Rugby fans line out for a chance to view All Black legend's home

The cliff-top sea side home owned by legendary All Black player and coach, Sir Fred ‘The Needle’ Allen, has been placed on the market for sale.

Sir Fred owned the three bedroom home on Whangaparaoa Peninsula just north of Auckland for almost 60 years. Sir Fred passed away in April this year.

Sir Fred was the holder of an OBE, and was knighted in 2010. Sir Fred celebrated his 90th birthday at home two years ago with a ‘who’s who’ of All Black greats.

Sir Fred bought the Whangaparaoa seaside location in the 1950s. Housed at the bottom of the 1055 square metre section on headland above Tindall’s and Manly beaches were two old army huts from World War II. For a decade, the huts were enjoyed by Sir Fred and his wife Norma as their holiday home.

The current dwelling now being sold by Bayleys Orewa at auction on November 15 was built in 1967 to make the most of the expansive views overlooking the outer reaches of the Hauraki Gulf.

While Sir Fred and his late wife Norma also had a home in the Auckland suburb of Kohimarama, the Whangaparaoa address was Sir Fred’s ‘spiritual home’ where he would devise winning strategies for his teams, and carefully analyse how his prodigies were performing on the field.

Sir Fred and Norma sold their Kohi’ home in the mid-2000s, and spent their last few golden years together at Whangaparaoa.

The home’s sun room was at one stage the ultimate ‘man cave’ - with numerous All Black and Auckland Rugby Football Union team photos and memorabilia Sir Fred had acquired over the years adorning the walls, while stack loads of albums contained decades of newspaper clippings featuring coverage of the All Blacks tours.

In Sir Fred’s later years, the remarkable player/coach was always the consummate host to his rugby pals – hosting many a night around the double sided lounge fire place reminiscing on past victories over a beer or two.