LISA Fallon’s role as FIFA Technical Advisor Consultant has taken the Dublin native to all four corners of the globe, including West Cork as the special guest at the 2024 West Cork Sports Star Awards.
Fallon entertained the huge attendance at the gala banquet with a wide-ranging speech that name-dropped some high-profile individuals.
Her current boss is none other than former Arsenal and Premier League-winning manager Arsene Wenger. Fallon’s recent work trips included the Qatar World Cup where she shared a desk alongside former Tottenham Hotspur striker Jurgen Klinsmann.
Yet, it is a West Cork native that Fallon attributes the most praise to in helping her launch a successful coaching and analyst career at Cork City before moving on to Galway United, London City Lionesses, Chelsea Women’s FC and the Northern Irish men’s international set-up.
‘I had six incredible years at Cork City where (manager at the time) John Caulfield would have been a really influential person in my career,’ Fallon commented.
‘John first brought me on board with the Irish men's university team alongside Noel O’Connor and another West Cork man, Connor Uhl. When John was at Avondale, I would have been scouting teams in Dublin for him. Then he got the Cork City manager’s job.
‘The thing about John, what I respect most about him, is that he wasn't afraid to put a female in as a coach. When we look back now, certainly at that time, it was revolutionary.
‘I would imagine it wasn't easy for someone to put a female in as a coach of a men’s team back then. I don’t think it was an easy choice and I think the same with Michael O’Neill when he brought me into the Northern Ireland international set-up.
‘For me, I was just focused on doing the job and trying to be the best that I could be.’
Galway United manager John Caulfield.Fallon is often referred to as a trailblazer or game-changer when it comes to being the first female accepted into the male-dominated world of domestic and international soccer dressing rooms. Although she doesn’t deny those monikers, she prefers to point to the men who had the courage to offer her those roles in the first place as the game-changers. Fallon was offered those roles, not because she was a woman, but because she was the best, male or female, person for the job.
‘People say I was a game changer who broke ceilings but the reality is I didn’t,’ Fallon said.
‘The only thing I ever did was my job. The people who actually broke the glass ceilings were the ones like John (Caulfield) and Michael (O’Neill) who first hired me.
‘Unless somebody gives you the chance, you will never have that chance to show your potential. That’s why I have the greatest respect for people like Michael, John and all the others who put me in.
‘They evaluated my capacity to do the job that they needed done for the team. Nothing else. That's the quality that I respect most in those people. They didn’t just change my career path, they changed my life.
‘I will always be grateful to the people who took a punt in putting a female in and gave me that chance. I’m more than reaping the rewards for it now.’
