| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ronald Campbell Simpson[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1930-10-11)11 October 1930 | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 19 April 2004(2004-04-19) (aged 73) | ||
| Place of death | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1946–1950 | Queen's Park | 78 | (0) |
| 1950–1951 | Third Lanark | 21 | (0) |
| 1951–1960 | Newcastle United | 262 | (0) |
| 1960–1964 | Hibernian | 123 | (0) |
| 1964–1970 | Celtic | 118 | (0) |
| Total | 602 | (0) | |
| International career | |||
| 1948 | Great Britain | ||
| 1953–1957 | Scotland B | 2 | (0) |
| 1967–1968 | Scotland | 5 | (0) |
| 1968 | Scottish Football League XI | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1971–1972 | Hamilton Academical | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ronald Campbell Simpson (11 October 1930 – 19 April 2004) was a Scottishfootball player and coach. He is mainly remembered for his time withCeltic, where he was thegoalkeeper in theLisbon Lions team that won theEuropean Cup in 1967. Earlier in his career, Simpson had won theFA Cup twice withNewcastle United. He also played forQueen's Park,Third Lanark andHibernian. Simpson representedGreat Britain in the1948 Olympics,[3] but was not selected forScotland until 1967. He made his international debut in thefamous 3–2 victory againstEngland atWembley.
Simpson started his senior career with amateur clubQueen's Park; he was selected by their first team in 1945, aged just 14 years and 304 days.[2] This made him the youngest person to represent a Scottish league club, although it was an unofficial record due to the suspension of normal competitive football during theSecond World War.[2][4] He was 15 when he made his firstScottish Football League appearance in August 1946.[5]
After completing hisNational Service, Simpson moved toThird Lanark in 1950.[2] He then joinedNewcastle United six months later for a fee of £8,750.[2] He won theFA Cup twice with Newcastle, after taking over as their regular goalkeeper fromJack Fairbrother, in1952 and1955.[2]
After nine years and almost 300 appearances for Newcastle,[6] Simpson returned to Scotland, withHibernian, in 1960.[2][7] His performances helped to save Hibs from relegation in1962, but he fell out of favour under the management ofJock Stein due to his attitude in training.[2] Hibernian sold Simpson toCeltic in 1964 for £4,000.[2]
Thought to be in the last throes of his career, Celtic signed Simpson as cover forJohn Fallon.[2] This perception appeared to be confirmed when Jock Stein, who had let Simpson go as Hibernian manager, was appointed Celtic manager later in the 1964–65 season;[2] however, Simpson became the first choice after Fallon was blamed for a defeat byRangers in the1964 Scottish League Cup Final.[2] His sense of humour made Simpson a popular figure in the team, who nicknamed him "Faither", on account of his relative old age.[2]
The highlight of his time at Celtic was winning the1967 European Cup Final, as part of a clean sweep of trophies in the 1966–67 season.[2][8] Apart from an early save with his knees from aSandro Mazzola header, Simpson had little to do during the match.[2] His fancy footwork when dealing with a backpass was one of the highlights. Because Fallon did not factor into that season'sScottish Cup orScottish League Cup, Simpson stood alone as the first goalkeeper to win the EuropeanTreble and remains the only goalkeeper to win the fabled Quadruple.[9][10][11]
He suffered a dislocated shoulder in 1969,[2] and trouble with this injury forced him to miss the1970 European Cup Final and to retire as a player that year.[2]
Simpson represented the Scotland Youth side in a match against England Youth played on 25 October 1947 at Belle Vue, Doncaster. He was selected byMatt Busby to play for theGreat Britainsquad in the1948 Olympics. Great Britain finished fourth, losing a bronze medal playoff toDenmark.[2]
Simpson also played for theScotland national team, making his debut in the famous 3–2 win over1966 World Cup winnersEngland atWembley in 1967.[12] He set a new record for being the oldest player to make his Scotland debut, aged 36 years and 196 days.[2][12][13] He won five full caps in total, alongside the Youth and B international caps won earlier in his career.[14] He also represented theScottish League once, in 1968.[15]
Simpson was small in stature for a goalkeeper, at just 5 feet 10 inches.[2] He compensated for this with an unorthodox style of shot-stopping, using his elbows and shoulders to block shots.[2] He also had top-class foot movement and ball distribution skills.[2]
Simpson's fatherJimmy Simpson also played for Scotland,[2] and enjoyed notable success as a centre-half forRangers andDundee United in the 1930s.
After Ronnie Simpson retired as a player, he was manager ofHamilton Academical for a year.[2] He also served on thePools Panel, which adjudicated on results of postponed matches in periods of exceptionally bad weather.[2] He was also aProgressives Councillor onEdinburgh City Council in the 1970s.[16] Simpson died from a heart attack on 19 April 2004.[17]
In 2002, Simpson was named in Celtic's greatest ever team, ahead ofJohn Thomson andPat Bonner.[18]
He was posthumously inducted into theScottish Football Hall of Fame in November 2011.[19]
Newcastle United[2]
Individual
