Albert Robert Allen (11 October 1916 – 7 February 1992) was an English

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 played as a winger in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Clapton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profess ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

, Doncaster Rovers, Northampton Town and Colchester United. The majority of his success as a player came at Colchester United, where he won the Southern League Cup and finished as runner-up in the league the same year, helping the club gain entry to the Football League.

Career

Born in Bromley-by-Bow, London, two-time England Schoolboy international Allen was on the books at

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

before leaving to join Leytonstone in 1932, and then rekindled his

career at

in 1933 where he made one appearance. Allen then joined another London-based club,

, where he made eleven appearances in two years. Allen moved north to play for Doncaster Rovers in 1937, joining for a fee of £350. He scored six goals in 31 games for the club during his single season before moving back to London with

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

, where he failed to make a first-team appearance. He then played for

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. During the war years, Allen made guest appearances for

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

and then Northampton Town before joining the latter when League football recommenced following the hostilities. In 1947, Allen joined Southern League club Colchester United, where he helped the club finish the Southern League Cup as runners-up twice before winning the competition in 1950. He also aided the club in their quest for League football with election to the Football League in the same year after ending the 1949–50 season as league runners-up. After making his debut on 30 August 1947 in a 5–1 win at

Bedford Town Bedford Town Football Club is a football club based in the Borough of Bedford, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Eyrie in Cardington, a village on the outskirts of Bedford. They are full members of the Football As ...

, Allen went on to make 70 appearances for Colchester in the Southern League and Football League, before a serious knee injury suffered in a 2–0 defeat to

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

at Vicarage Road on 10 February 1951 ended his professional career. He later made a brief return to the Southern League with Bedford Town in August 1951 and retired at the end of the 1951–52 season after having made 45 appearances.

Personal life

As a youth, alongside appearing for England Schoolboys, Allen played tennis at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

and was a renowned London Schools sprinter, but opted to pursue a career in football. After his move to Bedford Town in 1951, Allen found himself in hospital a year later with the prospect of a further year of treatment ahead of him. Colchester arranged a benefit match with Bedford in September 1952 to help aid his family's immediate financial concerns, with a gate of 4,500 in attendance. He later recovered and became a welfare officer in the Redbridge education department. Albert Robert Allen died in

Epping Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...

on 7 February 1992 at the age of 75.

Statistics

Source:

Honours

;Colchester United *1947–48 Southern League Cup runner-up *1948–49 Southern League Cup runner-up *1949–50 Southern League Cup winner * 1949–50 Southern League runner-up :''All honours referenced by:''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Bob 1916 births 1992 deaths Footballers from Bromley-by-Bow English footballers Association football wingers Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Leytonstone F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Dartford F.C. players Port Vale F.C. wartime guest players Northampton Town F.C. wartime guest players Northampton Town F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Bedford Town F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players