Kevin Fallon

Legend's Hour: Kevin Fallon

This week on the Legend's Hour it's former Al Whites manager Kevin Fallon. He joins Kent Johns in studio to reflect on a career which saw him be part of the All Whites' 1982 World Cup campaign and under his guidance the All Whites won 19, drew 11 and lost 22 in his 52 games in charge.

Kevin Fallon has one of the best regular football blogs by any NZ player or coach. Well worth a look.

http://www.mags.school.nz/Story?Action=View&Story_id=6763

Kev's a complex man - while known & disliked by some for his occasional bad temper/ bad behaviour/ aggression/ foul language,

on the other hand he has completed a degree in English Literature as an adult student and has long had a love of the English Romantic poets and classic novels. Lover of Coleridge, Wordsworth, Byron, Keats etc.

Admirer of Jack Kerouac novel "On the Road" since he was a young footballer forty years ago...

Anyone who recommends Irish music documentary & CD "The Swell Season" (Glen Hansard) as he does on his blog, can't be all bad.

Irish Catholic background gives him a brooding spiritual intensity, a love of language and poetry.

A friend of mine from Nelson who was close to the Nelson United team coached by Kevin in the 1970's remembers Kevin attending an all-night party with his team and then suddenly leaving at 6 am to make the early mass at the local Nelson convent with the nuns!

I like the enigma of the man, although as a point of order one does not leave any party at 6am "suddenly".

After an all night bender nothing happens suddenly, not even mass.

Not a bad blog from Fallon there

Fired from MAGS. Is anyone surprised?

I disagree ....anything at 6am is going to happen VERY suddenly....at least thats how I remember it ....

For me, one of the interesting points in the Herald article was this quote from a parent;

"Lots of these kids chose Mt Albert Grammar because they want to be coached by Kevin."

Speaks volumes for what is wrong with youth football in this country...probably worthy of an entire discussion thread of its own.

they just see a name.....

does anyone know what the incident was that has led to his sacking - seems that he has been fairly out spoken and controversial in recent years, so imagine it must have been something fairly bad (unless it was the final straw)

Swearing at an opposition coach as I understand.

If they do can they please exercise caution in publishing them here, or anywhere. Thanks.

On Radio NZ National soon  ...could be worth a listen...

The guy is a dinosaur, times have passed him by.  ANyone who has seen him on the sideline will know that ultimately he shouldn't be working with kids.  He's just unprofessional, it's only school sport 

did he 'produce' any AWs. I noticed Trapper flash up on a group pic on the news and thought maybe all his kids gave up by age nineteen like him?

He is not my type of person, but you are wrong that he is not professional. In  fact he is too professional to be working with that age group.

Thing is, when you see him on the sideline, swearing at opposition players, swearing at players, calling out people from the crowd for fights (true story, my brother and I gave his players the slightest bit of lip at Dave Farrington when he was coaching Gisborne vs Miramar and he was calling us out to see him in the car park for a scrap and telling us he'd knock our heads off - completely ridiculous), how are you supposed to take him seriously?

Look at the incidents he has been involved in, almost all are swearing or man handling opposition players or coaches - that's just not acceptable although unsurprising when you see his background in lower league and British football.  That's just not the way the game is coached these days, and it's no surprises he hasn't had a proper job since the Kingz.  He's like the worst kind of over-the-top sideline Father

Agreed. I don't think he produces players that kick on or if he does, I can't think or any or it would be an extremely small portion for what is basically a football academy. Can't think of many ASBP players either.

I mean even when he's been sacked he can't go with a bit of dignity.  He leaves threatening legal action, going on the radio, makes the front page of the paper.  I mean this is a high school football coach, let's get this in perspective!

A bit of a joke that he was a school coach anyway. How much would he be on?

As for the students threatening to leave next year, how petty. This is school football after all.

Rory.

18 years of service , probably deserved better

When Fallon said that when he googles himself and up comes negative stuff first, and he felt a bit shit about that, how do you think he 'deserves better' there? He bought most of this upon himself and creatd this by acting like a tool so he is certainly not hard done by. Much like Todd Carney. Do you feel sorry for that guy when his crime is to just get drunk? (and that's not exactly illegal either - I think that's all he did)

He has been a great servant to the game in NZ of that there is no doubt. Back in his day, his techniques and ideals would have been first class in a country where football was about a fag and a pie before KO. Now days the game has moved and kicking shit out of anything that moves does not fit in the game anymore. Coombes, Quansah, Matthews brothers, Wylie. All footballers with tackling techniques all designed to hurt opponents. All coached by Fallon. The kids think he is the business but where do his kids kick onto? NRFL? Most kids would probably do that anyway if they have the natural talent without Fallons help. Someone threw up Rory's name. I have not seen many others and I would like to hear of some. The game has well and truly moved on and those kind of coaches are no longer needed in the game because those style of enforcers have been eliminated from the game.

Fallon has been tried at club level recently at Fencibles and Suburbs and he did not work - to the point where a lot of old school Suburbs guys left - John Davidson is a hell of a guy but even he had enough of him. I'm not trying to completely say he is useless because I have no doubt he would have gotten some players to overachieve but using JDs perspective line, he coaches school boy football. Why is this front page news?

For all the kids that rave about him, I can find an equal amount of people that would never let him near their kid mostly because those that know football, don't touch Fallon and those that have no fucking clue, see a 'name'. Again, its school boy football, this has been coming for a while for his stupid antics and the game will be better off for it. It might also stop a bit of the bullshit that is floating around the schoolboy 1st XI scene the last 15 years.

His use by date came years ago and Kevin should actually slip out the door quietly while he has some reputation left.

Most of the players that have been under Fallon have their best footballing years there and then. Most seem to peak at age 17 and don't kick on at all, lots have got youth contracts overseas and then been released.

It's almost like they are burnt out by that age.

Craig Wylie is an excellent example of a Fallon player. I saw him play for MAGS and he looked fantastic, a real talent, but I wasn't surprised at all when his "career" came to nothing. Someone on here asked "who has really gone on to big things?" Short answer; very, very few.

I'm involved in Intermediate football in West Auckland and we have quite a few decent players coming through here. Less and less are ending up at MAGS, more and more under Steve Cain and Kelston, Neil Sykes at Avondale or Gary Moore at Rutherford. 

Fallon's time has been and gone I feel. Go gracefully Kevin.

I think that sums it up JV. He has done well since he arrived in NZ and Gisborne and Nelson are proof of it. I have played against him on a few occasions and he coaches like he plays. He is just a bully. I have seen more than one incident on the sideline and quite frankly he is one nasty person. That is of course my opinion but I bet there are a lot who know Kevin that will agree,

Jeremy Christie, Rory Fallon, David Mulligan, Allan Pearce, Chris James, Emma Kete all Internationals that played for Mags.