Simpson started his senior career with amateur club Queen'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 the Second World War.[2][4] He was 15 when he made his first Scottish Football League appearance in August 1946.[5]
After nine years and almost 300 appearances for Newcastle,[6] Simpson returned to Scotland, with Hibernian, in 1960.[2][7] His performances helped to save Hibs from relegation in 1962, but he fell out of favour under the management of Jock Stein due to his attitude in training.[2] Hibernian sold Simpson to Celtic in 1964 for £4,000.[2]
Thought to be in the last throes of his career, Celtic signed Simpson as cover for John 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 by Rangers in the 1964 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 the 1967 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 a Sandro 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's Scottish Cup or Scottish League Cup, Simpson stood alone as the first goalkeeper to win the European Treble 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 the 1970 European Cup Final and to retire as a player that year.[2]
International career
Simpson represented the Scotland Youth side in a match against England Youth played on 25 October 1947 at Belle Vue, Doncaster. He was selected by Matt Busby to play for the Great Britainsquad in the 1948 Olympics. Great Britain finished fourth, losing a bronze medal playoff to Denmark.[2]
Simpson also played for the Scotland national team, making his debut in the famous 3–2 win over 1966 World Cup winners England at Wembley 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 the Scottish League once, in 1968.[15]
Style of play
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]
Personal and later life
Simpson's father Jimmy Simpson also played for Scotland,[2] and enjoyed notable success as a centre-half for Rangers and Dundee United in the 1930s.
After Ronnie Simpson retired as a player, he was manager of Hamilton Academical for a year.[2] He also served on the Pools Panel, which adjudicated on results of postponed matches in periods of exceptionally bad weather.[2] He was also a Progressives Councillor on Edinburgh City Council in the 1970s.[16] Simpson died from a heart attack on 19 April 2004.[17]
