Rory Fallon facts for kids
Fallon playing for Plymouth Argyle in 2009
|
|||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rory Michael Fallon | ||
| Date of birth | 20 March 1982 | ||
| Place of birth | Gisborne, New Zealand | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
|
Current team
|
Upper Hutt City (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Mount Albert Grammar | |||
| Barnsley | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1999–2003 | Barnsley | 52 | (11) |
| 2001–2002 | → Shrewsbury Town (loan) | 11 | (0) |
| 2003–2006 | Swindon Town | 77 | (22) |
| 2005 | → Yeovil Town (loan) | 6 | (1) |
| 2006–2007 | Swansea City | 44 | (13) |
| 2007–2011 | Plymouth Argyle | 149 | (22) |
| 2010–2011 | → Ipswich Town (loan) | 6 | (1) |
| 2011 | Yeovil Town | 5 | (0) |
| 2011–2013 | Aberdeen | 37 | (3) |
| 2013–2014 | St Johnstone | 8 | (1) |
| 2014 | Crawley Town | 8 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | Scunthorpe United | 4 | (3) |
| 2016 | Bristol Rovers | 3 | (0) |
| 2016 | Truro City | 12 | (0) |
| 2017 | Torquay United | 5 | (0) |
| 2017 | Dorchester Town | 1 | (0) |
| Total | 428 | (77) | |
| International career | |||
| 2009–2017 | New Zealand | 24 | (6) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2019–2022 | New Zealand (assistant) | ||
| 2023–2024 | Waterside Karori | ||
| 2024– | Upper Hutt City | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Rory Michael Fallon (born 20 March 1982) is a former professional footballer from New Zealand. He mostly played as a forward, which means he was a goal scorer for his team.
Rory played for many different clubs during his career. Some of these include Barnsley, Swindon Town, Swansea City, and Plymouth Argyle. He also played for his home country, New Zealand, 24 times and scored 6 goals. He even represented New Zealand in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Rory was born and grew up in Gisborne. His father, Kevin Fallon, was also a football manager for New Zealand in the 1980s. Rory stopped playing professional football in November 2017.
Contents
Rory Fallon's Playing Career
Starting Out in Club Football
Rory Fallon began his football journey at Barnsley in England. He became a professional player in 1999 after training with their youth teams. Just as he was starting to play regularly, he got a foot injury. This made it hard for him to get back into the main team.
In November 2003, Rory moved to Swindon Town. He had played well against them, which caught the eye of their manager. During the 2003–04 season, he scored some important goals. One memorable goal was an overhead kick from outside the box against Bristol City, which helped his team get a draw.
Rory was sometimes on the bench during the 2004–05 season. To help him gain more confidence, he was loaned to Yeovil Town. He scored in his very first game for Yeovil against Scunthorpe United.
Moving to Swansea and Plymouth
In January 2006, Rory joined League One team Swansea City. He had a good year there, scoring 13 goals in 48 games. This made Championship side Plymouth Argyle interested in him. They signed him on 19 January 2007.
At Plymouth Argyle, Rory found it tough to get a regular spot in the team. He didn't score a goal at their home stadium, Home Park, for a whole year after joining. His first goal there was on 19 January 2008, exactly one year after he signed. It was an equalizer against Southampton.
On 29 September 2009, Rory scored the winning goal for Plymouth against Peterborough United. This was a big moment as it was Plymouth's first win of the season after seven straight losses. He then scored again in their next game against Scunthorpe United.
Later Club Teams
At the start of the 2010–11 season, Rory helped Plymouth win 1–0 against Southampton by setting up the winning goal. In November, he had a short loan spell at Ipswich Town before returning to Plymouth.
In August 2011, Rory signed a short contract with Yeovil Town again. He played in all five of their games during that time.
Later in September 2011, he signed a two-year deal with Scottish Premier League club Aberdeen. His time at Aberdeen was special because of his performances in the 2011–12 Scottish Cup. He scored two goals in a quarter-final win against Motherwell, earning him the Player of the Round award. One of his goals was even voted the PFA Goal of the Season! He left Aberdeen in May 2013.
Rory then joined Scottish Premier League side St Johnstone in July 2013. He also played for Crawley Town and Scunthorpe United, where he scored on his debut.
In January 2016, Rory joined Bristol Rovers. He later played for Truro City as a player-coach. In 2017, he joined Torquay United and played one match for Dorchester Town. He retired from professional football in November 2017.
Rory Fallon's International Career
Even though Rory was born in New Zealand and his father coached the New Zealand team, he first chose to play for England at youth levels (U16, U17, U18, U19, and U20). He later switched to play for New Zealand when the rules about which country a player could represent changed.
In August 2009, Rory was called up to the New Zealand squad. He scored in his first game for New Zealand against Jordan, which New Zealand won 3–1.
A very important moment came on 14 November 2009. Rory scored the only goal in the second game of New Zealand's World Cup qualifier against Bahrain. This goal sent New Zealand to the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. It was their first time in the finals in 28 years! Rory played in all three of New Zealand's games at the World Cup.
He was called back to the New Zealand team for their World Cup play-off against Peru in November 2017. After these matches, he announced he was retiring from international football.
Rory Fallon's Coaching Career
After retiring from playing, Rory started working with young players at Plymouth Argyle. In October 2019, he became an assistant manager for the New Zealand national football team, working with manager Danny Hay.
In November 2021, Rory became the head of youth development at Wellington Phoenix. He also coached their under-19s team. In December 2023, he became the manager of Waterside Karori in the Central League. However, his contract with Waterside Karori ended in January 2024 before the season began.
In February 2024, Upper Hutt City announced that Rory Fallon would be their head coach for the 2024 season.
Rory Fallon's Personal Life
Rory's mother, Mere, is of Māori descent. He has a brother named Sean and a sister named Bianca.
Rory also owns a business that sells ice cream for different businesses and events in Yorkshire and Devon, two areas in England.
See also
In Spanish: Rory Fallon para niños
