By Gavan Bergin
In September 1939, the English Football League was suspended due to the outbreak of the Second World War. By that time Bill Fallon had been playing international football for five years. He was first selected by the Republic of Ireland for their crucial World Cup qualifying game against Holland in Amsterdam in April 1934. If Ireland could win that game, they would be on their way to the World Cup finals in Italy that summer. At that time Bill was very young and inexperienced, but he was fast and skilful and he scored goals, which made him exactly the type of player Ireland needed to break down the Dutch defence.
Unfortunately, back then the English football authorities often refused to release Republic of Ireland players for international duty, and Bill was denied permission to play against Holland. That was bad for him and bad for Ireland. They lost the game 2-5 and it cost them dearly. Holland finished top of the group, Belgium finished second and Ireland came last. They had the same points tally as Belgium, but they finished behind them because of their inferior goal average. In the end, it all came down to one goal. One more goal would’ve been enough for Ireland to finish in second place and qualify for the World Cup. One more goal that might have been scored, if only Bill had played against Holland.
He didn’t play then but he was selected for the next international game and this time he did play. On December 16th 1934, he made his debut for the Republic of Ireland against Hungary in Dublin. In those days, opposition teams didn’t come much bigger or better than the Hungarians, who had recently reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup. They were an elite team and they were clear favourites to win.
When the game kicked off, Ireland started well. They had more possession and they used it well early on but their first error was punished by Hungary, who scored the first goal in the 18th minute. They scored again ten minutes later, and it looked like all of Ireland’s hopes were lost and gone forever.
But they didn’t give up, and in the 35th minute they made the best move of the game when they broke out of defence, passing this way and that, before the ball was played out to Bill who took it and darted up the left wing to hit a left perfect low cross into the box for Joey Donnelly to tap in the goal for Ireland. That was Bill, doing the same thing for his country that he did in game after game for his club. Although they were still behind, Ireland had life in them now and suddenly they were doing all the attacking. When they scored to make it 2-2 in the 62nd minute, a home win looked like it was on the cards for sure. Then came a stroke of Irish Ill-fortune. Almost immediately after they equalised, Ireland lost two players to injury and with no substitutes allowed in those days, they went down to nine men. Unsurprisingly, with two extra players on the field, the Huns went on the rampage. They scored twice in the last ten minutes and won the game, 4-2. The luck of the Irish, indeed!
Although Ireland lost, Bill had played well and he had proved that he was good enough for international football. He was still young and he looked set to become a regular starter for Ireland, but when he was selected for their next game against Switzerland in May 1935, his club didn’t release him to play That stop-start beginning seemed to set the tone for his international career, and for one reason or another he hardly played for Ireland over the next few years. It wasn’t until the 1935/36 season that he got his first run of games for Ireland
On December 6th 1936, he made his Republic of Ireland return against Hungary at Dalymount Park. After so long out of the side, Bill played like he was making up for lost time. Right from kick-off, he took on the defenders and beat them. He beat them once, he beat them twice and he kept beating them all game long. Despite the fact that he had played a league game for Notts County the previous day, he was full of energy. In the first few minutes, he helped Ireland force three corner kicks in quick succession. He took the first two kicks, twice sending them into the box and creating scoring chances for his strikers. Then he went into the box himself for the third corner kick, and when it was played in he got on the end of it, took the ball down and shot it hard at goal, but the keeper scrambled to save it. After that, Bill helped Ireland to keep pushing at the Hungarian defence through the early stages of the game. He ran and ran and he passed and crossed and worked like the devil to support his teammates, then in the twentieth minute he sped forward and just outside the box he latched onto the ball and lashed it in, past the goalkeeper and into the goal. From the side of his boot to the back of the net in the blink of an eye! Goal for Bill! Goal for Ireland!
At that stage of the game, all was well with the world for Ireland. They had never before scored the first goal of the game against Hungary but that 1-0 lead was the least they deserved. So far, they had been much the better side and they had a great opportunity to go on and win. Yet, as always in those days, disappointment for Ireland was just around the corner. Within minutes of going a goal up, they went a man down when their top striker, Paddy Moore, had to leave the field to receive treatment for an injury, and he missed the rest of the first half. Coping with a top side like Hungary with a full team was hard enough, with one less player it was next to impossible, but Ireland managed it and for the next fifteen minutes they played superior football. It looked like they would break through again, or at the very least hold on to their one goal, but Hungary came back strongly and they scored two goals in two minutes before the end of the half.
Just like that, Ireland went from 1-0 up to 1-2 down at half-time, and things got worse for them when Hungary scored again early in the second half. Two goals down now, but Ireland didn’t throw in the towel. With Moore back on the pitch, they were at full-strength again, and with Bill whizzing up the wing and whipping the ball into the box, they created chances aplenty and the pressure told when they won a penalty kick and scored in the 72nd minute. 2-3! Eighteen minutes left and just one goal to get! Ireland attacked hard and fast, forcing their illustrious opponents back into defence, and ten minutes later another incisive Irish attack put Joey Donnelly clear in the box, with the ball at his feet and only the keeper to beat. The equaliser was coming, everyone could see it: Donnelly, the Dundalk striker, had scored four goals in eight games for Ireland and he was bound to score again, but just as he readied to strike, he was fouled by a Hungarian defender. It was a surefire penalty, the players knew and the crowd knew it but the referee was the only one that mattered. In the end, there was no penalty, no goal, no comeback. There was no win for Ireland, but there was for Bill, who was “the outstanding figure in the game,” according to the Nottingham Evening Post
After his impressive showing against Hungary, it was no surprise that Bill retained his place in the Ireland team. He was selected for their European tour at the end of the 1936/37 season and because the tour didn’t clash with club games, this time there were no problems about his availability to play.
Next: the final years. The amazing saga of Bill Fallon concludes.
Read more:
Bill Fallon – Part 1
Bill Fallon – Part 2
Bill Fallon – Part 3
Bill Fallon – Part 4
Bill Fallon – Part 5
Bill Fallon – Part 6
Bill Fallon – Part 7
