Sean Fallon (31 July 1922 – 18 January 2013) was an Irish professional footballer. At his death, he was the oldest surviving person to have played for the

Republic of Ireland national football team , FIFA Trigramme = IRL , Name = Republic of Ireland , Association = Football Association of Ireland (FAI) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , website fai.ie, Coach = Stephen Kenny (foot ...

Playing career

Sean Fallon played for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

and became a legend at the club during his playing days from 1950 to 1958, playing as a full-back and centre forward. He made 254 appearances, scoring 14 goals. He also earned eight international caps with the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

. Sean Fallon started his football career with St Mary's Juniors and also played

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

for Craobh Ruadh. In April 1948, Fallon scored two goals for the Sligo county team against

Kerry Kerry or Kerri may refer to: * Kerry (name), a given name and surname of Gaelic origin (including a list of people with the name) Places * Kerry, Queensland, Australia * County Kerry, Ireland ** Kerry Airport, an international airport in Count ...

in a

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

quarter final played at the Showgrounds. He also played for McArthurs, Sligo Distillery and

Longford Town Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

. While at Longford he was capped at centre half for the junior

. He joined his hometown club in August 1948 In August 1949 Fallon signed professional forms for

Glenavon F.C. Glenavon Football Club is a Northern Irish semi-professional football club that competes in the NIFL Premiership. Founded in 1889, the club hails from Lurgan and plays its home matches at Mourneview Park. Club colours are blue and white. Ga ...

In March 1950 Fallon joined

Glasgow Celtic The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the immigran ...

after impressing with his performance for the

Irish League XI The Irish League representative team was the representative side of the Irish Football League, the national league for football in Northern Ireland from 1922 and, prior to that the league for Ireland. The Irish League was suspended from 1941–42 t ...

against the

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the ''Airtricity League XI'' for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. For much of its ...

Sean Fallon's love affair with Celtic started when the son of the Celtic legend

Jimmy McMenemy James McMenamin (11 October 1880 – 23 June 1965), was a Scottish footballer who most notably played for Celtic from 1902 to 1920 and later served as assistant manager in the 1930s. He has been described by the club as ''"a true Celtic legend" ...

saved Fallon's sister, Lilly, from drowning at

Lough Gill Lough Gill () is a freshwater lough (lake) mainly situated in County Sligo, but partly in County Leitrim, in Ireland. Lough Gill provides the setting for William Butler Yeats' poem " The Lake Isle of Innisfree". Location and environment Lough ...

. Fallon invited Joe McMenemy back to his house and the Scot returned the compliment by sending Sean presents of a Celtic shirt and

Willy Maley William Timothy "Willy" Maley (born 2 December 1960, in Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish literary critic, editor, teacher and writer. Maley is Professor of Renaissance Studies at the University of Glasgow, Fellow of the English Association (FE ...

's book "The Story of the Celtic". He realised his ambition when he made his league debut for Celtic, away to

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

, in the last game of the 1949–50 season. Within a year he had helped the team win the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

1–0 in the 1951 Scottish Cup Final. Fallon said later: ''"As I walked off

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

I felt I had got everything out of life I had ever wanted. I had become a member of the famous Celtic Football Club and holder of a Scottish Cup badge all in one year."'' Two years later Sean would also have a cup final goal to celebrate as he scored in the 1953 Scottish Cup Final, against

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. Fallon's performances for Celtic earned him the nickname: "The Iron Man". He once assessed his own talents as a player by saying – "I was just an ordinary player with a big heart and a fighting spirit to recommend me." The later 1950s were a barren period for Celtic, with two major triumphs providing rare moments of joy for the long-suffering support. The first was the

Double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

of 1953–54. Fallon suffered a broken collarbone against Hearts in October, which kept him out for most of the season. In the days before substitutes were allowed he left the pitch for twenty minutes only to return with his arm in a sling and continued playing. The captaincy of the side, which had passed to him in 1952, was taken over by

Jock Stein John "Jock" Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the first manager of a British side to win the European Cup, with Celtic in 1967. Stein also guided Celtic to nine successive Scottish ...

. Fallon was back to full fitness for another momentous occasion, when Celtic won 7–1 against

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

rivals Rangers in the

1957 Scottish League Cup Final The 1957 Scottish League Cup Final was the final of the 1957–58 Scottish League Cup. The football match was played on 19 October 1957 at Hampden Park, in which Celtic beat rivals Rangers in a record 7–1 victory. The final was nicknamed "Ham ...

. The match has since become known as '' Hampden in the sun'', a rhyme of the scoreline.

Coaching career

Fallon was forced to retire in 1958 through injury but his influence and importance at the club continued. He became assistant to Jock Stein when Stein took up the post of manager in 1965. It was initially proposed by the Celtic chairman Bob Kelly that Fallon should be manager, and Stein his assistant. However Stein vetoed this suggestion and threatened to take an offered job in England, leading to Kelly offering him the full manager's job. He was an integral part of Celtic's success under Jock Stein, when he was the manager's right-hand man. His powers of persuasion were often called upon to secure the signatures of promising young players who would go on to become Celtic legends, such as

David Hay David Hay (born 29 January 1948) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He broke into the Celtic team in the late 1960s, as one of a generation of players who continued a highly successful era for the club. A contract dispute betwe ...

Danny McGrain Daniel Fergus McGrain (born 1 May 1950) is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played for Celtic, Hamilton Academical and the Scotland national team as a right back. McGrain is regarded as one of Scotland's greatest players and thr ...

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. During his career, he made 338 appearances for Celtic F.C., Celtic and 515 for Liverpoo ...

and

Packie Bonner Patrick Joseph Bonner (born 24 May 1960) is an Irish retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper and spent his entire career at Celtic. He earned a total of 80 caps for the Republic of Ireland national football team after making his debut on h ...

. When Jock Stein suffered a near-fatal car crash in 1975, Fallon took over as caretaker manager. He later briefly managed

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

. Fallon in later years became a director at Dumbarton and then

. Fallon unfurled the league championship flag at Celtic Park on 4 August 2012. He died on 18 January 2013 at the age of 90.

References

External links

Fallon's memories of Jock Stein
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fallon, Sean 1922 births 2013 deaths Gaelic football backs Gaelic footballers who switched code Sligo inter-county Gaelic footballers Association football central defenders Association football fullbacks Association footballers from County Sligo Ireland (FAI) international footballers Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland football managers Republic of Ireland international footballers League of Ireland players Sligo Rovers F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Dumbarton F.C. managers Expatriate footballers in Scotland Irish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Republic of Ireland expatriate association footballers in the United Kingdom Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League managers NIFL Premiership players Glenavon F.C. players Irish League representative players Celtic F.C. non-playing staff