John Fallon (left) and Willie Wallace (right) at a special mass celebrating the 50th anniversary of Celtic's European Cup success in Lisbon (Photo by SNS Group via Getty Images)
News that John Fallon had passed away was met with deep sadness throughout the Celtic support.
Very few figures have been so involved in the club, initially as a fan, then as a player during the club’s greatest ever run of success before reverting back to being a full time supporter.
Full time is someone in their eighties that attended matches home and away, who went to watch the B team or youths at every opportunity and who was on top of every issue in and around the club.
His 84 years covers a period of incredible change, from a childhood in the tough post war years all the way through to an age of social media, all enjoyed by the most approachable of people, as a supporter and family member.
No tribute to Fallon could ever touch on every base but on Tuesday night there would have been hundreds of Celtic supporters scrolling through their WhatsApp messages, saddened that they’d never be contacted again by a genuine legend that they’d encounter at matches home and away.
CLICK HERE for the Facebook tributes
Keeping in Paradise, co-written by David Potter is a brilliant record of his life and career, published in 2015 it misses out on the final decade of adventures, the big man from Blantyre loved every minute of Celtic’s recent successes at Hampden and elsewhere.
In 1953 Fallon watched from the Main Stand at Hampden at Celtic won the Coronation Cup thanks mainly to goalkeeper Johnny Bonnar delivering the performance of his life. A few years later he watched an eight goal thriller at the same location.
Twelve years after Bonnar’s heroics Fallon helped end a horrible eight year trophy drought in the 3-2 Scottish Cup Final win over Dunfermline, then in 1969 he was helping the club win a treble topped off by a 4-0 Scottish Cup win in Alex Ferguson’s final match as a Rangers player.
Inbetween there was of course Lisbon, Fallon was the only substitute, his medal was another story but in the first match post-Lisbon he kept a clean sheet in the Bernabeu as Celtic defeated Real Madrid 1-0 in the testimonial match for Alfredo Stefano.
In March 1968 he followed that up with another famous clean sheet, this time in the San Siro in a European Cup quarter-final, alas the return leg at Celtic Park was lost 1-0.
He’d never brag about it but the ordinary guy from Blantyre that you’d be talking with kept clean sheets at the two most storied stadiums in European football.
Nothing was sugar coated with John, his relationship with Jock Stein is detailed through the book, in person he wasn’t quite so diplomatic.
Celtic’s greatest ever manager never understood goalkeepers, he signed plenty of them but repeatedly returned to Fallon.
As well as those encounters with Real Madrid and AC Milan he was a very late call up to the notorious World Club Championship matches away to Racing Club with Ronnie Simpson hit by concrete during the warm up in the return leg which Celtic lost 2-1.
Fallon was in goals for the Battle of Montevideo, a few years ago Racing Club were back in contact with him but a visit to Argentina never quite materialised.
There are no shortage of stories around the original Holy Goalie, through the magic of social media images from the sixties pop up regularly.
One involved a little altercation with a Police Officer at Cappielow in 1964, it seems that the celebrations of the visiting goalkeeper upset some of the locals. He was giving a little back…
The 1965 and 1969 Scottish Cup wins are well recorded but he would happily discuss any aspect of Celtic from the fifties to the present date.
Around 2010 to 2012 he staged some fantastic Q and A nights at the Columba Club in Blantyre- just as Scottish football was waking up to how success was being obtained at Ibrox.
Paul Brennan, Paul McConville and Phil Mac Giolla Bháin were on stage, unravelling the cover ups that had denied Celtic and other clubs a fair crack at success.
It brought Internet Bampots together in fresh air and opened the eyes of others to the issues that the mainstream wouldn’t go near.
Late on at one of those events Fallon asked a very telling question- raising the role of Gavin Masterton of the Bank of Scotland and the unhealthy situation where all SPL clubs outside of Celtic were all customers of that bank.
In recent times he enjoyed and contributed to the plays of Jim Orr, right in the front low enjoying how the stories of his time at Celtic were brought to life for generations far removed from those that enjoyed the huge successes of the late sixties.
He managed to visit almost every county in Ireland, John and his family would be the first to highlight the brilliant friendships that he had with Charlie McGinley and Tommy Stevenson.
Those two adored his company, he appreciated their help in his own particular way. All three got on famously, the drives deep into Ireland with the Big Cup safely in the boot were legendary as were the long lunches at Carrigans in Blantyre.
His final chapter has now been written, the legend of John Fallon will live on in the memories and stories of all who had the pleasure of meeting him.
Such sad news about John Fallon, he was a lovely man.
John always came along to the plays, saw each of them a few times, and would occasionally go on stage at the end and take a bow.
This was the most poignant one.
Two pals are now reunited.@PaulJohnDykes @yogijunior3 pic.twitter.com/MYqzbPqpzT
— Bend It Like Productions (@BrattbakkJimOrr) July 23, 2025
Very sad about John (R.I.P.)…
Used to love his column in the fanzine “More than 90 Minutes’
He certainly didn’t miss the targets that he felt needed sorted out for sure but you could tell he was a passionate Celtic supporter and a gentleman with it as well !
That really is some read, Editor, and a lovely tribute to the Big Fella.
I came close to meeting him and others in Blantyre and was given his mobile number to arrange things with my brother and I to go to a night with PMGB. Alas, fate had other intentions and it never came to pass.
Although Ronnie Simpson was ‘the chosen one’ mostly, Big John was his equal.
RIP, John Fallon, Hail! Hail! Big Fella.
Requiescat In Pace John. Great servant to the club and it’s support through a lifetime. The juxtaposition between him and likes of Kuhn or McÇlair are wide. Remeber well a cold night in Inverness when Frank Conner took a reserve team to play Thistle, before the iCT days. John was in the small crowd with me giving McClair pelters because he wanted to leave. He asked Frank to come off and was told no, in Mr Connor’s unique fashion.