Ronnie Simpson
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Ronnie Simpson | ||
Personal information | ||
---|---|---|
Full name | Ronald Campbell Simpson | |
Date of birth | October 11, 1930 | |
Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | |
Nickname | Faither | |
Playing position | Goalkeeper | |
Club information | ||
Current club | Deceased | |
Senior clubs1 | ||
Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
1946-50 1950-51 1951-60 1960-64 1964-70 |
Queen's Park Third Lanark Newcastle United Hibernian Celtic |
78(0) 21(0) 262(0) 123(0) 118(0) |
National team | ||
1967-68 | Scotland | 5(0) |
Teams managed | ||
1971-72 | Hamilton Academical | |
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
Ronald "Ronnie" Campbell Simpson (October 11, 1930 - April 19, 2004) was a Scottish football (soccer) goalkeeper.
He is mainly remembered for his time with Celtic, where he was one of the Lisbon Lions, the first British team to win the European Cup in 1967. Although having little to do during the match, his fancy footwork when dealing with a backpass was one of the highlights of the match.
Before this, he played for Queen's Park , Third Lanark, Newcastle United (where he won the FA Cup twice after taking over as Newcastle's regular goalkeeper from Jack Fairbrother) and Hibernian. Thought to be in the last throes of his career, he was transferred to Celtic in 1965 as cover for John Fallon. Simpson's anticipation, handling and maintaining his concentration during long periods of inactivity, made him an ideal goalkeeper for the attack-minded Celtic; and he soon won the Celtic number one place from Fallon.
He also played for the Scotland national football team, in particular when they beat England 3-2 in 1967, which was Simpson's international debut at the age of 36.
Simpson's father Jimmy Simpson also played for Scotland, and enjoyed notable success as a centre-half for Rangers and Dundee United in the 1930s.
After he retired as a player, he was manager of Hamilton Accies for a year. He also served on the pools panel, which guessed results of postponed matches in periods of exceptionally bad weather.
He died on 19 April 2004, from myocardial Infarction.
Preceded by Bobby Shearer |
Hamilton Academical Manager 1971-1972 |
Succeeded by Billy Lamont (caretaker) |
Preceded by John Greig |
Scottish Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year 1967 |
Succeeded by Gordon Wallace |
[edit] External links
Categories: Scottish football biography stubs | 1930 births | 2004 deaths | Scottish footballers | Queen's Park F.C. players | Third Lanark A.C. players | Newcastle United F.C. players | Hibernian F.C. players | Celtic F.C. players | Scottish Footballers of the Year | Olympic competitors for Great Britain | Scotland international footballers | Hamilton Academical F.C. managers