Stephen "Bomber" Clifford (born 18 September 1956) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er in the

South Australian National Football League The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's governing body for the sport. Originally formed as the ...

(SANFL), playing for the

Port Adelaide Football Club Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where they are nicknamed ...

and 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), playing for the

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The club w ...

. Clifford made his senior VFL debut for Collingwood as a 16-year-old in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

, won the

Gardiner Medal {{Use Australian English, date=January 2018 The Gardiner Medal was an Australian rules football award, formerly awarded to the best and fairest player in the VFL Reserves competition. Officially named the Seconds prior to 1959 and the Reserves fr ...

for Best and Fairest player in the VFL reserves the next season but could only amass 38 senior games for Collingwood until

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

. Recruited by SANFL club Port Adelaide early in the 1978 season, Clifford immediately starred, winning the first of his three club Best and Fairests that year. Clifford played in Port Adelaide's premiership teams of 1979, 1980, and 1981 - each of these years corresponding to a Collingwood grand final loss. Clifford won further best & fairest awards in 1980 and 1983. While Clifford may be less remembered than other higher-profile Port players of his era, the fact that he won three club best and fairest awards over a six-year period is testament to his talent and consistency.

References

*Football Times - 1987 Year Book

External links

*
Official Website of the Port Adelaide Magpies Football Club
Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Port Adelaide Football Club (SANFL) players Port Adelaide Football Club players (all competitions) Collingwood Football Club players 1956 births Living people {{1981 Port Adelaide premiership players