John Hewitt was a well respected player in Scottish football after playing a starring role in a successful Alex Ferguson inspired Aberdeen side in the 1980s…
During his time at the Dons under the leadership of Alex Ferguson, centre forward John won 11 major honours, including the European Cup Winners Cup win in Gothenburg in 1983, with John the hero as he scored the winning goal in a 2-1 over Real Madrid.
He remains to this day the last player to score the winner against Real Madrid in a European final! The Aberdeen born striker also scored two goals in the Dons 3-0 Scottish Cup win over Hearts in 1986, so he had something of a reputation as a big game player.
That Scottish Cup Final win came just a week after Celtic had won the league in the most dramatic of circumstances at Love Street after Albert Kidd scored two late goals at Dens Park to deny Hearts the a first title since 1960.
John Hewitt signed for Celtic on the 14th August 1989 for a fee of £250,000, and made his debut two days later in a 3-0 League Cup win away to Dumbarton.
ON THIS DAY 15th AUGUST 1989
Dumbarton 0-3 Celtic – League Cup
John Hewitt makes his Celtic debut after signing from Aberdeen.
Goals – Burns McStay Dziekanowski ☘️☘️ pic.twitter.com/8fa3NGKiF7— Willie Collow (@CollowWillie) August 15, 2026
He was always a thorn in the side of Celtic during his time at Aberdeen, so naturally the Celtic supporters were happy to see John Hewitt playing in a Celtic shirt.
Although a striker, similar to ex-Dons teammate Joe Miller, Billy McNeill opted to operate John in a more wide area, despite making his name as a centre forward at Pittodrie.
Hewitt who was 26 perhaps didn’t have that burning desire to succeed at Celtic, with knee ligament issues not helping his cause. He struggled to adapt to his new role, and ultimately failed to nail down a regular place in the Celtic side as the club began to struggle.
Indeed Celtic had won the Scottish Cup final three months before John Hewitt signed for the club but to would be six years before another piece of silverware was won by Celtic.
Hewitt’s best period in a Celtic shirt was the start of the 1990/91 campaign, when he had a decent run in the side, even earning a place on the bench in the 1990 League Cup Final defeat by Rangers. That happened to be his last in involvement as a Celtic player, as a culmination of injuries saw him drift out of the picture completely at Celtic Park.
After a loan spell at Middlesbrough, John would Join St Mirren in 1992, after making just 21 appearances for Celtic and failing to score a single goal.
John is a rarity in that he goes down as one of Scottish football’s most decorated players, but his glory days all came in an Aberdeen jersey, despite him also pulling on those famous green and white Hoops.
He joined Celtic at the worst possible time and while he will not be remembered for his time at Celtic, he is always going to be a legend among the Aberdeen fans just like Stevie Chalmers is to Celtic supporters, both having scored the winner in a European final.
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
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