Allan Jenkins (born 7 October 1981 in

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...

) is a Scottish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who last played for Dalbeattie Star. Jenkins started his career at home town club

where he played for eight years, he spent a two-year spell at the now defunct "big spenders" Gretna in the SPL before ending his time in Scotland with

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Green ...

. He is perhaps best known for his time at Ballymena United. At all his senior clubs, Jenkins has been the captain on at least one occasion.

Career

Early years

As a schoolboy Jenkins represented

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...

region playing with the likes of

Kevin Kyle Kevin Alastair Kyle (born 7 June 1981) is a Scottish retired footballer and media personality who played as a centre forward. He played for eleven senior clubs in his career. Kyle gained ten full Scotland international caps and scored one goa ...

Stranraer

Jenkins began his senior career with local club

in 1998 and made over 200 appearances for the club. Was made club captain under

Neil Watt Neil James Watt (born 16 September 1962) is a Scottish football player and manager. Club career Watt is a former professional football player and manager. He played first team football for Forfar Athletic, East Stirlingshire, Stirling Albion, ...

and skippered the side to the third division championship in 2003–04. In May 2005 he then scored the goal against

which secured a second successive promotion. This put Stranraer into the second tier of Scottish football for the first time since the late 1990s. With Jenkins scoring in the 2 January win against Queen of the South, Stranraer were 12 points clear of their South West rivals in the battle to stay in the division. On 12 January 2006 Jenkins was signed by Gretna for an undisclosed fee. Stranraer's form collapsed as they collected only one further league win all season. They were condemned to an ultimately unsuccessful play-off against

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...

and relegation back to the third flight after only one season.

Gretna

Jenkins was cup tied for Gretna's run to the 2006 Scottish Cup final. He helped Gretna to Scottish Premier League promotion in season 2006–07, scoring four league goals. In season 2007–08 he scored the winning goal in the club's first ever Premier League win, 3–2 against

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

in September 2007.

Greenock Morton

Jenkins signed for

on 31 January 2008. The move re-united Jenkins with

Davie Irons David John Irons (born 18 July 1961 in Glasgow) is a Scottish former football player and coach. Irons' playing career spanned 26 years as a central defender or midfielder for a host of clubs, most notably for Ayr United, Clydebank, Dunfermli ...

, after Irons was appointed manager shortly after.

Ballymena United

Turning down a new deal on substantially less money, Jenkins crossed the Irish Sea to sign with part-timers

Ballymena United Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds which is owned by the Mi ...

. In his time at the club he made 254 appearances and was worshipped by the club's supporters for his passion and skill. In May 2014, he scored Ballymena's only goal in the 2013–14 Irish Cup final against Glenavon. His goal was an equaliser to level the game at 1–1, but in their first Irish Cup final in 25 years, Ballymena were ultimately defeated 2–1. Jenkins won the 2012

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster Foo ...

with Ballymena, the club's first major trophy win since 1989 beating Linfield 4–3 on penalties. He has since won this competition for a second time with Ballymena (2015–16) in a 3–2 victory over Linfield. In 2017 Allan scored the first goal in the club's League Cup final victory over Carrick Rangers, Ballymena ultimately won 2–0. In the same season (2016–17) he helped the club achieve

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

qualification for the first time ever. On 24 May 2017 Jenkins left

and returned to his homeland of Scotland where he went Junior with

Hurlford United Hurlford United Football Club are a Scottish Association football, football club based in Hurlford, near Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. Nicknamed ''The Ford'', they were formed in 1912 and play at Blair Park, wearing red and white. They currently play i ...

Personal life

Jenkins became a father to his new daughter Macie on 11 November 2008. To honour the event, manager at the time,

made him

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the match against

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

.In early 2016 Jenkins became a father to his new daughter Alli on the 2nd of February 2016.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, Allan Living people 1981 births Scottish men's footballers Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players Stranraer F.C. players Gretna F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Men's association football midfielders People from Stranraer Ballymena United F.C. players NIFL Premiership players People educated at Stranraer Academy Footballers from Dumfries and Galloway Scottish Junior Football Association players Hurlford United F.C. players Darvel F.C. players Dalbeattie Star F.C. players