wembley in June 1980. He was with Celtic at the time and a successful career beckoned, but a few seasons later he was released without having made an impact on the Celtic first team. 

Spells with St. Johnstone, Airdrie, Ayr United, Kilmarnock, East Fife and Clydebank followed, with John’s scoring abilities really coming to the fore before he joined Clyde at the start of 1993-94 season as a replacement for Frank McGarvey. A year or two prior an unofficial poll of Clyde fans asked, ‘which player in our division would you most like at Clyde?’. The unequivocal answer came back as John Sludden. Thus, all eagerly anticipated his debut in August 1993 (a 2-1 win over Morton at temporary home Douglas Park). Unfortunately, the goals never quite flowed at Clyde for John, with only four to his credit between his debut and the last of his 17 games for The Bully Wee in December of the same year. 

Incidentally, season 1993-94 was the year of moving to Broadwood and John became the ‘poster boy’ for that move, his picture being featured in the “Here the Dream Begins” poster used around the Cumbernauld area. 

Following his spell with Clyde, John ended his senior career with a couple of seasons at Stenhousemuir and a record at Ochilview of 14 goals in 22 games.

Former player Paul Ronald, who was with Clyde when John joined the club, said:-

“’Sluddy’ was an absolute gem of a guy. My memory will always be that he was brilliant with all of the young guys; myself, Jim Thomson, John McAuley, Kenny Quinn etc. He passed on as much as he could to us, he was always encouraging us and constantly offered advice and tips in our early path with Clyde and football in general. He was a naturally happy guy and always seemed happy to mix and chat will all the young guys, and he always seemed particularly happy when we did well even if it meant he wasn’t playing. It has always stuck with me how well he thought and spoke of the group at Clyde.

“I came across him numerous times after Clyde, in his coaching / management roles and when our paths crossed directly he was the same happy guy – he always had the time to chat and spoke fondly of his time at Clyde and with all the group. His best games had obviously been behind him when he joined with us, but we could all see the quality he had at training, in the game and how he conducted himself. A talented and top player but I will always remember him as just a fantastic person.” 

From the opposite perspective, another former player, Alan Mackin, added: “I played against John quite a lot throughout my career, I always found him to be a very dangerous opponent and fantastic finisher.”

Former manager, Craig Brown remembers him as “a great player and a very good guy.”

The club’s condolences go out to John’s family and friends at this very difficult time.