Kevin Fallon

Whilst looking for an article by the late Russell "Rusty" Gray about Ken Dugdale, I found this article on Kevin Fallon. I found it quite interesting. love him, loathe him, there is just something about the man, you just want to meet him and find out.

Kevin Fallon

I've met him many times and played against him a few and on points out of 10 he would rank about 3.

Points allocated for...?

A human being. 

The image of the old guy in a flasher style long coat standing behind the seating at DPark will be with me forever.

Hahahahahaha!

I think 3 out of 10 might be a bit generous. Those of us around the National league in the 70's and 80's probably all have our memories of his behaviour - Billy Harris (the infamous Chicken and Chips episode) , David Chote (not fit to lace Paul Thompsons boots ) , and Grant Turner (goaded into smashing Fallons car lights at North Shore). Having said that he was successful at Nelson United (Chatham Cup) and Gisborne (National League ), but not a lot after the early /mid 80's. What annoys me most is him being wheeled out for comment by the media - is always negative.

can you describe the chicken and chips thing?

That sounds interesting 

but I am biased as Billy Harris coached my daughter at 8 yrs and he was very good 

And leggy I'm interested in knowing the rating you would give yourself - for comparison reasons 

I went to watch a game at Ireland Rd where Mt Wellington played, There was an elderly Scottish gentleman with a walking stick standing a few metres from me and he was giving Kevin Fallon heaps through the game. Fallon came over to him and said if you keep this up I will beat the crap out of you after the game, or words to this effect.He was just a big bully.

I don't have any anti him re his football knowledge, although he was a bully as well. 

As for rating me, as a human being I am a 10.

A bit of background to our younger readers. Billy Harris and Fallon fell out over Billy criticising Chicken and Chips as a pre match meal when Fallon was coaching NZ. A few years later Fallon picked Paul Thompson over his Miramar team mate David Chote (1988 I think) in the All Whites and in response to querying of the selection ( I think by the Miramar coach Tommy Heptinstall ) stated that Chote was not fit to lace Thompsons boots. The Grant Turner incident happened in 1987 when Fallon goaded Turner at Allen Hill so much that Turner smashed Fallons headlights and got about a 6 match ban (I think). I think Leggys description of a bully is very apt. Can't dispute that he had his successes but they were in the 1970-80's and a bit like Graeme Lowe with league I'm always puzzled that he is wheeled out for comment all the time. 

Bully is polite. Fudgewit is more accurate

Grant Turner was of course, no Angel

you missed him getting sacked from Gisborne City for an altercation (ie he thumped him) with Ken Dugdale back in 1974!

Those who played for Kev tended to have a huge amount of respect for him. Was absolutely no nonsense, but you listened to him and backed his decisions 100%. His coaching ability is shown clearly through the number of New Zealands premier footballers that have played for him

I played under Kevin for a number of years and disagree with that statement. I’d be curious to know what encounters you’ve actually had with him that shape this perception? Or is it the typical observation from the New Zealand football community who hear all these stories from people who don’t like Fallon, largely I assume because he and his teams have been very successful. You don’t hear these complaints when he loses. I do agree he’s had his share of controversies, but many are misconstrued and many are not very factual. Also it may not be the most liked managerial style, but no doubt he has had a considerable amount of success and produced some very good talents. 

I find Kevin Fallon very interesting, he is undoubtedly a great coach, Chatham Cup with Nelson United, National League with Gisborne City (almost the double), NZ 1982, MAGS, Manukau these last couple of years and there have been a huge number of top kiwi footballers who he has come into contact with and usually more often than not helped improve and go on to better things.

He does however have a dark side, which has been mentioned in the incidents above and also in the article that Lonegunman posted originally (ie why he was allegedly sacked by MAGS). 

I personally have met him once and he was very amicable, but I have a good friend whom I cannot mention Kevin's name in the presence of as he was once very publicly humiliated by him and it still hurts him alot (and this was 10-15 years ago!)

a few years ago I heard Fallon on National Radio with Jim Mora and was quite surprised by how he came across and also the topics he talked about, it was miles away from the rough Yorkshire bully image that had been conjured in my head from his reported antics in NZ Football

I think the guy is actually a very complex character, he's one of those guys that people either love or hate. But whatever it has he has made a massive contribution to NZ football and I think is quite a genuine guy and NZ football is richer for him being involved

He writes a weekly blog on facebook (he has apparently written a weekly diary for most of his life) which is pretty interesting, whether or not you like him it's definitely worth a read

One of the arts of being a good boss/manager whether in sport or in the workplace, is recognising the different personalities of your 'team'. Some people handle being say shouted at better than others - though surely no one likes it.

Don't know Falloon from a bar of soap, but remember a few of those infamous incidents from the past. Being described as a bully seems pretty constant. Journey Fan talks of his friend being very publicly humiliated by Falloon, and how it still hurts. Off topic, but my brother was bullied severely at high school, and 30 years later I still think he has scars from that.

Falloon may have done good things for NZ football, but if you have a bullying personality you are a selfish arsehole - and should be called out for it, no matter what else you achieve.

with the interview I posted above, he could not have been more friendly, helpful and engaging that day - shared every story, didn't baulk from answering any questions, no matter how uncomfortable.  We spoke for over 2 hours, and even though quite a bit wasn't broadcast-able (!) it was a great interview.

At the end, he went a bit sombre, and then explained in an hour's time he had to go to a meeting with the MAGS principal... which I guess was the start of the scenario laid out above...

