Stephen James Allender (born 24 July 1960) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans and

Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...

in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL) during the 1980s. Allender attracted the attention of VFL recruiters with his strong performance for

Port Melbourne Port Melbourne is an inner-city List of Melbourne suburbs, suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the Cities of ...

in 1980, when he won the J. J. Liston Trophy and played in a premiership team. He was signed by at the start of 1981, but there was a dispute: although he lived in South Melbourne's

zone Zone or The Zone may refer to: Places Climate and altitude zones * Death zone (originally the lethal zone), altitudes above a certain point where the amount of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span * Frigid zone, ...

, he was residentially tied to and would remain as such until November 1983, because he had lived in Lalor until February 1979. Carlton ended up granting him a clearance to South Melbourne, but South Melbourne was fined $20,000 by the VFL for poaching. A ruckman or key forward, Allender spent a season at South Melbourne before making the move with the club to Sydney. He joined Hawthorn in 1984 but couldn't establish a place in their strong side, suffering a fractured vertebra. He returned to Port Melbourne, and played there until the end of 1988. Allender is the nephew of Port Melbourne and South Melbourne legend Peter Bedford.

References

*Holmesby, Russell and Main, Jim (2007). ''The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers''. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Allender, Stephen 1960 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Sydney Swans players Hawthorn Football Club players Port Melbourne Football Club players J. J. Liston Trophy winners Lalor Football Club players