Rory Michael Fallon (born 20 March 1982) is a New Zealand former professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
who played predominantly as a forward. He previously played for
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
,
Shrewsbury Town
Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...
,
Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...
,
Swansea City,
Plymouth Argyle,
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
,
Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to:
* Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset
* Yeovil Town L.F.C.
Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...
,
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
,
St Johnstone,
Bristol Rovers
Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...
,
Scunthorpe United,
Dorchester Town
Dorchester Town Football Club are a semi-professional football club, based in Dorchester, Dorset, England. They currently play in the .
The club is affiliated to the Dorset County Football Association and is a FA chartered Standard club. They ...
. He was also
capped
In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...
by
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
a total of 24 times, scoring 6 goals. He represented his country at both the
2010 FIFA World Cup
, image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg
, size = 200px
, caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...
and
2016 Nations Cup
The 2016 Nations Cup was the inaugural edition of the Nations Cup hosted in Malacca City, Malaysia from 3 to 5 June 2016. It was organised by MP & Silva with the under-21 teams of Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand as well as the Vietnam U-19 tea ...
. He was born and raised in
Gisborne. His father
Kevin
Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ).
The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...
managed New Zealand over a four-year period in the 1980s. He retired from professional football in November 2017.
Playing career
Club career
Born in
Gisborne, Fallon started his career at
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
, becoming a professional in 1999 after moving up through their trainee programme. He had just begun to cement his place in the first-team when he suffered a stress fracture of his foot, which saw him struggle to regain his place.
Fallon was signed for an undisclosed fee by
Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...
in November 2003 after a number of impressive performances against them with Barnsley, which caught the eye of manager
Andy King Andrew or Andy King may refer to:
* Andrew King (astrophysicist) (born 1947), British astrophysicist
* Andrew King (architect), Canadian architect and cross-disciplinary artist
* Andrew King (mayor) (born 1960 or 1961), former mayor of Hamilton, Ne ...
. After breaking into the team he scored a number of important goals in the
2003–04 campaign; including an overhead kick from the edge of the box to secure a point against
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
.
Despite the departure of
Tommy Mooney
Thomas John Mooney (born 11 August 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played mainly as a striker. He made more than 600 appearances in the Football League and Premier Leaguewith 250 for Watford and more than 100 for Scarb ...
, Fallon found himself regularly on the bench in the
2004–05 season. He was loaned out to
Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to:
* Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset
* Yeovil Town L.F.C.
Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...
to increase his confidence and he scored on his debut against
Scunthorpe United. He failed to score in the remainder of the season, but a red card for kicking
Huddersfield Town
Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...
defender
David Mirfin
David Matthew Mirfin (born 18 April 1985) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a centre back.
Career Huddersfield Town
Mirfin was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. He graduated from the Huddersfield Town Academy in the ...
in the face meant he missed the opening two games of the following season. After
Sam Parkin
Samuel Parkin (born 14 March 1981) is an English former footballer; a radio presenter for BBC Wiltshire, regularly involved with Swindon Town's coverage; and commentator for Chelsea TV. Throughout his career Parkin has played as a forward fo ...
was sold in summer 2005, Fallon was given greater opportunities to play at Swindon, scoring on his return to action against
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
.
He signed for
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
team
Swansea City in January 2006 for a fee believed to be £300,000, the second highest fee ever paid by the Welsh club. A productive year followed for the striker, scoring 13 goals in all competitions from 48 appearances. This prompted interest from
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
side
Plymouth Argyle and they paid £300,000 for Fallon on 19 January 2007.
Fallon had only started a handful of games for
Plymouth Argyle, and had struggled to get into the team. He went without a competitive goal at
Home Park
Home Park is a football stadium in Plymouth, England. The ground has been the home of Football League One club Plymouth Argyle since 1901.[Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...](_bla ...<br></span></div> until 19 January 2008, exactly one-year after he signed for the club, when he scored a second half equaliser against <div class=)
. It was only his fourth goal for the Pilgrims. The 2007–2008 campaign saw Fallon continue to be a regular bench warmer, but he continued with his optimistic attitude that he can become a first team regular, and even rejected a £250,000 move to League One side
Southend United
Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...
, in January 2008.
On 29 September 2009, Fallon scored the winning goal for Plymouth against
Peterborough United
Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...
earning the ''Pilgrims'' their first win of the season after seven straight defeats, lifting them off the bottom of the table. Fallon then scored the opening goal in Argyle's next game against Scunthorpe United which they also won 2–1.
On the opening day of the
2010–11 season, Fallon played the full 90 minutes and was the provider for
Luke Summerfield's winning goal in Plymouth's 1–0 win over pre-season promotion favourites Southampton. In November, he joined
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
on short loan, returning to Plymouth in January.
In August 2011, Fallon signed a one-month contract with
Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to:
* Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset
* Yeovil Town L.F.C.
Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...
after a short trial and featured in all five of Yeovil's games during that period.
In September 2011, he signed a two-year deal with
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...
club
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
. Fallon's time at Aberdeen was notable for his performances in the
2011–12 Scottish Cup
The 2011–12 Scottish Cup was the 127th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The tournament began on 24 September 2011 and ended on 19 May 2012. It was sponsored by William Hill in the first season of a three-y ...
. After scoring in Aberdeen's 4–0, 4th round victory over
Forfar Athletic
Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...
, he set up Aberdeen's opener in the 5th round 2–1 win over
Queen of the South. Fallon then scored both goals in the 2–1 quarter final win against
Motherwell to become the Player of the Round. Although Aberdeen lost the semi-final at
Hampden Park
Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...
