Douglas Stewart Allder (born 30 December 1951 in Hammersmith,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) is an English former 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 ...

who made over 200 appearances in the Football League for

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

as a

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He was capped by England at youth level and is a member of the Millwall Hall of Fame.

Playing career

Millwall

Allder began his career with

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club

and signed apprentice terms in April 1968 for £4 a week. He signed a professional contract in October 1969,, pp 22 worth £20 a week. He made his debut and broke into the team during the 1969–70 season, making 24 appearances. A dispute with

Benny Fenton Benjamin Robert Vincent Fenton (28 October 1918 – 29 July 2000) was an English professional association football, football player and manager. He played for West Ham United F.C., West Ham United, Millwall F.C., Millwall, Charlton Athletic F.C. ...

in 1971 saw Allder play on a week-to-week contract and he nearly moved to play under

Gordon Jago Gordon Harold Jago (born 22 October 1932) is an English former football player and manager, and the former director of the Dr. Pepper Dallas Cup international youth tournament. Playing career Born in Poplar, London, Jago began his profession ...

at divisional rivals

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

. The move was cancelled after Jago replaced Fenton as Millwall manager, which meant Allder remained at

The Den The Den (previously The New Den) is a football stadium in New Cross, south-east London, and the home of Millwall Football Club. The Den is adjacent to the South London railway originating at , and a quarter of a mile from the Old Den, which i ...

. The Lions occasionally challenged for promotion to First Division, but relegation to Third Division at the end of the 1974–75 season saw Allder depart the club. In his six years with Millwall he made 227 appearances and scored 12 goals. Allder is a member of the Millwall Hall of Fame.

Orient

In July 1975, Allder moved to Second Division club Orient in exchange for

Terry Brisley Terence William Brisley (born 4 July 1950) is an English former association football, footballer who played as a midfielder in the Football League. References

* 1950 births Living people English men's footballers Footballers from Ste ...

and Barrie Fairbrother. He left Orient at the end of the 1976–77 season, after making 41 league appearances without scoring. Looking back in 2002, Allder said "I knew straight away it was a bad move. I wasn't happy there".

Free agent

Allder had a one-month trial with Fourth Division club

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

in August 1977 and made one appearance as a substitute for

Lindsay Parsons Lindsay William Parsons (20 March 1946 – 12 April 2019) was an English professional footballer who played in The Football League for Bristol Rovers and Torquay United. Playing career Parsons is from the Barton Hill area of Bristol and played ...

in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

tie away at Cardiff City. In September 1977, he had a month-long trial with

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, and ...

and made a single appearance away at

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

, in which he was substituted at half-time. Watford went on to win the 1977–78 Fourth Division title and Allder received a winners' medal from chairman Elton John after the final game of the season against Brentford.

Brentford

In October 1977, Allder joined Fourth Division club Brentford on trial. He quickly became the regular

in the team and signed a contract. The Bees were promoted to the Third Division at the end of the season, after securing a fourth-place finish. Allder had an infamous brawl with Sheffield United's

Mick Speight Mike Speight (born 1 November 1951, Upton, West Yorkshire) is an English former footballer who had a long spell with Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United and later had a five–month caretaker manager stint at Chester City F.C., Chester City i ...

during a match at Griffin Park in November 1979, which resulted in the fight spilling over into the Sheffield United dugout and both players being

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

. Allder was released at the end of the 1979–80 season and made 95 appearances and scored three goals during his time at Griffin Park.

Non-League football

Allder joined Isthmian League club Tooting & Mitcham in 1980. He moved to

Staines Town Staines Town Football Club was a semi-professional Association football, football club based in Staines-upon-Thames, Middlesex. History Early days Staines Town FC was founded in 1892 and was known under various names including ''Staines F.C ...

in March 1981, before moving to Walton & Hersham.

Coaching career

In 1992, Allder was working in the Millwall Centre of Excellence.

Personal life

As of 2002, Allder was working at Heathrow Airport.

Career statistics

Honours

Watford * Football League Fourth Division: 1977–78 Brentford * Football League Fourth Division fourth-place promotion: 1977–78 Individual *

Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allder, Doug 1951 births Living people Footballers from Hammersmith English footballers Walton & Hersham F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Watford F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Staines Town F.C. players English Football League players Tooting & Mitcham United F.C. players Millwall F.C. non-playing staff England youth international footballers Isthmian League players Association football wingers