KEY POINTS:
Perhaps the most surprising aspect about Kevin Fallon's outburst over his schoolboy team's great rivals this week was that it hadn't happened earlier.
A self-described "character", the former national coach is known for speaking his mind.
In the early 1980s, the suggestion that the All Whites had "snivellers"
in their midst soon after he got involved in coaching the side was classic Fallon.
But in the past year, headlines about the Englishman have been largely free of controversy. They've been dominated by his New Year honour for services to soccer, a two-year deal with Waikato FC and the successes of his Mt Albert Grammar teams.
This week, however, he made waves once more. The row began when Auckland Grammar pulled out of the Knockout Cup final against his Mt Albert Grammar 1st XI side.
The school cited Fallon's involvement in a "ruckus" _ reportedly described by one spectator as an "all-in brawl, like watching rugby league in the 1980s" _ that broke out when the teams last met.
On Tuesday Fallon suggested to the Herald that Auckland Grammar withdrew so they wouldn't lose.
The next day a swift and unreserved apology followed, in the form of a statement describing the same players as "brave, skilful and proud".
Fallon would not talk to the Weekend Herald yesterday. His wife, Mere, said it had been a stressful week and both she and Fallon had been busy warding off media calls.
She had told her husband there was nothing more to say on the matter.
"I said to him, `Most people generally know everything about you, Kevin.' I said, `What is there to talk about you now?'."
Mt Albert Grammar School's football academy director for a decade, Fallon takes the game just as seriously now as he ever has.
"I've never differentiated between Mt Albert Grammar or the All Whites. I mean that. I want that schoolboy team to play the best bloody football this country has ever seen," Fallon told Herald sports writer Chris Rattue in January.
His dedication to the sport is widely recognised in this rugby-mad nation.
Former All Whites head coach John Adshead said when Fallon was named in the New Year honours list that the former Kingz coach, who left school at 15 to play soccer professionally, gets to work at 6am every day.
But Fallon's fervour also has its detractors. A football coach from another top Auckland school said Fallon used 1970s professional soccer tactics which were inappropriate for coaching schoolboys.
"At the age these boys are at, they need to be taught the game," said the teacher.
Similarly, Garth Halliday, whose son plays for Westlake Boys High School, claimed in a letter to the editor that Fallon's teams adopted "intimidatory tactics of professional sport".
"Faster opposition players are often kicked early in a game, and off-the-ball fouling is common, as are ongoing verbals from aggressive players throughout the match," he wrote. "Winning is great, of course, but at what cost?"
Fallon himself recognises he polarises people. "Some people hate me _ there's a 50/50 feedback from people who've worked for me," he said in January.
Mt Albert Grammar 1st XI captain Jonathan Raj counters criticism of his coach in a letter to the Weekend Herald published on page A18 today.
He writes that the team do not employ dirty tactics seen in the lower English leagues or show petulance when beaten.
