Albert Allen (born Aston,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

on 1 April 1867, died 13 October 1899) was a football player in the early years of professional football in England, who played as an inside-forward with Aston Villa. He made one appearance for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on 7 April 1888 when he scored three goals in a 5–1 victory over

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, thus making him one of the five England players who scored a hat trick on his only international appearance.

Season 1888-89

He first joined Villa in August 1884 (before the foundation of the Football League), played in the first Villa League team to debut at Dudley Road, Wolverhampton, then home of Wolverhampton Wanderer's. The match ended 1-1. He scored Villa's first Football League hat-trick in a 9–1 home win over

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

on 29 September 1888, his debut League goal was on 15 September 1888 at Wellington Road, in a 5–1 win over Stoke. When he made his League debut he was 21 years 146 days old; that made him, on that first day of League football, Aston Villa's youngest league player. Allen only missed one League match, out of 22, and top-scored in 1888–1889 with 18 League goals and 1 in the FA Cup. Played as a forward in a forward line that scored three-League-goals-or-more-in-a-match on six separate occasions. Developed an understanding with

Dennis Hodgetts Dennis Hodgetts (28 November 1863 – 25/26 March 1945), commonly known as Denny Hodgetts, was a footballer in the early years of professional football in England. Signed as a Youth player for Mitchell St George's in 1878 and played for three ...

. In the second League season (1889-90) Allen scored eight League goals from 19 League Appearances. Allen scored a second League hat-trick in a 6-2 win at

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional footba ...

, the home of

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

, on 5 October 1889. Allen was joint club top-scorer with

Billy Dickson Billy Dickson is an American cinematographer and television director. As a cinematographer he is best known for his work on the television series '' Ally McBeal'', for which he was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Cinema ...

and Dennis (Denny) Hodgetts. Aston Villa had a poor season and finished 8th (out of 12). In 1890-91, another poor season for Aston Villa, finishing 9th in the League, Allen only played four matches scoring once. He made 44 league appearances for Aston Villa, scoring 27 goals. He died of tuberculosis, which had ended his career prematurely, aged 32.

Statistics

Source:

References

External links

Aston Villa Player Database
Albert Allen's AVFC Bio * English footballers England international footballers Aston Villa F.C. players Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands 1867 births 1899 deaths English Football League players Association football inside forwards {{England-footy-forward-1860s-stub