Season 1950/51 was a breakthrough campaign for Sean, rounded off perfectly with a Scottish Cup win in April, thanks to John McPhail’s early strike against Motherwell in front of 132,000 fans, Celtic’s first major silverware since the League and Empire Exhibition Cup wins of 1938.
Sean then crossed the Atlantic with his cup-winning team to embark on a tour of the eastern USA and Canada, during which he featured for the first time at centre-forward. As the new season commenced, he replaced the injured McPhail up front for the replayed St Mungo Cup quarter-final against Clyde at Firhill, on Friday, 20 July 1951, the Sligo Bhoy marking the occasion by scoring the opening two goals in the match – his first for the club – and having a third chopped off as Celts won 4-2. Sean repeated that feat in the final against Aberdeen at Hampden, on Wednesday, 1 August 1951, as a Charlie Tully-inspired Celts fought back from 0-2 to claim the trophy in front of 82,000 supporters, a nice belated 29th birthday gift to himself. I’m sure he had a chuckle when it was revealed that the St Mungo Cup was actually a recycled yachting trophy from the 19th century!
Sean scored his first goal at Celtic Park on the opening day of the following season, a League Cup sectional tie with Third Lanark, his header from Tully’s cross early in the second half making it 1-1. He was then denied a last-minute winner when the referee ruled out his effort on the grounds that he had not blown for a free-kick to be taken. Jock Stein would join Celtic from Llanelli on Tuesday, 4 December 1951 – my own dad’s 26th birthday – beginning a personal and professional relationship between the pair which would last for over 30 years.
Just over a year later, on Saturday, 20 December 1952, Sean, by now Celtic captain, would get an unwanted early Christmas present, breaking his arm on a treacherous Brockville surface during a 3-2 win over Falkirk. He would then be missing from the Celtic line-up until the last day in January 1953, sadly breaking the same arm in his second game back from injury, a 1-1 draw against Stirling Albion at Annfield in the Scottish Cup. That would rule Sean out until the end of March, thus he would be a spectator as Charlie Tully scored twice directly from the corner flag in the next round of the cup back at Brockville, two weeks later.
They say bad luck comes in threes, and in Sean’s case, that would be correct. During a match between Celtic and a Football Association of Ireland Select at Dalymount Park, Dublin on Monday, 20 April 1953, Fallon broke his arm for the third time in four months. Celtic would then bring in Neil Mochan from Middlesbrough, the new striker famously winning medals in both the Glasgow Charity and Coronation Cups before ever playing at Parkhead, Sean’s friend Jock Stein lifting the trophies as captain in his absence.
Season 1953/54 was a bittersweet one for Sean, his injury woes striking once again as he dislocated his shoulder in a game against Hearts at Celtic Park on Saturday, 24 October 1953. The Iron Man actually returned to the field to play the final 20 minutes on the left-wing, his arm strapped up in a makeshift sling. Such tremendous bravery exemplified the Sligo man.
Sean Fallon would be out with that injury for the next five months, returning, appropriately enough for an Irishman, on St Patrick’s Day 1954, for the 6-0 win over Airdrie at Broomfield, celebrating that return with a goal just on half-time. He would remain in the side until the end of the most successful Celtic season in 40 years, and indeed would enjoy his best scoring run during that period, with a double at Firhill then what looked a winning goal in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden, before a last-minute Motherwell equaliser forced a replay.
He would net again in the League against Stirling Albion and Falkirk as the Bhoys captured a first title in 16 years with victory at Easter Road on Saturday, 17 April 1954, fellow Sligo Celt Brother Walfrid’s anniversary.
Continued on the next page…
