Ronald “Ronnie” Campbell Simpson (October 11, 1930 – April 19, 2004) was a Scottish football (soccer) goalkeeper.

He is mainly remembered for his time with Celtic, where he was one of the Lisbon Lions, the first British team to win the European Cup in 1967. Although having little to do during the match, his fancy footwork when dealing with a backpass was one of the highlights of the match.

Before this, he played for Queen’s Park, Third Lanark, Newcastle United (where he won the FA Cup twice after taking over as Newcastle’s regular goalkeeper from Jack Fairbrother) and Hibernian. Thought to be in the last throes of his career, he was transferred to Celtic in 1965 as cover for John Fallon. Simpson’s anticipation, handling and maintaining his concentration during long periods of inactivity, made him an ideal goalkeeper for the attack-minded Celtic; and he soon won the Celtic number one place from Fallon.

He also played for the Scotland national football team, in particular when they beat England 3-2 in 1967, which was Simpson’s international debut at the age of 36.

Simpson’s father Jimmy Simpson also played for Scotland, and enjoyed notable success as a centre-half for Rangers and Dundee United in the 1930s.

After he retired as a player, he was manager of Hamilton Academical for a year. He also served on the pools panel, which guessed results of postponed matches in periods of exceptionally bad weather.

He died on 19 April 2004, from a heart attack.

International Record

F.I.F.A. World Cup Qualifier
06 Nov 1968 SCOTLAND 2 – 1 AUSTRIA

International Challenge Match
10 May 1967 SCOTLAND 0 – 2 USSR

U.E.F.A. European Championship Qualifier
24 Feb 1968 SCOTLAND 1 – 1 ENGLAND
21 Oct 1967 NORTHERN IRELAND 1 – 0 SCOTLAND
15 Apr 1967 ENGLAND 2 – 3 SCOTLAND

European Championships – Qualifying Group 5 – KO 15:00
Scotland 3 (2) – 1(1) Faroe Islands
McCann 8 Johnsson 36
Dickov 45
McFadden 74

At Hampden Park, Glasgow on 06-09-2003

Scotland

• Douglas
• McNamara
• Webster
• Wilkie
• Naysmith
• Devlin (McFadden ,59 )
• Ferguson
• Cameron
• McCann
• Crawford (Thompson 75 )
• Dickov (Rae ,68)

Subs not used:

• Gallacher
• Alexander
• Ross
• Caldwell

Faroe Islands: Mikkelsen ,Jann Ingi Petersen ,Thorsteinsson ,Jon Roi Jacobsen ,Oli Johannesen ,Helgi Lamhauge Petersen (Akselsen ,66 ) ,Benjaminsen ,Johnsson (Arnbjorn Danielsen ,85 ) ,Aborg (Holst ,85 ) ,Rogvi Jacobsen ,John Petersen
Subs not used Knudsen,Olsen,Flotum,Hansen,

Bookings: Crawford (Scotland) Benjaminsen ,Rogvi Jacobsen (Faroe Islands)

Attendance:

• 40109

Referee:

• Darko Ceferin (Slovenia)