{{short description|Australian rules footballer}} {{more citations needed|date=November 2009}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}} {{Use Australian English|date=September 2015}} {{Infobox AFL biography | name = Clen Denning | image = | fullname = Clen Charles Denning | birth_date = {{birth date|1911|2|28|df=y}} | birth_place = Collingwood, Victoria, Australia | death_date = {{death date and age|2009|11|9|1911|2|28|df=y}} | death_place = Keysborough, Victoria, Australia | originalteam = Oakleigh (VFA) | height = | weight = | position = Wing | statsend = 1947 | years1 = 1935–1937 | club1 = Carlton | games_goals1 = {{0}}18 (23) | years2 = 1938–1947 | club2 = Fitzroy | games_goals2 = 159 (59) | games_goalstotal = 177 (82) | careerhighlights = Player in the 1944 Fitzroy Premiership }} '''Clen Charles Denning''' (28 February 1911 – 9 November 2009) was an Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

==Family== The son of Thomas Clen Denning (1879–1917),<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article155144938 Deaths: Denning, ''The Age'', (Saturday, 11 August 1917), p.4.]</ref> and Agnes Caroline Denning (1880–1974), née Gunther, Clen Charles Denning was born at Collingwood, Victoria on 28 February 1911.

He married Winifred Adelaide Newman (1915–2002) in 1938.

==Football== Soon after he turned 16, Denning played for Victorian Football Association (VFA) club Oakleigh. He got his start in the VFL after a long wait when Oakleigh coach Frank Maher moved to coach the Carlton Football Club. Denning debuted with Carlton in 1935.

Early in his career, Denning made a name for himself as a promising goalkicker; he scored six goals from his first six kicks—all in his first match—a record that stands to this day.<ref>*[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12240459 Warne-Smith, Ivor, "Fine Football: South's Third Quarter: Carlton sets the Pace", ''The Argus'', (Monday, 20 May 1935), p.12.]</ref><ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12240349 Mystery Man: Six Goals to Denning, ''The Argus'', (Monday, 20 May 1935), p.12.]</ref><ref name="Fine">{{cite book|last=Fine|first=Mark|title=The Book of Footy Lists|year=2011|publisher=Slattery Media Group|location=Australia|isbn=978-1-921778-30-8|pages=300}}</ref>

He only stayed with Carlton until the end of 1937, having played 18 games for 23 goals.

In 1938, he crossed over to the Fitzroy Football Club, as he was said to be unhappy at Carlton. He scored 37 goals in 1939 to be their leading goalkicker. From then on he focused more on a defensive role, becoming a back pocket. He represented Victoria at interstate football in 1941, and in 1944 he was back pocket in Fitzroy's premiership side.

After leaving Fitzroy, Denning played for and coached Ararat.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article73088075 |title=ARARAT SECURES FITZROY STAR. |newspaper=The Horsham Times |date=17 February 1948 |accessdate=6 August 2014 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In 1958, he was the inaugural VFA coach of the Dandenong Football Club.<ref>{{cite book|first=Marc|last=Fiddian|year=2004|title=The VFA: a history of the Victorian Football Association, 1877–1995|page=173}}</ref>

==Death== From the October 2009 death of Jimmy Bates until his own death, at Keysborough, Victoria on 9 November 2009, at 98 years old, he was the oldest living former VFL player, and last surviving member of the 1944 Fitzroy premiership team.<ref name="sbs">{{cite web |url=http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1128887/latest-from-wire/ |title=Fitzroy great Clen Denning passes away |date=10 November 2009 |work=World News Australia |publisher=SBS |accessdate=2009-11-10 }}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{AFL Tables|ref=C/Clen_Denning.html}} * {{AustralianFootball|ref=clen%2Bdenning/5823}} * [http://www.thevfaproject.org/pages/Players/Denning,_Clen.php Clen Denning, at ''The VFA Project''.] * [https://www.blueseum.org/Clen+Denning Clen Denning, at ''Blueseum''.] *[http://www.blueseum.org/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=39 Interview with Clen Denning in September 2007]

{{1944 Fitzroy premiership players}} {{Fitzroy leading goalkickers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denning, Clen}} Category:1911 births Category:2009 deaths Category:Carlton Football Club players Category:Fitzroy Football Club players Category:Fitzroy Football Club premiership players Category:Oakleigh Football Club players Category:Dandenong Football Club coaches Category:Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Category:VFL/AFL premiership players Category:People from Collingwood, Victoria