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 lea ...

who played as a winger in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Clapton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

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

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

and

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

. The majority of his success as a player came at

, 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 Bromley, commonly known as Bromley-by- Bow, is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, located on the western banks of the River Lea, in the Lower Lea Valley in East London. It is an inner-city suburb located 4.7 mil ...

, London, two-time England Schoolboy international Allen was on the books at

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

before leaving to join

Leytonstone Leytonstone ( ) is an area in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, Stratford to the south-west, Leyton to the west, and Walthamstow to the nor ...

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

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 sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

, 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 ...

before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

and then

before joining the latter when League football recommenced following the hostilities. In 1947, Allen joined Southern League club

, 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 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 non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

Vicarage Road Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of EFL Championship, Championship club Watford F.C., Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200. History It has been the home of Watford since 1922, w ...

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 * W ...

and was a renowned London Schools sprinter but opted to pursue a football career. 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 on 7 February 1992 at the age of 75.

Statistics

Source:

Honours

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Bob 1916 births 1992 deaths Footballers from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets People from Bromley-by-Bow English men's footballers Men's 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 20th-century English sportsmen