Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson paid tribute to former Celtic player Seán Fallon at his funeral today.

Fallon died aged 90 last week, leaving a legacy which included his time as assistant manager to Jock Stein when the club became the first British team to lift the European Cup in 1967.

Hundreds of mourners attended his funeral service in Glasgow, including Ferguson and famous Celtic faces such as manager Neil Lennon and current and former players.

Ferguson addressed the congregation at the Church of Christ the King at Kings Park, Glasgow, to pay tribute to “a great man”.

He said: “I think it’s very difficult for people who are successful to remain humble, it’s a touch of greatness. Seán always had that greatness.

“Through his background, his upbringing, his Irishness, that breeds humility and also loyalty; he would never let you down.”

Although Ferguson was a supporter of Rangers, he formed a strong friendship with Fallon as he built his career as a coach and a manager.

Talented

He praised him for his role as assistant manager to Stein and said he was talented in the position, which required him to “get to the heart of the dressingroom, make sure you know what’s going on and you can help in the way that the manager sometimes cannot help”.

Ferguson also spoke of Fallon’s skill in developing young talent and working with Stein to create arguably the greatest Celtic team of all time.

He said: “That was the structure that I think helped Celtic become great and to become the first club in Britain the lift the European Cup.”

Among the mourners were former Celtic player Kenny Dalglish and Tommy Gemmell, who scored against Inter Milan when they won the European Cup in 1967.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has hailed Fallon, insisting his Celtic Park legacy continues to churn out stars of the future.

United seal Zaha deal

Wilfried Zaha will finally complete his long-mooted move from Crystal Palace to Manchester United before the weekend after the Premier League leaders agreed a deal with the English League Championship club that will potentially be worth in excess of £15 million (€17.8m).

Manchester United will make a downpayment of £10 million for the 20-year-old, who made his England debut as a substitute in November's 4-2 friendly international defeat in Sweden, with further staggered payments up to £5 million due after a certain number of appearances for the club.

Zaha will initially earn £35,000 a week on his five-and-a-half-year contract, and Palace are also understood to have negotiated a clause whereby they would be entitled to a proportion of any profit should Zaha be sold by United.

The forward will complete the current campaign on loan at Selhurst Park, as anticipated, as Palace seek to return to the top flight, from which they were relegated in 2005.

Guardian Service