Messina Wilson Allman (5 April 1883 – December 1943) 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He turned professional with

Burslem 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 of ...

in April 1903, before joining

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 ...

in May 1905. Two years later he signed with

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

via

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

, and helped the "Greens" to finish as Southern League runners-up in 1907–08. He joined

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

in May 1908, before moving on to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

two months later. He then had spells with

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

, and

Ton Pentre Ton Pentre () is a village in the Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Historically part of Glamorgan, Ton Pentre, a former industrial coal mining village, is a district of the community of Pentre. The old district of ...

; scoring the winning goal for Wrexham in the 1910

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...

final. He joined Leicester Fosse in November 1911, before transferrring to Croydon Common in June 1912. He helped Croydon to win the Southern League Division Two title in 1913–14. After a spell guesting for

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he ended his career after the war with non-playing spells with Crystal Palace and

Maidstone United Maidstone United Football Club is a professional football club based in Maidstone, Kent, England. The team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league system. The current club filled the void left by the ol ...

Career

Burslem Port Vale

Allman signed for

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

club

in April 1903, having previously played for local minor-league sides Burslem Park Boys and Burslem Higherhave. He scored his first goal at the Athletic Ground on 16 January 1904, in a 2–2 draw with

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, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

, and finished the

1903–04 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

campaign with three goals in nine appearances. He hit eight goals in 29 games in

1904–05 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

to finish as the club's top scorer.

Southern League

He transferred to

in May 1905. He scored ten goals in 25 Southern League games in

1905–06 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

and then seven goals in 36 games in

1906–07 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

. He then departed Elm Park, and started the 1907–08 season at

, but moved on to

in December 1907 after finding his first team opportunities at

Fratton Park Fratton Park is a football ground in Portsmouth, England, which is the home of Portsmouth F.C. Fratton Park remains as the only home football ground in Portsmouth FC's entire history. The early Fratton Park was designed by local architect A ...

limited. He scored six goals in 19 league games to help the "Greens" to finish as runners-up in the Southern League.

Later career

Allman returned to

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

in May 1908 to sign with

, but never featured at the Victoria Ground, and so instead moved on to

two months later. He played one First Division game for the "Reds", before he left

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

. He spent the 1909–10 season with

, scoring 15 goals in 33 Birmingham & District League fixtures. This tally included

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

s against Telford United (15 January) and Burton United (23 October). He also scored the winning goal for Wrexham over

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

in the 1910

final. He spent the next few years with non-League sides

and

, before he joined Leicester Fosse in November 1911. He scored three goals in seven Second Division games in 1911–12, before leaving Filbert Street for Croydon Common in June 1912. He scored 18 goals in 43 games in 1912–13, before hitting 13 goals in 42 games in 1913–14 to help the club to the Division Two title. He then hit three goals in 28 appearances in 1914–15, and was the last player to score a goal for Croydon Common. He guested for

during

and served as a gunner in the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...

. After the war he served Crystal Palace and

as a

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

player. He later worked as a tramway conductor in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

Career statistics

Honours

Wrexham *

: 1909–10 Croydon Common * Southern League Second Division: 1913–14

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allman, Dick Footballers from Burslem Military personnel from Staffordshire Royal Garrison Artillery soldiers English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Port Vale F.C. players Reading F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Grantham Town F.C. players Ton Pentre F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Croydon Common F.C. players Arsenal F.C. wartime guest players British Army personnel of World War I Crystal Palace F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. (1897) players English Football League players Southern Football League players 1883 births 1943 deaths