George Allen (Australian footballer)

George Leslie Allen^[1] (born 1948-49, died 21 March 1971) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Sunshine in the Victorian Football Association. He was a prolific goalkicker during his brief career, but he died suddenly during a preseason game at the age of 22.

Allen played his entire career with the Sunshine Football Club in the VFA. After playing some Under-16s football with the club from as early as 1961, he became a permanent member of the club's Thirds (Under-19s) team in 1966, where he kicked 98 goals to be the VFA Thirds Division 2 leading goalkicker. The following year, aged 18, he played for the Seconds, and was again the VFA's Division 2 leading goalkicker.^[2]

He played his first two senior games for Sunshine in 1967, and another eight games in 1968, before becoming a permanent member of the senior team in 1969. He immediately established himself as one of the Association's best full forwards, and he was the VFA's Division 2 leading goalkicker in each of 1969 and 1970, kicking 99 and 80 goals respectively – to give him a total of four leading goalkicker awards, across different grades, in just five seasons. In his senior career, he played 49 games and kicked 214 goals.^[2]

On Sunday 21 March, late in the first quarter of a pre-season practice match between Sunshine and Benalla in Benalla, Allen suddenly collapsed and died on the field. He had crashed heavily to the ground on his side in a marking contest a few minutes earlier, but had returned to full forward and shown no ill-effects from the contest until his collapse. He was 22 years old.^[3]

Outside football, Allen worked in the Newport Workshops.^[4]

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