KEY POINTS:
Even before he got to first base, Kevin Fallon's return to big time soccer is over.
Fallon, preparing to coach Waikato FC in the upcoming New Zealand Football Championship, has been let go by the beleaguered club.
While chairman Keith Ward was unable to comment on the club's
efforts to remain in the NZFC - all clubs have agreed to withhold comment until after the NZ Football board meeting later today - he did confirm Fallon is no longer in the equation.
"We are working on a budget 50 per cent down on what we started out with," said Ward. "As a result of that we are not able to honour the contracts we had in place with coaching staff."
Waikato, should their entry be confirmed, are planning to be an "all-amateur" outfit with no payments to players or coaches.
"We went back to Kevin on that basis and he indicated he could not afford to carry on," said Ward. "I fully understand that. I have huge sympathy for him and the players. I am embarrassed, upset and really disappointed it has come to this.
"It is purely a funding issue. I can understand him being upset."
Like many clubs, Waikato FC are dependent on grants from charitable trusts. With less funding available following the drop-off in revenue from poker machines, such fallout was always likely.
"I was really looking forward to having Kevin as our coach," said Ward. "He had unanimous support from the players and the club. We are gutted he is not going to be our coach.
"But this decision is a fiscal reality. Simply, we fell into a funding hole."
Fallon, who had recruited the majority of his playing squad and had enlisted former international Mike Groom as his assistant and Ray Pooley in an advisory role, said he planned to do the majority of the coaching at Mangere's Centre Park with most of his players Auckland-based.
"There was no way I could agree to what they came back with," said Fallon. "I was told about a week ago of the situation. In the email they said 'that's what you signed [agreed to] but this is what it is now.' There was no way I could agree to that.
"It is an untenable situation. Obviously, I am very disappointed I could not get back into coaching at this level. I felt I had a reasonable group of players and was looking forward to working with them. They have been ringing me all day. I feel sad for them.
"Keith Ward has done the best he can but football in this country is on a tightrope. There is a mass shortage of money in the game. It is not the first time nor will it be the last that I've been disappointed."
The eight NZFC franchises had until midnight last night to indicate whether they are in or out of the NZFC. Today's board meeting will make the call as to how the league will be formatted.