[5] In the early 1960s, the family moved to another tenement block, this time in Scotstoun, and Wark's father secured employment at nearby Albion Motors.

[15] Selected for the senior squad as a replacement for the injured Kevin Beattie, Wark made his first-team debut on 27 March 1975 in the 3–2 FA Cup 6th round (3rd replay) victory over Leeds United;[16][nb 1] the game was played at Leicester City's Filbert Street.

[18] A nervous and homesick Wark was reassured by manager Robson: "My debut was in the quarter-final of the FA Cup against the Leeds team of Giles and Bremner.

[20] He spent much of the 1975–76 season playing for the reserves, and was presented with the club's Young Player of the Year award, despite making just four appearances for the senior team.

[21] Moving into midfield, Wark made over 30 appearances in the 1976–77 season, scoring his first goals for the club, (10, in all)[2] taking over penalty kicking duty; he also received his first red card.

[22] In June 1977, Wark was selected for the Scotland squad for the first time, for a friendly match against East Germany;[23] however, a torn hamstring sustained in pre-season training ended any chance of an international debut.

Wark scored in a 3–1 victory over West Bromwich Albion in the semi-final,[25] and appeared in the final at Wembley as part of a side that surprised favourites Arsenal,[26] winning the game 1–0.

"[30] In the second half of the game, Wark "ignored Geddis' advice and hit Pat Jennings' right post twice with almost identical swerving right-foot shots from outside the penalty area".

Wark set a competition record by scoring 14 goals—including two, one in each leg—in the final as Ipswich overcame Dutch side AZ 67 Alkmaar 5–4 on aggregate.

He scored 20 goals in 42 league games, though it was not enough to prevent Ipswich from slipping to ninth place in the final table – their lowest position since finishing 18th in 1978.

"[40] Wark made his debut for the club on 31 March 1984 in a 2–0 league win against Watford at Vicarage Road,[43] and scored Liverpool's opening goal in the 58th minute.

[47] Liverpool qualified for the 1985 European Cup Final but the match was overshadowed by the Heysel Stadium Disaster, a tragedy Wark remembers as "a nightmare memory".

[48] In the 1985–86 season, Wark made 18 appearances, scoring six times,[2] but missed out on the club's run-in to their League and FA Cup "double", due to a broken ankle suffered just after the turn of 1986, followed by an Achilles tendon injury.

No longer a part of manager Kenny Dalglish's plans following the arrival of new midfielders including John Barnes,[50] Wark was sold back to Ipswich on 4 January 1988 for £100,000.

[51] In spite of more financially lucrative offers from both Watford and Coventry City, he followed Bobby Robson's advice: "Money isn't everything—go where you will be happiest.

[56] Wark signed for Middlesbrough, the first club to show "a definite interest" in him, on a two-year contract, moving back to play in the centre of defence.

[60] Remaining without a club before the start of the 1991–92 season, Wark trained with Ipswich to keep fit, and rejected interest in his services from Leyton Orient, Colchester United and Falkirk.

[61] When Ipswich suffered a succession of injuries among their defenders, they offered him a contract, initially on a week-by-week basis, before securing a year-long deal.

[62] In the FA Cup, Ipswich progressed to a fifth round encounter against Liverpool; when the tie went to a replay at Anfield, Wark received a standing ovation from both sets of fans.

[56] Wark agreed to a new one-year contract for the 1992–93 season and was asked to feature in a Sky Sports advertisement to promote the inaugural Premier League competition.

[2] As of 5 June 2009[update], he is Ipswich Town's third-highest all-time scorer, with 179 goals scored for the club, despite rarely appearing as a striker.

[72] After a 3–1 home defeat by Belgium in December 1979, Wark was not selected again for his country until February 1981 for the 1982 World Cup qualifying match away against Israel.

[77] Wark's final appearance for Scotland came in September 1984, under Stein;[78] he was replaced in favour of Paul McStay at halftime in a 6–1 victory over Yugoslavia.

[81] Wark played a character called Arthur Hayes,[82] but his only line of dialogue was dubbed due to his broad Glaswegian accent.

[83] Despite his retirement from the professional ranks, Wark continued playing football as an amateur, and signed for Woodbridge Town in 1999 alongside former Ipswich team-mate Paul Mason.

[86] In 2005, Wark was voted as the BBC television programme Football Focus "all-time cult hero" by Ipswich Town fans.

[87] In 2008 Radio Suffolk announced that he would join their commentary team as a summariser, alongside former team-mates Kevin Beattie and Bryan Hamilton.

With players such as Alan Kennedy, John Wark, Sammy Lee and Craig Johnston, nobody could claim this was a collection of top-notch operators in the manner, say, of the current Real Madrid.

[99] The list was compiled as a result of a fan survey: "Over 110,000 supporters all nominated their own personal Top 10 players in order of impact made".