John Pender (footballer)

Last updated

John Pender
Personal information
Full name John Patrick Pender [1]
Date of birth (1963-11-19) 19 November 1963 (age 60) [1]
Place of birth Luton, [1] England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) [2]
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
0000–1982 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1982–1985 Wolverhampton Wanderers 117 (3)
1985–1987 Charlton Athletic 41 (0)
1987–1990 Bristol City 83 (3)
1990–1995 Burnley 171 (8)
1995–1997 Wigan Athletic 70 (1)
1997–1998 Rochdale 14 (0)
Total496(15)
International career
1983–1985 Republic of Ireland U21 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John Patrick Pender (born 19 November 1963) is an Irish retired professional footballer who played as a central defender.

Contents

Career

Born in Luton, Pender made his professional debut for Wolverhampton Wanderers against Swansea City in March 1982, aged 18. [3] 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 in 1985, once again earning promotion to the First Division in 1985–86, before joining Bristol City in 1987.

In 1990, Pender joined Burnley for a fee of £70,000. [4] 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 in the 1994 Second Division play-off final. He is one of only two Burnley captains to have led the side to two promotions, the other being Martin Dobson.

In August 1995, Pender joined Wigan Athletic for a "five-figure" fee. [5] He helped the club win the Third Division in 1996–97.

In 1997 he was signed by Rochdale for a fee of £11,500, set by a tribunal. [6] 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. [7] He was unable to recover from the injury and was released later that year. [8]

Personal life

After retiring from football, Pender settled in Telford, Shropshire, and worked as a bus driver. [9]

In 2020, Pender was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, [9] [4] which his family attributes in part to head injuries sustained while playing. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Waddle</span> English footballer (born 1960)

Christopher Roland Waddle is an English former professional football player and manager. He had a spell as Burnley manager during the 1997–98 season, but has not returned to coaching since. Largely since retiring he has worked in the media for BBC Radio 5 Live as part of their Premier League and Champions League team. He currently works as a commentator.

Samuel English was a Northern Irish footballer who played for several clubs during the 1930s, but is mainly remembered for his time with Rangers. English also won two international caps for Ireland.

Alan Joseph Mahon is an Irish former professional footballer who played a midfielder and was capped by the Republic of Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Owen Coyle</span> Scottish professional football manager

Owen Columba Coyle is a professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of Indian Super League club Chennaiyin. He played as a striker for several clubs in England and Scotland, and made one appearance for the Republic of Ireland national team.

Glen Matthew Little is an English former footballer who played as a winger. Born in Wimbledon, London, he began his career in Northern Ireland with Derry City and Glentoran, before returning to England to play for Burnley, Reading, Bolton Wanderers, Portsmouth, Sheffield United and Aldershot Town. He finished his career in non-league football with Wrexham, Wealdstone, Grays Athletic and Heybridge Swifts.

The 1987–88 season was the 108th season of competitive football in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lenny Johnrose</span> English footballer (1969–2022)

Leonard Johnrose was an English professional footballer who played for clubs including Burnley, Bury and Swansea City. He was a defensive midfielder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Iwelumo</span> Scottish footballer (born 1978)

Christopher Robert Iwelumo is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played as a striker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Burrow</span> English rugby league footballer (1982–2024)

Robert Geoffrey Burrow was an English professional rugby league footballer who played as a scrum-half or hooker. Burrow spent his entire professional career with the Leeds Rhinos, making nearly 500 appearances as well as representing Great Britain, England, and Yorkshire.

Jason Peter Bowen is a Welsh former international footballer. During his career, he made over 500 league appearances and was capped twice by Wales in a career which started at Swansea City. He made over 100 league appearances for the club and played in their 1994 Football League Trophy final victory over Huddersfield Town. In 1995, he was sold to Birmingham City for £350,000.

Philip Anthony Hughes is a former Northern Ireland international footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Thomas Cassidy was a Northern Ireland international footballer who played as a midfielder.

John Cushley was a Scottish footballer who played for Celtic, West Ham United, Dunfermline Athletic and Dumbarton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Darby</span> English footballer (born 1988)

Stephen Mark Darby is an English former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Darby represented England at under-19 level. He began his career playing on the winning side of the Liverpool FA Youth Cup in 2006 and played competitively for Liverpool from 2008 to 2012. Darby then joined the Bradford team that reached the 2013 Football League Cup final, making over 200 appearances for the club and captaining the side for two seasons. Although he afterwards signed a two-year contract with Bolton Wanderers in 2017, Darby retired from his career just over a year later at the age of 29 after being diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

Peter Litchfield is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He started his career with Droylsden and played in the Football League with Preston North End, Bradford City, Oldham Athletic and Scunthorpe United. His sons Max Litchfield and Joe Litchfield are international swimmers.

Steven James Harper is an English former footballer who scored 54 goals in 504 league games in a 15-year career in the Football League. He was a speedy winger, adept at dribbling the ball.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Lafferty</span> Northern Irish footballer

Daniel Patrick Lafferty is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a left back, for Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josh Cullen</span> Footballer (born 1996)

Joshua Jon Cullen is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for EFL Championship club Burnley. Born in England, he plays for the Republic of Ireland national team at international level. He has previously played for West Ham United and Anderlecht and on loan for Bradford City, Bolton Wanderers and Charlton Athletic.

Luke McNally is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a central defender for EFL Championship club Burnley. He previously played for Oxford United for 18 months, having joined them from League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic, the club where he started his professional career. He has also spent a season on loan at Drogheda United.

During the 1997–98 English football season, Gillingham F.C. competed in the Football League Second Division, the third tier of the English football league system. It was the 66th season in which Gillingham competed in the Football League, and the 48th since the club was voted back into the league in 1950. The team started the season strongly and by the end of October were challenging for promotion, but then went on a lengthy run of games without a win which saw them slip into the bottom third of the league table in December. Results improved in the second half of the season, and Gillingham were sixth in the table with one game remaining, which would be sufficient for a place in the promotion play-offs. Results on the final day of the regular season meant that they finished in a four-way tie for the final two play-off places and missed out as they had scored the fewest goals of the four teams involved; a goalbound shot from Nicky Southall in the final seconds of the last game of the season which could have given Gillingham a win and a play-off place instead struck the goalpost and rebounded away.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "John Pender". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  2. ↑ Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p.  118. ISBN   978-0-356-14354-5.
  3. ↑ "John Pender". sporting-heroes.net. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  4. 1 2 Boden, Chris. "Promotion-winning former Clarets captain John Pender diagnosed with motor neurone disease". Burnley Express. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  5. ↑ "Defensive swoop" . Liverpool Echo. 18 August 1995. p. 59 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ↑ "Dalglish tempted by £6m Montella". The Independent. 5 August 1997. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  7. ↑ Brookes, Mike (16 February 1998). "Doomsday Dale" . Sport. Manchester Evening News. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ↑ "Irish in Britain". Irish Times. 14 December 1998. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  9. 1 2 "John Pender on his battle with MND: 'I can't play with my grandchildren – but that's life, I'm getting on with it'". The Athletic. 30 December 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  10. ↑ Pender, Laura (31 March 2021). Written evidence submitted by Lauren Pender (Report).


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.