Stephen Boyle (born 4 September 1953) 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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played with Footscray in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL). Recruited from Moe, Boyle was a half forward flanker who kicked at least one goal in each of his six appearances for Footscray in the

1972 VFL season The 1972 VFL season was the 76th season of the Victorian Football League (VFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Victoria. The season featured twelve clubs, ran from 1 April until 7 October, and comprised a 22- ...

.AFL Tables: Stephen Boyle
/ref> Just a week after the infamous

John Greening John Greening (born 25 December 1950 in Burnie) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Collingwood in the VFL. Greening attended Montello Primary School and Parklands High as he grew up in the industrial town of Burnie in n ...

incident had taken place, Boyle also suffered a career-ending injury. Playing his sixth league game, against St Kilda at

Western Oval Whitten Oval (also known as Mission Whitten Oval under a naming rights agreement) is a stadium in the inner-western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in Barkly Street, Footscray. It is the training and administrative headquart ...

, he badly injured an eye after a collision with defender Kevin "Cowboy Neale. He was admitted to hospital with bleeding behind his eye and needed surgery to stop blood from reaching his brain. Doctors were unable to prevent him from permanently losing the sight of his right eye and although he attempted a comeback he never played another VFL game. He was the second of three family members who had their sporting careers ruined by injury. His mother, Nancy Boyle, was a short-distance runner and briefly held the 440 yard world record in 1957. She missed out on qualifying for the

1960 Rome Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

when she stepped on a nail. He also has a son, Tim Boyle, who played for Hawthorn but was forced into retirement at the age of 25, due to multiple injuries.''The Age'
"The warrior's blessing"
19 December 2009, Timothy Boyle

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyle, Stephen 1953 births Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Western Bulldogs players Moe Football Club players Living people 20th-century Australian sportsmen