Adam McIlroy Allan (12 September 1904 – after 1937) was a professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

er who played at centre half. He played for

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

and Queen of the South.

Early years

Adam Allan was born in

Newarthill Newarthill is a village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, situated roughly three miles north-east of the town of Motherwell. It has a population of around 6,200. Most local amenities are shared with the adjacent villages of Carfin, Holytown and Ne ...

, Scotland. Adam Allan started his senior career with Falkirk.

Sunderland

Allan moved South to join Sunderland. His debut was 27 August 1927 in a 3-3 draw against Portsmouth at home. He was there for three seasons with his last game being a 4-1 defeat away against Everton on 3 May 1930. He made 20 appearances in the league that first season."The Stat Cat"
At Sunderland he was a teammate of the player who was the 1928/29 top scorer in England's top division, ex Queen of the South player, Dave Halliday. This was Allan's most successful season at Sunderland. The club ended the season as England's fourth team in the league in which Allan had made 29 appearances as well an FA Cup appearance. In his third and final season at Roker, Allan made 14 first team appearances and a further FA Cup appearance (a 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest). Thus in total he made 63 league appearances and two appearances in the FA Cup for Sunderland.

Reading

After Sunderland, Allan joined Reading for whom he made 106 appearances in the league scoring three goals.*Joyce, Michael: "The Football League player's records 1888 to 1939 " ().

Queen of the South

Allan joined newly promoted Queen of the South in 1933 for their first season in the top division of Scottish football. Allan played a prominent role in Queens achieving what remains their highest top division finish, fourth in 1933/34. Among the scalps Queens took that season were double victories over Celtic, Hibs and Hearts. Queens reached the Scottish Cup quarter finals before losing to two deflected goals away to St. Johnstone. Allan was part of the

George McLachlan George Hardie McLachlan (21 September 1901 – September 1964) was a Scottish professional footballer and manager. He played for a number of amateur sides as a youth but began his professional career with Clyde in the Scottish Football League. ...

managed 1936 Summer tour to France, Luxembourg, and Algeria. On the back of league wins against Dundee and Hibs, on 30 January 1937 captained by Willie Savage, with Willie Fotheringham in goal and with

Willie Culbert Willie Culbert was a former Scottish footballer best known with Dumfries club Queen of the South. Queen of the South Willie Culbert was a 1932 Queen of the South signing from Clyde. Culbert was one of the mainstays of the side that were promo ...

Laurie Cumming Laurence Stanley Slater Cumming (10 April 1905 – 19 November 1980) was a professional footballer and journalist, born in Derry, Ireland. Cumming played for Alloa Athletic, Huddersfield Town, Oldham Athletic, Southampton, Queen of the South, S ...

Joe Tulip Joe Tulip (died 1979) was an English footballer best known for his time at Dumfries club Queen of the South. Career Tulip was one of the first Englishmen to play in the Scottish League. His discovery was quite unique as he was spied by a Dumfri ...

and

Jackie Law, Sr Jackie Law Sr. (died 1959) was a professional association footballer who played as a striker for Airdrieonians and Queen of the South. After spending five seasons with Airdrie, Jackie Law Sr. requested a transfer with Queen of the South the club ...

also playing, Queen of the South condemned Rangers to a 1–0 first round Scottish Cup exit. The Evening Times reported, "It was more than a merited win for Queen of the South. It was a triumph".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allan, Adam Scottish men's footballers Falkirk F.C. players Reading F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Queen of the South F.C. players English Football League players 1904 births Year of death missing Men's association football defenders