Graham Allner (born 7 September 1949) is an English former football player and manager. He was manager of

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...

from 1983 until 1998, winning the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

in 1987 and the

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-professi ...

championship in 1994.

Early life

Allner was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, England.

Playing career

Allner started his playing career as a schoolboy at

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

before signing amateur forms at

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

playing reserve football. After being released he drifted into non-league football, firstly at Paget Rangers, where he won the Midland Combination under the guidance of manager Rhys Davies. Allner had a trial with Aston Villa during the 1970–71 season. He then rejoined Davies at

Alvechurch Alvechurch ( ) is a large village and civil parish in the Bromsgrove district in northeast Worcestershire, England, in the valley of the River Arrow. The Lickey Hills Country Park is 2.5 miles (4 km) to the northwest. It is south of Bir ...

, winning another Midland Combination title in 1971–72. During that season Allner played in all 6 FA Cup games against

Oxford City Oxford City Football Club is a semi-professional English association football club based in Marston, Oxford. They currently compete in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football, and play their home matches at Marsh Lane. ...

. Two years later he scored the winning goal against

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

in the FA Cup before eventually being knocked out by

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

. A trial at

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

followed in 1974 before signing for

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The ...

in September 1974 under Allan Grundy. He only spent a season at

before moving to

Redditch United Redditch United Football Club is an English football club based in Redditch, Worcestershire. The club participates in the and play their home games at the V Trico Stadium. They are managed by former Captain and Assistant Manager Matt Clarke. ...

, then quickly moving on to Bromsgrove Rovers. He joined Stafford Rangers in 1976, spending two seasons with them. He joined

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane. Worcester City's ...

in 1978; in his first season they won the Southern Football League but injury sidelined him for most of the first

Alliance Premier League The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

season. Allner then made his first entry into coaching, being appointed player assistant manager at

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...

Managerial career

Allner began his managerial career with

AP Leamington Leamington Football Club is a football club based in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England. They are currently members of and play at the New Windmill Ground near Bishop's Tachbrook. History The club was established in 1933 as the works te ...

. He led

to the

Southern League Premier Division The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English foot ...

in 1983. However, Leamington were denied promotion to the

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

, their place being taken instead by the club that had finished second that year, Kidderminster Harriers. Soon after this, Allner left Leamington and took charge at the

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

club. Kidderminster quickly established themselves as a top non-league side under Allner's management, winning the FA Trophy in 1987 and reaching the final in 1991 and 1995, in addition to making the final of the

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 mos ...

in 1986 and 1989. Their most successful season came in 1994–95 when they reached the fifth round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, knocking out second-tier side

(Allner's first club as a player), and Preston North End. They also won the Conference title that season, but were denied promotion because their Aggborough ground was not deemed up to Football League standards. Kidderminster almost made it to the Football League in 1996–97 after leading the Conference by 15 points at Christmas, but a storming run by close contenders

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was wound-up after a High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 ...

pushed them into second place. Allner quit in November 1998 after almost 16 years in charge, and was eventually replaced by

Jan Molby Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

. A brief tenure as

manager followed. He later worked as a coach under

Steve Cotterill Stephen John Cotterill (born 20 July 1964) is an English former footballer who played as a striker. He is currently the manager of side Shrewsbury Town. Cotterill had a nine-year career as a footballer playing for Burton Albion, Wimbledon, ...

and helped them win promotion to Division Two in 2002. When Cotterill moved to Stoke City a few weeks after the promotion triumph, Allner was promoted to the manager's seat but was sacked on 13 January 2003 with Cheltenham heading for relegation. His successor was

Bobby Gould Robert Hewitt Gould (born 12 June 1946) is an English former footballer and manager. Early life Gould was born in Wyken, Coventry, Warwickshire on 12 June 1946. He is the son of Henry Gould and Helen McKellar Gould (née Morton). He spent h ...

. He is currently working for the Scouting Network.

Honours

As a player

Paget Rangers * Midland Combination: 1969–70, 1970–71 Alvechurch * Midland Combination: 1971–72; runner-up 1972–73 *

West Midlands (Regional) League The West Midlands (Regional) League is an English association football competition for semi-professional and amateur teams based in the West Midlands county, Shropshire, Worcestershire, southern Staffordshire and northern Herefordshire. It has tw ...

Premier Division: 1973–74 * Worcestershire Senior Cup: 1973–74 * Birmingham Senior Amateur Cup: 1973–74 Worcester City * Southern Football League Premier Division: 1978–79

As a manager

AP Leamington *

: 1982–83 Kidderminster Harriers * FA Trophy: 1987 *

: 1994–95

References

External links

The Scouting Network
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allner, Graham Living people Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English football managers Stafford Rangers F.C. players Worcester City F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. managers Cheltenham Town F.C. managers Worcester City F.C. managers Cheltenham Town F.C. non-playing staff 1949 births Alvechurch F.C. players Association football wingers English footballers