Rory Fallon

Rory Fallon (born March 20 1982 in Gisborne, New Zealand) is a New Zealander Association football who currently plays for England Football League Championship team Plymouth Argyle F.C. as a striker.

Career

Fallon started his career at Barnsley F.C., becoming a professional in 1999-00 in English football after moving up through their trainee programme. He had just began 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 F.C. in November 2003 after a number of impressive performances against them with Barnsley, which caught the eye of manager Andy King (footballer). After breaking into the team he scored a number of important goals in the 2003-04 in English football campaign; including an overhead kick from the edge of the box to secure a point against Bristol City F.C..

Despite the departure of Tommy Mooney, Fallon found himself regularly on the bench in the 2004-05 in English football season. He was loaned out to Yeovil Town F.C. to increase his confidence and he scored on his debut. He didn't manage to score in the remainder of the season, but a red card for kicking Huddersfield Town F.C. defender David Mirfin in the face meant he missed the opening two games of the following season. After Sam Parkin was sold in summer 2005, Fallon was given greater opportunities to play at Swindon, scoring on his return to action against Nottingham Forest F.C..

In January 2006 Football League One team Swansea City A.F.C. signed Fallon for a fee believed to be £300,000, the second highest fee ever paid by the Welsh club.

On 19 January 2007, Football League Championship side Plymouth Argyle F.C. paid £300,000 for Fallon, equaling their then record transfer fee, on a 30-month contract, keeping him at the club until June 2009.

Fallon had only started a handful of games for Plymouth Argyle F.C., and had struggled to get in to the team. He went without a competitive goal at Home Park until 19 January 2008, exactly 1 year after he signed for the club, when he scored a second half equaliser for Plymouth Argyle F.C. vs. Southampton F.C.. It was only his 4th 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 F.C., in January 2008.

On 15 March 2008, Fallon scored twice against Bristol City F.C., recording an important victory and boosting his chances to become a more regular starter at Home Park.

International career

Despite being born in New Zealand and having a Kevin Fallon who coached New Zealand at the 1982 World Cup, Fallon chose to represent England at junior level. He did, however, represent New Zealand in an unofficial U-16 World Cup in France in 1998 where Wynton Rufer was the coach. Shortly after, he departed for England to be an apprentice at Barnsley F.C..

In January 2006, New Zealand national soccer team coach Ricki Herbert suggested that Fallon might still get a chance to represent New Zealand national soccer team at senior level. Herbert claimed that the only reason why Fallon wasn’t picked was due to lack of correspondence from FIFA regarding this matter. Fallon had until he was 21 years old to get a clearance from FIFA to change nationalities. However, it found 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 the rule which allows players with dual nationality to "switch" their allegiance before their 21st birthday. And so Fallon can never be available for New Zealand National Football Team.