A former Northern Ireland football analyst who helped inspire Michael O’Neill’s men to the Euro 2016 finals in France has opened up about a horrific attack she suffered as a teenager.
As reported by RSVP Live, Lisa Fallon, a respected coach and RTE sports pundit, was coming home from a night out at the age of 18 when she got held in a car by a man she didn't know.
Speaking to Ryan Tubridy on the Late Late Show tonight, she said: "He held me by my hair so I couldn't get out.
“He drove to a field and I remember all I could see was this gate in front of the car, and it had a bar missing.
"I just remember thinking 'I can get through that gate, I can get through that gap in the gate.'
"Eventually I did, I got out and I ran. I could see a white house miles away. But he caught me. “He brought me back to the car and said that he would have to kill me because I had seen his face."
Lisa said she had her denim jacket over her head and tried to convince the man that she couldn't remember what he looked like so he would let her go.
"I told him my name was Jennifer, I didn't want him to know who I was,” she said. “I promised him that I couldn't remember his face and I just convinced him that if he would just let me go, I wouldn't tell anybody, and he did.
"I was walking down a road and I could hear a car coming back. There was another field. I climbed through the gate. The field was full of thistles, they were taller than me.
“I just ran straight through them. I knew he wouldn't come in there after me, or I hoped he wouldn't. I waited there. I got out."
Lisa said she thought she would never see her friends and family again and was terrified she was going to murdered.
"I thought I wouldn't have the opportunity to do anything. But I just focused on getting away. I just kept trying to think about that."
She said a traumatic ideal like that "changes you as a person" and she lost a piece of who she was.
"I remember it was a long time before I could go to a hairdresser,” she said. “I couldn't bear anyone touching my hair because his hands were in my hair.
"It took me a long time time to wear a dress. Police asked me about the dress I wore. It was such a conservative dress.
"Whenever I sat in a room, I had to be able to see the door. It became so normalised to me. I felt very alone. I didn't feel like anybody else in the world knew how I felt."
Lisa, who made motivational videos for Northern Ireland’s Euro 2016 campaign as well as providing video analysis for the national team, said the murder of Offaly teacher Ashling Murphy has brought about a change in society.
"The last couple of weeks, we've probably learned to understand,” he said. “There are a lot of stories and feelings that have been normalised.
"We are so good at pulling together and doing the right thing. I think there is an opportunity to listen to stories, not just listen to them but actually hear what people say."
As well as being part of O’Neill’s support staff for six years across three qualifying campaigns, Fallon has been involved with a number of teams both in England and Ireland.
She also worked with Jim Gavin and the Dublin footballers in 2018 as they won their fourth All-Ireland title in a row.
The Dubliner played for Southampton in the UK as well as Leixlip United, Lucan United and St Pat's on these shores, but is best known for her coaching career.
She coached Cork City and successfully worked with John Caulfield as Cork won the League of Ireland title and FAI Cup double in 2017, FAI Cup in 2016 and three President’s Cups.
Fallon then moved to Chelsea where she worked as an analysis and strategy coach before taking over London City Lionesses as head coach.
In January 2021, Fallon reunited with John Caulfield at Galway United and was appointed First Team Head Coach, before leaving the post to take up a role in Fifa’s high performance department.
