Ronnie Simpson 1951 - 1960
Rockin' Ronnie
| Born | Glasgow | 11/10/1930 | |
| Arrived | Third Lanark | 02/1951 | £8,750 |
| Debut | Bolton H | Div 1 | 29/08/1951 |
| Departed | Hibernian | 10/1960 | £2,100 |
| Apps/Goals | 297 | ||
| Ht/Wt | 5' 10" | 11st |
Glaswegian Ronnie Simpson played professional football for a remarkable 25 years after making his debut for Queens Park as a fourteen year old.
At only 5' 9" and 11 stone he wasn't the biggest of 'keepers but he made up for his lack of height with his lightning reflexes and amazing agility. Many pictures of the period illustrate his cat-like abilities at a time when many 'keepers were still pretty statuesque.
He was a "goal-line" keeper, a brilliant shot stopper who was just as effective with his feet as his hands. His one weakness was due to his lack of height which meant that he could not dominate his area in the manner of some custodians.
He joined United in the winter of 1951 as United looked for an understudy for Fairbrother. He was only 21 but already had almost six seasons under his belt.
He never featured in that first campaign but an injury to Fairbrother at the start of the 1951/52 season gave him his chance and he remained the club's numero uno for the next seven seasons picking up FA Cup winners medals in 1952 and 1955 in the process.
Despite the fact that United's gymnasium had "every up-to-date training device imaginable" he preferred to use a much simpler piece of apparatus; the wall.
He spent hours and hours throwing the ball against the wall; "the ball rebounds at different angles, and I have found this to be a first-class means of developing the quickness of eye and movement essential to a goalkeeper"
Career Details
Pre United
Ronnie Simpson was the son of former Rangers centre-half Jackie Simpson.
He joined Queens Park as an amateur in June 1945 and made his debut in the unofficial War Time League at the age of 14 years and 304 days as a result of Bobby Brown being unavailable due to his National Service.
Still an amateur, Ronnie represented Great Britain at the 1948 Olympic Games and also represented Scotland in amateur internationals.
After four full seasons at Queens Park he signed professional forms for Third Lanark in the summer of 1950. His excellent form attracted many scouts and in February 1951 Newcastle United came in with an offer of £8,750.
"Thirds" manager Alec Ritchie wanted him to stay and young Ronnie wasn't too keen on leaving home but the offer was too good for the club to resist.
1951/52 [46 - 0]
Jack Fairbrother breaks his collar bone and Simpson is given his chance between the sticks for the home defeat against Bolton. He retains his place throughout the season with genial Jack being allowed to leave and helps The Magpies win the FA Cup.
1952/53 [39 - 0]
1953/54 [47 - 0]
Ronnie was the club's only ever present during the season but he gets a rude awakening at the end of the season when his new contract saw his wages cut from the maximum £15 to £13..
Shell shocked he turned down the contract and even talked of leaving the game altogether if the club refused to allow him to leave. Thankfully the matter was resolved and Simpson stayed.
1954/55 [45 - 0]
Once again Simpson helps United to cup glory playing in all the matches of the Cup run.
1955/56 [41 - 0]
1956/57 [38 - 0]
1957/58 [36 - 0]
At the end of the season United tour Romania where Ronnie is badly injured..
1958/59 [0 - 0]
Whilst on the sidelines new manager Mitten asks him to help coach the third team.
1959/60 [3 - 0]
Ronnie returns for the disastrous 1-5 opening day defeat against Spurs and plays twice more in September; fittingly keeping a clean sheet in his last game at Leicester.
But Newcastle decided to let Simpson go with goalkeeping duties now being shared between Stuart Mitchell and Brian Harvey. He was still only 30 and the decision to let him go was a controversial one
Post United
He played for Hibs for four seasons before (at the age of 34) he was allowed to leave for Celtic as cover for John Fallon. But he performed so well in the reserves that he was promoted to the first team.
He went on to win all the domestic Scottish honours and the European Cup (in 1967) and became the oldest Scottish debutant during the same year when he won his first cap at the age of 36 years and 186 days.
Simpson retired due to injury at the end of the 1969/70 season aged 40. He did some coaching and scouting for Celtic before enduring a short and unhappy spell as Hamilton manager in the 1971/72 season.