Matteo Allen

Matteo Joseph Allen (born 19 January 2004) is an Australian rules football playing for the Cobram Football Club in the Murray Football Netball League. He has previously played for the Murray Bushrangers during the 2022 season alongside Cobram. He won the Murray Football Netball League Under 14's League Best and Fairest in 2018 as well as the Under 14's Best and Fairest for Cobram Football Club, which he captained to a premiership, in the same year. He is a three-time premiership player in the Murray Football Netball League.
== Early Life ==
Matteo grew up in a small country town called Cobram, which is located in North East Victoria, Australia. His father played for the Cobram Football Club throughout his career, as well as his brothers Luca and Joseph Allen. Matteo would start Auskick in 2010 at age 6, where he would end up developing the fundamentals skills of football. Growing up in a household that loved Australian rules football, it was only natural that Matteo would grow up to love the game. Whilst in his younger years, Matteo supported St Kilda Football Club for a short period before transitioning to Richmond Football Club, whom are the tigers much like Cobram. 
Matteo, nicknamed Teo for short, joined up in the local football program called 'Colours', where local young and aspiring footballers would play in either an Under 9's or Under 12's competition. This is where Teo first showed glimpses of his footballing ability, standing out amongst the rest and claiming multiple trophies throughout his time. Being heavily involved with sports, it was only a matter of time before Matteo become involved with the Cobram Football Club, which would be the start of an illustrious career so far. He did so, when began to train their at age 9.
== Football Career ==
=== Cobram Football Club ===
==== 2015 ====
Matteo's first year of football would be with the Cobram Tigers, at the age of 11 and donning the #33 guernsey. He would only manage to play 4 games during the season, predominately due to his young age. He would however kick the first goal of his career against Nathalia Football Club|Nathalia. When he did play, Allen was played in the forward line for most of his game time. In 2015, the Under 14's Tigers would win the Murray Football Netball League|Murray Football League premiership, with Matteo Allen missing out on playing in the grand final.
==== 2016 ====
The second year of his playing career would be more prosperous for Matteo, playing 19 games for the year with 2 goals to his name. Matteo at age 12 would gather a more important role and more minutes on the ground, leading him to get in the best players twice that season. He would switch up guernsey numbers to #9 for the 2016 season. The Under 14's would go undefeated this season, meaning once again they would go on to make the Murray Football Netball League|Murray Football League grand final, and would also win it again against the Tongala Football Club (Cobram 9.17-71 def Tongala 3.2-20). Matteo had experienced the feeling of winning a premiership as a youngster, and a feeling that would continue into the coming years.
==== 2017 ====
Matteo would experience a breakout year in 2017 with Cobram, solidifying himself as the teams star player and as one of the elite midfielders in the competition. The now #2 guernsey wearer would again play 19 games for the season, his equal highest with 2016, but he would kick a total of 15 goals for the season, along with 17 times in the best players. Cobram would slump to 5th on the ladder this year, where the finished with a record of 11-7. They would end up losing to Echuca Football Club|Echuca in a 1 point thriller that would see them eliminated from the finals.
File:Matteo Allen 2018 Premiership Trophy.jpg|left|thumb|Matteo Allen holding the 2018 Murray Football Netball League|Murray Football League Under 14's trophy
==== 2018 ====
History was made for Allen and Cobram this season, with the Under 14's going undefeated and only conceding 59 points for the whole year. They would end up winning the premiership against Deniliquin Football Club|Deniliquin (Cobram 6.20-56 def Deniliquin 0.0-0), keeping Deniliquin scoreless in the grand final. Matteo individually would have one of the best seasons ever seen in the history of the Murray Football Netball League|Murray Football League Under 14's competition, winning the Murray Football Netball League|Murray Football League Under 14's League Best and Fairest comfortably, as well as winning Best On Ground in the grand final.Tansey, Patrick (21 November 2018). "Young Tigers Rewarded for Top Seasons". The Cobram Courier. Allen also got mentioned in the best players 18 out of a possible 21 times, and kicked 49 goals for the year as a midfielder. He would also win the Cobram Football Club Under 14's Best and Fairest to cap off a career best season. 
