Brian Kaltak’s status as a bona fide Vanuatuan football legend was confirmed in emphatic fashion by the deluge of messages which greeted his Glory signing announcement on the club’s social media platforms in June last year.
And yet the hugely-popular centre-back was not the first player from the island nations of Melanesia to don the famous purple.
That particular twisting football trail was first blazed by Solomon Islander Henry Fa’arodo back in 2005 and although his spell with the club was destined to last only one season, his is a story well worth exploring.
Born in Malaita Province in 1982, Fa’arodo began his senior football career in New Zealand with Nelson Suburbs before crossing the Tasman to represent Fawkner Blues (now Manningham United Blues FC) as well as National Soccer League (NSL) heavyweights, Melbourne Knights, for whom he made more than 30 appearances between 2002 and 2004.
But although 2004 would signal the end of the NSL and an unsettling 12-month hiatus before the advent of the A-League, it proved to be year to remember for the attacking midfielder.
Having debuted for the Solomon Islands in 2002, he was a key member of their squad for the 2004 OFC Nations Cup tournament held in Australia.
It turned out to be a superb tournament for the Solomons who won three of their five group games to pip New Zealand as runners-up to Australia.
Fa’arodo scored the opener in a 4-0 rout of Tahiti and also featured prominently as the Solomons shocked the host country by holding them to a 2-2 draw in Adelaide.
The Socceroos would have their revenge in the form of an 11-1 aggregate victory across the two-legged Final, but it was nonetheless a stellar display from Alan Gillett’s side for whom Fa’arodo was a standout performer.
Whether Steve McMahon was a keen observer of that OFC Nations Cup tournament has never been confirmed, but either way, the new Glory boss added Fa’arodo to his squad as Glory prepared to make their bow in the inaugural A-League season.
A big fan of Ronaldo (the original one), Fa’arodo showed some promising flashes of Brazilian-style flair as the men in purple reached the Final of the Pre-Season Challenge Cup, but the A-League itself got off to a less auspicious start for for both club and player.
Noel Spencer’s second-half goal proved enough to secure Central Coast Mariners a Round One victory at what was then known as Members Equity Stadium and Fa’arodo’s night ended with him being replaced by Adrian Caceres at half-time.
He did not reappear until being introduced off the bench in Round 4, by which time Glory had managed to secure a first win of the season over Queensland Roar, but Fa’arodo’s next start did not come until the return fixture against Roar in Round 10.
Between then and the end of the season his appearances were generally as a substitute in a side that struggled for results, with that indifferent form leading to McMahon’s departure after an away draw at Central Coast in Round 15.
There was to be no new contract for Fa’arodo come the end of that 05/06 campaign, but his career was by no means over.
In fact, his club-hopping odyssey was only getting started.
Between leaving Glory in 2006 and hanging up his boots in 2023 at the age of 40, the Solomon Islands’ greatest ever football export turned out for no fewer than 16 clubs spread across Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and his home country.
He lined up alongside Edgar Davids in the Oceania All-Stars team that took on David Beckham’s LA Galaxy side in Auckland in 2008, while his tally of 64 international caps remains the all-time Solomon Islands record.
Unsurprisingly, this iconic football pioneer moved into coaching after retiring and since August 2024, has been in charge of the Solomon Islands National Academy.
Somehow it seems fitting that having very much been there and done it himself, he is now preparing the next generation of young Solomon Islanders to make their mark in the football world.
And you just get the sense that, even at 43, he doesn’t need asking twice to pop the boots back on and join in at training.
#ONEGlory
