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'An iconic figure' | Sligo legend and Stein's right-hand man - Sean Fallon

Football heritage in Sligo is huge - some top players have graced the Showgrounds over the decade...



'An iconic figure' | Sligo leg...
Football

'An iconic figure' | Sligo legend and Stein's right-hand man - Sean Fallon

Football heritage in Sligo is huge - some top players have graced the Showgrounds over the decades, but perhaps none as famous or as iconic as Sean Fallon.

He was one of the names added to the Sligo Mount Rushmore today on OTB AM, where he joined gaelic footballers Mickey Kearins and Eamonn O'Hara, as well as Olympic cyclist Mark Scanlon.

Former League of Ireland player Alan Cawley was one of those debating the Yeats County's sporting greats, and he said Fallon for him should top the list.

"What Sean Fallon has achieved in football, coming from Sligo, is absolutely phenoenal. He went on to play for Sligo GAA in a game in the Showgrounds against Kerry in a National League quarter-final in 1948, [he] scored two goals and four points. They were beaten in the end by Kerry.

"He went on and played for Glenavon... he was spotted for an Irish League select against a League of Ireland select and Celtic picked him up and he was 27 at the time.

"He thought if they found out his age there's no way Celtic would take him, so he changed the date on his passport to make out he was 22!

"[He] moved over to Celtic, played 254 games and scored 14 goals, he was an iconic figure really there for seven or eight years. Then he went on to be assistant manager with Jock Stein which is probably what he might be [most] famous for.

"What's topical at the moment with Celtic winning the nine-in-a-row last week , they won the nine-in-a-row and did it as a duo, Jock Stein and Sean Fallon.

'An iconic figure' | Sligo legend and Stein's right-hand man - Sean Fallon

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"They of course won the European Cup in 1967 as well. What Sean Fallon has achieved, he also unearthed the likes of Danny McGrane, Kenny Dalglish, gems... Packie Bonner, Paul McStay, the list is endless - he was like chief scout as well.

"He died [in 2013] and you look at the names even that went to his funeral, the esteem he's held and revered in in Scotland - it's just phenomenal really. Even though I'd be a big Townie and Sligo Rovers man, you have to have Sean Fallon on [the mountain], absolutely."

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Missed any of our Mount Rushmore county-by-county series? Watch back all episodes here! 

Here is Nathan Murphy's selection of Mayo

Here is Colm Boohig's selection of Cork

Here is Will O'Callaghan and Paul Rouse's selection of Offaly

Here is Shane Hannon and Gráinne McElwain's selection of Monaghan

Here is Diarmuid Lyng and Liam Griffin's selection of Wexford

Here is Neil Treacy and Jack Anderson's selection of Limerick

Here is Enda Coll and Kieran Cunningham's selection of Donegal

Here is Máire-Treasa Nic-Cheallaigh and Michael Lyster's selection of Galway

Here is Adrian Barry and Conor Moore's selection of Westmeath

Here is Ronan Mullen and Dan McDonnell's selection of Louth

Here is Alan Quinlan and Michael Quinlivan's selection of Tipperary

Here is Tommy Rooney and Hector Ó'hEochagáin's selection of Meath

Here is Conor Deegan and Donal O'Neill's selection of Down

Here is Ger Gilroy and Joe Molloy's selection of Kildare

Here is Thom Malone and Paul Howard's selection of Wicklow

Here is Dave McIntyre and Paul Fitzpatrick's selection of Cavan

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Alan Cawley Arthur O'Dea Eamonn O'Hara GAA Mount Rushmore Off The Ball Otb Am Sean Fallon Sligo Sligo GAA