Fallon in shock as Jock shed tearsof joy

IN “Sean Fallon, Celtic’s Iron Man”, the autobiography of the former Parkhead assistant manager, the Irishman reveals the full emotional extent that the Lisbon triumph had on Jock Stein.

There in the dugout beside Stein, Fallon recounted how the manager, forever perceived as clinical, pragmatic and robust, had to take himself out of the fray in the final minute of the action against Inter Milan as Celtic made history.

The last shot of Stein as the match neared its end shows him heading towards the dressing rooms, unable to watch.

Yet Fallon says it was not the tension of the situation Stein found unbearable, it was the emotion.

“Jock wasn’t nervous, he was just so proud by that point that he had started to get tearful, and he was embarrassed,” explained Fallon. “He didn’t want the players to see him like that, so he just got up and walked away.

“I always knew there was another side to Jock, but that was something to see, even for me, because he wasn’t an emotional man in normal circumstances. But that day, it all hit him. He was so proud of that team that he was almost bursting.”

Celtic fans exploded on to the pitch, meaning that accepting the trophy was almost impossible.

The winning medals were handed out from a shoe box in the dressing room, but it was Fallon who was charged with getting Billy McNeill to the podium to collect the European Cup.

“I remember when Jock asked me to take Billy up, thinking, ‘How am I going to manage this?’” said Fallon.

“We had to push through a bit at first – some folk nearly pulled the ribs off me, trying to get my blazer off.

“But before long the Celtic supporters had crowded round us and were helping us get there. I don’t think I’ve ever shaken so many hands or been patted on the back so often.”

ean Fallon: Celtic’s Iron Man, by Stephen Sullivan is available from Backpage Press. ‘Iron Man: The Sean Fallon story’ premiers on BT Sport at 10pm tonight.