Brett Allen (born 14 April 1966) is a retired

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 ...

Field umpire in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

. He umpired 346 career games in the AFL since his debut in 1992. A veteran of the AFL umpiring list, Allen umpired the 1992 reserves grand final in his first season. Although not accused of doing anything improper, he was involved in the " Whispers in the Sky" controversy as the second umpire, along with Matthew Head, on the flight. He defended Head, saying "Head had made no such comment". Two

police officers A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of ...

were appointed to investigate the alleged comments by the umpires, however found nothing regarding the accused bribery. He is fifth on the AFL umpiring all-time records for the number of finals games officiated, with 33, which is one behind fellow 2007-listed umpire Darren Goldspink. He has also won the All Australian Umpire of the year four times over his AFL career: in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

and

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. He announced his retirement on 5 September 2007, citing the increase in interstate travel and training required to umpire at the highest level. He was inducted into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the 1996 AFL season, centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media pe ...

in 2017. On 24 October 2000, Allen was awarded the

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

for his contribution to the game.

Footnotes

1966 births Australian Football League umpires Living people Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century Australian sportsmen {{AFL-bio-1960s-stub