A belated congratulations to former Swindon Town striker Rory Fallon who scored the all important goal to take New Zealand to the World Cup Finals in South Africa next summer.
Fallon was born in Gisborne to English heritage – his English father Kevin was New Zealand coach John Adshead’s assistant at Spain ’82 and then went on to coach the All Whites between 1985-1989. Despite his New Zealand based upbringing he chose to represent England at junior level while a youth player at Barnsley.
It was Andy King who brought Fallon to the County Ground in 2003.
Rory Fallon scored his first goal for Town in the 3-2 loss to Plymouth Argyle and was sent-off in the loss against Rushden & Diamonds. Despite the slow start his Town career burst into life during the latter stages…
* Scoring the equaliser in the 3-3 draw at Port Vale – Town were 3-0 down with 30 minutes to play.
* A glorious over-head kick against Bristol City. With Town losing 1-0 Sean O’Hanlon sent a hopeful free-kick from just inside the Bristol City half to Fallon who neatly chested the ball ball into the air and sent the ball past Steve Phillips from just outside the box.
* A brace in Town’s impressive 3-0 demolition of Luton Town.
These goals all helped Town into the Play-Offs that season and Fallon even scored in the heartbreaking Play-Off Semi-Final loss at Brighton & Hove Albion.
Fallon struggled during the following season and was even sent out on loan to Yeovil Town but his form improved during the 2005/06 campaign… It wasn’t good for Town who were relegated but Fallon grabbed 12 goals in 25 games before moving to Swansea City for £300,000. Fallon left for Plymouth Argyle in 2007 and has played 100 times for the Pilgrims despite only scoring 16 times.
New Zealand were keen to secure Rory Fallon’s services as early as his Town days but a FIFA ruling prevented this. This ruling has since been lifted giving Fallon the opportunity to represent New Zealand next summer.
Good luck to him!
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