2–1 against
Hibernian, Fallon's second half equaliser went on to be voted the PFA Goal of the Season. On 13 May 2013 Fallon was released by Aberdeen having scored three league goals in 35 appearances.
Fallon joined
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...
side
St Johnstone in July 2013 on a free transfer, the deal was completed in time for Fallon to play a part, if called upon, in St Johnstone's
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...
second qualifying round tie against Norwegian
Tippeligaen
Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...
side
Rosenborg. On 31 January 2014, Fallon left St Johnstone by mutual consent.
In February 2014, Fallon joined
Crawley Town
Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...
until the end of the
2013–14 season.
In September 2014, Fallon joined
Scunthorpe United on a short-term deal. Fallon scored on his Scunthorpe début in a 3–2 loss to
Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The history of Oldham Athletic ...
on 27
September 2014.
In January 2016, Fallon joined Bristol Rovers on non-contract terms until the end of the season. He made his debut as a 76th-minute substitute, in a 1–0 loss to
Accrington Stanley F.C.
Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete histor ...
In the summer of 2016, he Joined
National League South club,
Truro City F.C. as a
player-coach
A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...
but had his contract cancelled by mutual consent in December 2016.
On 26 July 2017, Fallon joined National League side
Torquay United
Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...
, on non-contract terms, ahead of the 2017–18 season. He played one match for
Dorchester Town
Dorchester Town Football Club are a semi-professional football club, based in Dorchester, Dorset, England. They currently play in the .
The club is affiliated to the Dorset County Football Association and is a FA chartered Standard club. They ...
.
International career
Despite being born in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
and having a
father
A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...
who coached New Zealand at the
1982 World Cup, Fallon chose to represent England at junior level. He played international football for England at U16, U17, U18, U19 and U20 levels and switched when FIFA changed the
eligibility rules.
He did, however, represent New Zealand in an unofficial U-16 World Cup in France in 1998 where
Wynton Rufer
Wynton Alan Whai Rufer (born 29 December 1962) is a New Zealand retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent more than a decade of his professional career in Switzerland and Germany, achieving his greatest success at Werd ...
was the coach. Shortly after, he departed for England to be an apprentice at
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
.
In January 2006, New Zealand coach
Ricki Herbert suggested that Fallon might still get a chance to represent
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
at senior level. Herbert claimed that the only reason why Fallon wasn't picked was due to lack of correspondence from
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
regarding this matter. Fallon had until he was 21 years old to get clearance from FIFA to change nationalities. It found, however, that Fallon did not apply in the 2004 window to change allegiance for over-21s players. This year-long window was made available by FIFA upon introduction of a rule which allows players with dual nationality to switch their allegiance before their 21st birthday. Under this criterion Fallon could not be available for New Zealand.
On 3 June 2009, FIFA Congress passed a motion removing the age limit for changing associations for players who had already played for a country's national team at youth level under article 18 of the ''Regulations Governing the Application of the FIFA Statutes''. This allowed for the possibility of Fallon again representing New Zealand.
In August 2009, Fallon was called up to the New Zealand squad for a friendly against
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
the following month and the crucial two-legged World Cup play-off matches against
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
later in the year.
Fallon scored on debut in the match against Jordan, which New Zealand won 3–1.
On 14 November 2009, Fallon headed home the only goal just before half-time in the second leg of New Zealand's
World Cup qualifier against
Bahrain
Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...
, to send
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
to the
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...
in South Africa, their first appearance at the finals in 28 years. Fallon played in all three of New Zealand's finals games.
He was recalled into the New Zealand camp for their
World Cup play-off loss to Peru in November 2017. Following these matches, he announced his international retirement.
Coaching career
After retiring, Fallon worked with
Plymouth Argyle's under-14 players. In mid-October 2019, Fallon was appointed assistant manager for the
New Zealand national football team
The New Zealand men's national football team ( mi, Tīma hoka a-motu o Aotearoa) represents New Zealand in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Football ...
under manager
Danny Hay
Daniel John Hay (born 15 May 1975) is a retired New Zealand professional Football (soccer), footballer who is currently the manager of the New Zealand national football team, New Zealand national under-23 football team, New Zealand U-23, and N ...
.
Career statistics
Club
Reference
International goals
:''New Zealand score listed first, score column indicates score after each Fallon goal.''
Honours
*
IFFHS
The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...
Oceania Men's Team of All Time: 2021
Personal life
Fallon's mother, Mere, is of
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
descent.
He has a brother called Sean and a sister called Bianca.
Fallon owns a business selling ice cream for businesses and events across Yorkshire and Devon.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fallon, Rory
1982 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Gisborne, New Zealand
New Zealand association footballers
New Zealand international footballers
English footballers
England youth international footballers
Association football forwards
Barnsley F.C. players
Shrewsbury Town F.C. players
Swindon Town F.C. players
Yeovil Town F.C. players
Swansea City A.F.C. players
Plymouth Argyle F.C. players
Aberdeen F.C. players
Ipswich Town F.C. players
St Johnstone F.C. players
Crawley Town F.C. players
Scunthorpe United F.C. players
Bristol Rovers F.C. players
Truro City F.C. players
Torquay United F.C. players
Dorchester Town F.C. players
Scottish Professional Football League players
English Football League players
Scottish Premier League players
National League (English football) players
Southern Football League players
New Zealand expatriate association footballers
2010 FIFA World Cup players
2012 OFC Nations Cup players
2016 OFC Nations Cup players
People educated at Mount Albert Grammar School
New Zealand Māori sportspeople
New Zealand people of English descent
New Zealand people of Irish descent
New Zealand Christians
English people of New Zealand descent
New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England