Celtic legend and Lisbon Lion Fallon dies aged 84

Lisbon Lion John Fallon pictured in 2019 when he 

was reunited with his European Cup winners’ medal

14 - The number of years John Fallon played for Celtic

23 Jul 2025 - The Scotsman

Matthew Elder matthew.elder@scotsman.com

Former Celtic goalkeeper and Lisbon Lion, John Fallon, has died at the age of 84. 

Fallon joined Celtic in 1958 and made almost 200 appearancesfor the club over a 14- year period.

An unsung member of the squad which defeated Inter Milan in the 1967 European Cup final, Fallon was an unused substitute during the historic 2-1 victory over the Italian side.

Though he was the only member of the squad not to take to the field in Lisbon’ se stádio Nacional, he was given a medal by the late Billy McNeill at a post-match dinner.

But what should have been a keepsake for Fallon and his family was taken away from him in controversial circumstances.

According to his autobiography, published in 2015, the club’s manager, Jock Stein, asked for his medal back. Fallon was then presented with a replica, while the real medal ended up with Sir Robert Kelly, Celtic’s chairman.

It was, Fallon observed, a “bizarre and barely believable” episode which reflected badly on those who ran the club at the time.

Some 52 years on, however, amends were made when Fallon was reunited with the original medal, after it was donated back to the club by an unknown owner.

Fallon was presented with the medal once again – this time by Celtic’s chief executive, Peter Lawwell – in 2019.

“It feels great to be reunited with my medal, and I’ve got to thank Peter Lawwell and everyone at Celtic for going to all this effort and finding the medal that was lost,” Fallon said at the time.

“I did get a replica one at one point, but it didn’t seem the same. It was such a surprise, I got a phone call about a month ago telling me that Peter (Lawwell) wished to see me.

“He told me the story of how the medal had been found, so I was very proud to receive it and it adds to the collection.”

Fallon, from Blantyre, said he would never forget the celebrations at full-time as McNeill lifted the trophy.

Here called: “We were wading through scores of fans to get off the park and into the dressing room. It’s such a great memory. We’ll never forget it and it’s something everyone should be proud of.”

Fallon was also part of the Celtic side that clinched the 1965 Scottish Cup, Stein’s first trophy win as manager, and he is well remembered for his acrobatic and joyous celebration that day as McNeill’s late winner ended an eight-year trophy drought for the club.

As well as the European Cup, throughout his time with Celtic, Fallon helped the club to six league titles, five League Cups and two Scottish Cups.

After leaving Celtic, he went on to play for Motherwell and Greenock Morton before retiring from the sport in the mid-1970s.

His love for Celtic, however, was a constant throughout the years, and he followed the club at home and away for the rest of life.

A Celtic statement read: "[John's] passing comes as a great sadness to us all, and the thoughts and prayers of everyone connected with Celtic Football Club are with his family and friends at this sad time."