Rory Fallon
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| Rory Fallon | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Rory Fallon | |
| Date of birth | March 20, 1982 | |
| Place of birth | Gisborne, New Zealand | |
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | |
| Playing position | Forward | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Plymouth Argyle | |
| Number | 14 | |
| Youth career | ||
| Mount Albert Grammer Barnsley |
||
| Senior career1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1999–2003 2001–2002 2003–2006 2005 2006–2007 2007– |
Barnsley → Shrewsbury Town (loan) Swindon Town → Yeovil Town (loan) Swansea City Plymouth Argyle |
52 (11) 11 (0) 75 (21) 6 (1) 41 (12) 80 (13) |
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1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Rory Fallon (born 20 March 1982 in Gisborne) is a New Zealander footballer who currently plays for English Championship team Plymouth Argyle as a striker.
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[edit] Career
Fallon started his career at Barnsley, becoming a professional in 1999 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 in November 2003 after a number of impressive performances against them with Barnsley, which caught the eye of manager Andy King.[citation needed] 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.
Despite the departure of Tommy Mooney, Fallon found himself regularly on the bench in the 2004–2005 season. He was loaned out to Yeovil Town 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 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.
In January 2006 League One team Swansea City signed Fallon for a fee believed to be £300,000, the second highest fee ever paid by the Welsh club.
On 19 January 2007, Championship side Plymouth Argyle paid £300,000 for Fallon, equaling their then record transfer fee,[1] on a 30-month contract, keeping him at the club until June 2009.
Fallon had only started a handful of games for Plymouth Argyle, 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 vs. Southampton. 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,[2] in January 2008.
On 15 March 2008, Fallon scored twice against Bristol City, recording an important victory and boosting his chances to become a more regular starter at Home Park.
On 21 October 2008 He scored the winning goal for Plymouth vs. Preston In their 1-0 Victory at Home Park.
[edit] International career
Despite being born in New Zealand and having a father 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.
In January 2006, New Zealand coach Ricki Herbert suggested that Fallon might still get a chance to represent New Zealand 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, under this criteria.
However on June 3rd 2009, with the removal of the age limit by FIFA congress opens up the future possibility of Fallon represent New Zealand National Team yet again.
Many players could get a new chance to play international football after FIFA's congress surprisingly voted on Wednesday to remove the age limit on changing national teams. Under established rules players with dual nationality, who had already played for a country's national team at youth level, were only allowed to switch loyalties until the age of 21. A motion from the Algerian Football Association, removing the reference to the age limit, was passed by 58 percent of the FIFA Congress, opening the way for many players to get a second chance in international football. The rule change does not affect any player who was played for the full national team as they are barred from switching nations.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ "Fallon completes Plymouth switch". BBC Sport. 2007-01-19. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/p/plymouth_argyle/6275883.stm. Retrieved on 2008-08-12.
- ^ Charlton striker joins Southend
- ^ "FIFA removes age limit on players switching nations". Guardian newspaper Website. 2009-06-03. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/feedarticle/8539751.stm. Retrieved on 2009-06-04.
[edit] External links
- Rory Fallon player profile at pafc.co.uk
- Rory Fallon player profile at swanseacity.net
- Rory Fallon player profile at barnsleyfc.co.uk
- Rory Fallon career stats at Soccerbase
- NZ or not? That's the big mystery
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