john fallon: a bhoy's own story

Gregor Kyle
AS part of a series taken from the Celtic View, we have been taking a trip down memory lane with a host of past Celtic favourites to get their own personal take on what it was like to pull on a Celtic shirt. Next up is John Fallon.

WHEN John Fallon joined Celtic on December 11, 1958, he fulfilled a lifelong dream, signing for the club he had supported passionately as a boy.

The Blantyre-born goalkeeper was understudy to Ronnie Simpson in the all-conquering season of 1966/67 and was one of the first on the pitch at Lisbon to celebrate when the final whistle sounded.

Fallon later took over from Simpson and went on to play 184 first-team games, in many ways epitomising the passion and enthusiasm of the Celtic support.

Among his greatest performances was an inspirational display in a 0-0 draw with AC Milan at the San Siro in 1969 amid a heavy blizzard and also in the victory over Real Madrid in Alfredo Di Stefano’s Testimonial two years previously.

Fallon is also credited with a leading role in the 1969 League Cup final win over St Johnstone, with some commentators stating that his two saves near the end of the game effectively handed Celtic the cup.

Today John remains a popular figure among the Celtic faithful and is himself a passionate supporter, never missing a home game. Here he looks back on his Bhoy’s Own Story.

My earliest memory of the club was watching the likes of Miller, Hogg, Mallan, Evans, McGrory, McAuley, Jimmy Delaney – who broke my heart when he went to Man United - and Alec Boden. I was brought up in ‘the faith’ from a very young age and when you were five or six years old you got taken to your first game. I still remember travelling up on the tramcar and walking up Springy (Springfield) Road to Celtic Park. It was always a big occasion going to the games, you were going to see Celtic and you looked forward to it all week. I still get the same buzz coming to the games today. That never changes and my own family and grandchildren have been brought up the same way. It’s bred into you and that’s probably why they call us (the supporters) ‘the Celtic Family’.

Some of my favourite Celtic memories are actually as a supporter as well and I am just back from Canada, where my brother and I were talking about the 1953 Coronation Cup final. I’ve still got the ticket in the house somewhere, although I can’t remember where! I’ve got a ticket from a Celtic v Rangers game in 1952 as well and another great memory was there when John McPhail scored the only goal to win the Scottish Cup. That was our first trophy as a club in 13 years. Could you imagine that happening today? And I’ll never forget the 7-1 game, for the obvious reasons. I was there as a supporter that day as well and a year later I had signed for the club. That day, signing, was one of the happiest days of my life and I got into the team quite quickly after that. Then there was the game against Valencia, where I was sitting on the beach at four o’clock and got told that big Frank Haffey had taken an asthma attack and that I was in the team. I am lucky enough to have a lot of happy memories from my playing days.

One regret I have in football is that people still talk and write about a game that half of them have probably never seen, the 2-2 game against Rangers in 1968. Now I have watched it and watched it and I admit that the first goal is a horror goal. But when you slow the second goal down, it has since been proved that the ball took a deflection. By then I was already diving one way and the ball was heading in another. I wasn’t even supposed to be playing that day either and again, I got a late call, being told that I was playing around 10 minutes before the game. But I keep hearing about that one game and you’d think it was the only game I played for Celtic. Another regret is not being capped. I was picked for Scotland but was withdrawn and was picked for Ireland, but was withdrawn without my knowledge – although I’d rather not go into that!

Playing at Celtic Park was the biggest thrill for me, but another ground I loved going to was Easter Road. There was just a great atmosphere at the games there. It was a great stadium and it felt like you were playing in something special. Believe it or not, Firhill was another place with a great atmosphere that I enjoyed playing at as well, while Pittodrie was always a big day for us. It was the one place we went to by train and the supporters always seemed to get on well with each other up there. It’s the same today, the supporters inter-mingle and there’s a friendliness in the atmosphere at Pittodrie, even at Easter Road, where the two clubs traditionally have a lot in common.

