‘Aldo’, as Alan was affectionately known to his footy mates, was born in Yorketown, Yorke Peninsula, on 30 January 1931, the youngest of 15 children. He was only 18 years of age when he achieved fame by winning the Mail Medal playing for Yorketown in the Southern Yorke Peninsula League, greatly helping his team to a premiership. He played his first SANFL game for North Adelaide that same year.

A tireless big man, equally good a knock ruckman as he was a strong mark around the ground, Aldenhoven won North Adelaide’s Best and Fairest Award in 1951. Despite commencing farming at Butler Tanks on Eyre Peninsula in mid-1952, Aldenhoven made the time to play for both Butler Tanks and North Adelaide that year, winning premierships with both, representing South Australia twice in interstate victories and winning NAFC’s ‘Best Follower’ Award. Some observers judged him best afield in North’s famous victory over Norwood in the 1952 Grand Final.

Alan played 55 league games for North from 1949-58 but found time to play for and win Mortlock’s B & F awards in 1956 & 1958 and was the Mail Medallist in the Eastern Eyre League in 1956. Alan’s farming interests took him to Balaklava in 1963 and, playing for Balaklava in the Adelaide Plains League that year, he won his third Mail Medal – one of only five players to have achieved this feat in three different leagues.

Alan Aldenhoven’s fantastic achievement of playing a total of 400 games was made possible because he didn’t retire from the game he loved so much until he had reached the grand age of 40.

Alan died on Wednesday 19 March, 2008 after a long  illness.