Young Allen become the talk of the competition, earning him a call up to play in the Under 17's division, where in 3 games he would kick 3 goals and show his talent. By the age of 14, Matteo had already created a distinguished football resume, one which would only grow in the future.
He also played 2 games outside of Cobram in the V/Line U/15's Cup.
==== 2019 ====
This would be Matteo's first full season in the Murray Football Netball League|Murray Football League Under 17's competition, however this wouldn't faze him. He would play 19 games in another stellar season in his old #9, to go alongside another 12 goals and 12 best player appearances. As a 15 year old, this was a phenomenal performace, which would be topped off with another Best on Ground in the Murray Football Netball League|Murray Football League grand final against Rumbalara Football Netball Club|Rumbalara, where they would again win (Cobram 9.10-64 def Rumbalara 5.5-35) in a last quarter blitz to seal the game.
Late in the game during his dominant performance, Allen would be on the receiving end of a horrific act where a group of opposition players would pin Matteo and proceed to punch him until he was knocked out. His brother Luca would also be on the receiving end of opposition punches, which soured the win Cobram had fought for and left a lot open for discussion within the league.
==== 2020 ====
No season was played in the Murray Football Netball League|Murray Football League due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic.
==== 2021 ====
After a year off due to the pandemic and still being the reigning Murray Football Netball League|Murray Football League Under 17's premiers, Matteo was set for another record-breaking season. Matteo however only played 3 games for the Under 17's that season, kicking 2 goals against arch-rivals Barooga Football Club|Barooga. He would end up debuting in the senior side in 2021, playing a total of 9 games with 7 goals and 2 best players to go with that. This is the season where Teo would debut his current #32 guernsey he wears in the senior side. Allen would spend a lot of his time playing in the Murray Bushrangers U/17's side, leading to his reduce game tally at Cobram. He performed well for the Bushrangers, which would lead to a call up for 2022.
The 2021 season was brought to a halt when the Murray Football Netball League|Murray Football League decided to stop the season before the finals series.
==== 2022 ====
This is by far Matteo's most eventful season of football. He played a total of 20 games, 11 of those for the Cobram seniors, who experienced their best season since 1998. Allen would find himself in the best players 3 times this season, as well as kicking 13 goals. He would spend majority of his time playing in the midfield and on the half forward. Cobram would make it into the Murray Football Netball League|Murray Football League grand final against Mulwala Football Club|Mulwala, and after leading at half time, the Tigers would ultimately fall to the Lions at Moama. Allen would kick a goal and play a solid game, once again proving himself to be one of the best young players in the league.
He would be recognized for this, being nominated for the Murray Football Netball League|Murray Football League Rising Star Award.
=== Murray Bushrangers (2022) ===
After playing in various competitions associated with the Murray Bushrangers throughout his career, Matteo Allen finally got his chance to showcase his footballing talents to the country when he was selected in the Murray Bushrangers NAB League Under 18's squad. Allen would wear #53 over the 9 games he would play that season. He would kick 3 goals and feature in the best players only once. He struggled to maintain his spot consistently throughout the season, and couldn't solidify a particular role on the ground, being used as more of a utility, as he played in almost every position bar ruck and inside midfield, where he has played for most of his career. 
It wasn't all doom and gloom for Matteo though, with him showcasing his talents, work-rate and endeavor multiple times with the limited minutes he got, with a season best 20 disposals and a goal against Tasmania whilst playing on a half back. This ultimately was not enough to play in any higher competitions or be picked up in the 2022 AFL draft|AFL 2022 National Draft.
He had season averages of 12.1 disposals, 3.3 marks, 1.7 tackles and 0.3 goals a game.
== Honours and Achievements ==
* Murray Football League Under 14's League Best and Fairest
* 3x Murray Football League Premierships
* Murray Football League 2022 Rising Star Nominee
* Cobram Football Club Under 14's Best and Fairest
* 2018 Cobram Football Club Under 14's Captain
Category:2004 births
Category:Australian rules football