Looking back, Jimmy Miller at Rangers was one of the toughest wee players I ever played against. He was only 5’9’’, but was fantastic in the air. Ralph Brand was another that you had to worry about - both of them had this knack of appearing from nowhere. It was a much more physical game then and in my second game here, against Aberdeen, I was up against a big centre forward from England, who I think was called Baird. I went for a simple high ball and as I collected the ball I was hit by a steamroller. As I looked up he was smiling down at me and said, ‘welcome to football son’. I played against ‘The Rhino’, Don Kitchenbrand, in a few games as well and he was a tough one. I also played against Bobby Smith from Tottenham in a friendly in Vienna and I was glad I didn’t have to play against him every week. He was indestructible, you could kick him all day and he’d just get up and shake his head and could he hit you! If you jumped, you were getting clobbered and sitting here now, I can still feel him hitting me!

The qualities that make a good goalkeeper, aside from your ability, are your belief and self-confidence. If you make a mistake, shrug it off, you can’t change history and you can’t do anything about it either. Another thing that was important to me as a player was that I loved to play in the big games. When you’re playing against the likes of Queen of the South or Abroath and nothing was happening, you could get lackadaisical and that wasn’t just me, it happened to a lot of players. But when it was a big night, when you had that adrenaline, that buzz, you were on your game. It’s also important to have a spring in your step and never get caught flat-footed. It’s a changed game today in a lot of respects and I was actually speaking to my grandson about this the other day. He has just signed for Motherwell, he’s 10 and is a goalie as well. He’d been sitting watching Celtic TV and he said, ‘Granddad, you played in the days before gloves!’ You should have seen the look on his face when he saw the old, lace match ball that we used to play with as well, he thought it weighed a ton!

If I had to pick my happiest memory in recent years, as a supporter, I think it would have to be the 6-2 game. I was actually in Ontario at the time, visiting my Mother and sister and the game was due to kick-off at 9am. I went to 8am Mass and got dropped off at the Celtic Supporters’ Club at half-time. Now I walked in and I couldn’t see the screen properly, all I could see was ‘Rangers 1’. The next thing the lad that was organising the cooked breakfasts came running over and started hugging me. I said, ‘what are you doing? We’re getting beat 1-0’. And he pulled me over to the TV screen – 3-1. I then sat down for the second half and within minutes they had got a penalty kick, every head in the room turned to look at me and people were shouting ‘get the jinx out’! We eventually won 6-2. The Windsor club is a mixed club and in the other half of the room were the Rangers supporters. When it finished they all withdrew into a wee room and we were all on our feet, singing ‘cheerio, cheerio’. It’s a game I don’t tire of watching and I’ve seen some great European games in recent years. In fact, it’s hard to pick just one happy memory. Mind you, there have been disappointments as well and to this day, I don’t like to think about Seville.

Celtic means the world to me and stands next to my faith and my family. It’s been instilled in me from such a young age and I just can’t imagine what my life would be like without Celtic. What would I do? I’d maybe go golfing. But nothing compares to Celtic, the history of the club, what we have gone through, what we are still going through, we have to hold on to it. Celtic is passed on down the generations and irrespective of what you are or who you are, we are Celtic and you are welcome at this football club. And it works both ways, I am so proud of this club and supporters and no matter where you go in the world, if you are wearing a Celtic shirt, you will be welcomed.

I have absolutely no idea what I would have done had I not become a footballer. I served my time as a diesel mechanic, but as soon as Celtic were involved it became a pastime, I just couldn’t be bothered with it. I did play golf, but that’s the only other sport I took a real interest in. It was just football, football, football and I didn’t want anything else. And I wouldn’t know my way about under a bonnet today either! It was the style back then that you took up an apprenticeship, that was instilled in you at Celtic Park. It must have been in about 1963 that I finally demanded that I go full-time and I had to ask Mr McGrory’s permission to do it and he then went to the board and Mr Kelly. It made for a long day. I was coming in straight from work, covered in oil, to do a full training session. When I got back home on those days I was absolutely exhausted.

If I could give one piece of advice to an aspiring Celtic player, it would be to watch your company. Be careful who you associate with. When I signed for Celtic my father passed on that advice and today it’s even more difficult for the players, particularly with the money they are earning, to look out for the hangers-on. And when you finish playing, you can guarantee that these people won’t be there for you. You have to be single-minded, you must be able to make your own decisions, without being influenced by those who don’t know what’s best for you. You must be single-minded, think only about your career and Celtic and learn how to be a professional, despite the distractions. Be fully focused on your life as a player.