I never played for Fallon but did play for some of his friends. I have met him socially on a few occasions and he was very engaging and friendly. I even walked with him and his wife from a function to the All Whites game vs Mexico in Wellington and once again I couldn't fault his behaviour. I remember when he was coaching the Kingz/Knights and I was at North Harbour with my young son and stopped to watch them train. Fallon came over and pointed out to my son a couple of the people and explained who they were and what they had done. Shane Rufer was coaching and we heard all about him, Paul Urlovic [sp?] was in the side and we heard all about him - except how to spell his name.

I also saw Fallon play a zillion times for Nelson United and on the sidelines as a coach - he is one of the most passionate football people I have ever seen and this overflows sometimes.

All easy for me to say because I was never good enough to play for him and receive a bollocking for not performing.

This sums it up. Like any coach his passion overflows. But Kevin is a respectful and knowledgeable man who is portrayed extremely unfairly by the NZ footballing public. 

Fair enough, but to be honest you did state he is a "shark human being". Which kinda proves my point, a minority of the footballing community who dont like him (hes truly a love or hate person in footballing circles) share false stories or exaggerate them greatly to give the perception that he is a horrible person. Which is quite unfair, especially considering that those who play for him generally respect and listen to him. If they dont like his management style they leave - but that doesnt happen very often. If you back him and follow his instructions (as should be the case with any coach), he will back you 100% and respect you.  

His sacking from MAGS was ridiculous. None of the players wanted him to be sacked - as a result at least 50% of the team quit when he was sacked and wanted nothing to do with Paul Marshall, such was the respect and admiration they had for Kevin. Players would literally visit his apartment following this to catch up and show him the respect he deserved. That sacking was led by the headmaster (who has now left), who never got on with Fallon. He asked players to indicate that they were bullied by Kevin, but every player disagreed and said they had no problem. Still Fallon was sacked. The next week security had to be at the school, such was the backlash at Kevins sacking. Ended up with numerous supporters in "Bring Back Kevin" shirts being escorted away from the school. 

Having a coach on the sideline unable to stop effing and blinding week after week isn't a good look for a school. Or its headmaster. He may have deserved respect as a coach. But not as a role model to young kids.

Quite clearly there was more to it than that. His sideline behaviour is pretty appallingly, particularly when you consider a lot of this stuff happened at school football level

Regardless what has been mentioned so far, the one thing that I am quite sure about, is that if Fallon had not been involved in the '82 WC campaign, we would not have qualified. 

you may not like his coaching style , remembering he is now 70 and came from a very different era. You may not like the way he behaves during a football game, but to call him "a shark human being" based on what you read on here is ridiculous 

I recall seeing him through the glass windows at the back of the stadium at Mount Smart, being held back as he waved his arms at the referee after the Kuwait game in our 82 World Cup campaign - passionate.....

There really wasn't that much more to it. While he wasnt perfectly behaved on the sideline (is any coach?), it was the culmination of miscontrued stories, as well as the headmasters serious dislike for Kevin, that led to the HM trying to get him sacked. This led to every player of the squad (as well as young academy players) being called into senior management offices to get them to imply that Fallon was a bully - none of them wanted a bar of it. As a result, the next Saturday following his sacking, a huge number of people turned up in Bring Back Kevin shirts to the game.

In fact, the team were told just prior to their game against Sacred Heart that he was sacked. The team was a wreck and they got spanked 7-0 by SHC that day. The next week, half the team had quit.

I've heard some pretty bad language from the side lines from parents, so Fallon is certainly not alone. Not just passionate about the game but still very much driven too.

The best judge of a person is usually how their kids turn out

While I don't know how many kids he does have, his son Rory I believe turned out all right

 Not a big fan of his God stuff sometimes, but if that's his worse side, it could be a hell of a lot worse

And from a football point of view as someone pointed out if he wasn't around we may not have made the World Cup finals 

Fallon has 3 kids, Sean, who trialed for Liverpool, but wasn't actually that great a player, Rory and a daughter

Fallon was a decent footballer and had played in english div 2/3 and Ireland - he thought that when Charlie Dempsey called him in to offer him the assistant coach for the 82 All Whites that he was going to be asked to be a player!

I heard him compare himself to Andre Agassi's father, in that he was very driven and guilty of trying to live his dreams through his kids and that he pushed them very hard - I think Sean being the older may have suffered more from this than Rory

If he hadn't been around in 82 we would never have qualified, at the same time had it been just him we would never have qualified, him and Adshead were the perfect match

IMO Sean was an excellent player. If I recall correctly he spent more than a season at Liverpool often playing reserve team football, as did Thomas White and Justin Rakena at about the same time

Jebus this has become full blown Shakespearean 

these days, if you sneeze you're a germ bully

i'm only interested in the opinions of people who knew the era

interesting way to look at it - I am going to base my opinion on what I have seen him do on the sidelines in kids/adults football.  you can't keep doing that kind of stuff and not get hauled over the coals at some point - but if it was part of what makes him a good coach I guess he isn't going to change.

The only thing that bugs me is his facebook blog where he seems to intentionally stir the pot and disrespect people just for a reaction?  Maybe he just likes being controversial.  

fair enough - I spent a season watching him when he played for Lower Hutt City in the National League and I wasn't very impressed, there was a bit of excitement when he signed but he never lived up to the hype, although the whole team was pretty bad that season