John Patrick Pender (born 19 November 1963) is an Irish retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a central defender.

Career

Born in

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

, Pender made his professional debut for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

against Swansea City in March 1982, aged 18. During his career at Wolves, he helped the team win promotion to the First Division in 1982–83, and was capped five times by the Republic of Ireland under-21 side. Pender moved to

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

in 1985, once again earning promotion to the First Division in 1985–86, before joining

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

in 1987. In 1990, Pender joined

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

for a fee of £70,000. At Burnley, he was part of the squad that won the Fourth Division in 1991–92, and also played in the 2–1 win against

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

in the 1994 Second Division play-off final. He is one of only two

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

to have led the side to two promotions, the other being

Martin Dobson Martin Dobson (born 14 February 1948; Rishton) popularly known as Dobbo is a former professional footballer and England international who played as a midfielder. He was the first player to be transferred for £300,000 when Everton bought him fro ...

. In August 1995, Pender joined

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

for a "five-figure" fee. He helped the club win the Third Division in 1996–97. In 1997 he was signed by

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

for a fee of £11,500, set by a tribunal. Pender made 14 appearances for the club, the last of which came in February 1998 after suffering a serious knee injury in a 0–2 defeat against

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

. He was unable to recover from the injury and was released later that year.

Personal life

After retiring from football, Pender settled in

Telford, Shropshire Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in t ...

, and worked as a bus driver. In 2020, Pender was diagnosed with

motor neurone disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

, which his family attributes in part to head injuries sustained while playing.

References

External links

John Pender career stats
at the Post-War Players Database 1963 births Living people Footballers from Luton Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football defenders Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players English Football League players Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers People from Telford {{England-footy-defender-1960s-stub