Jeff Allport

Episode 55 Jeff Allport

Welcome everybody to episode 55 of the Football United vs Soccer City podcast. I would like to sincerely thank all the interviewees, listeners and the soccer public of the Illawarra, Australia, Canada, the USA and elsewhere around the World who download this podcast. Additionally I would like to say thank you to the people who contribute, comment and reminisce on the social media pages.

Jeff Allport is our interviewee in episode 55. Born in 1970 Jeff began his football journey in the southern suburbs of Wollongong, firstly with Oak Flats and then with Albion Park.

It was here that his passion for the game started and Jeff loved the game along with cricket in the summer. In his junior career Jeff additionally made the Illawarra Representative team and as time passed he was selected in other representative teams. It was here the Jeff developed his game, lifelong friendships and great memories.

After a successful junior career in club, school and representative teams Jeff then had a wide and varied senior career which finished in the early 2000s. After this point he then took up coaching in the Illawarra.

The clubs, places and people that have been a part of Jeff’s football journey are extremely intriguing and I was fully immersed for the entire episode. The reason that Jeff kept me intrigued was due to his love of the game, which comes through every time he talks about football and it was easy to see in his face. Jeff respects the game, the clubs and the people who are a part of it. Plus he has a drive and curiosity for the game that has never diminished since the 1970s and this is the reason why he is still involved five decades later.

My sincere appreciation go out to Jeff for moving his family schedule around for this interview and allowing me into his house. I learnt a lot and gained further insight into our local football history via Jeff’s journey. So thank you Jeff, it was a delight and pleasure to have interviewed you. Please enjoy episode 55!