Jeannie Allott (born 17 November 1956) is a former
footballer who represented both
England and the
Netherlands at international level.
Club career
When Allott was eight years old she featured in ''
Sports Illustrated's'' '
Faces in the Crowd' segment, as the only girl player in the school football team at
Wistaston Green Primary School. In 1966 Allott debuted in a charity match for
Fodens, originally a works team from the
Edwin Foden, Sons & Co. lorry manufacturing plant in nearby
Sandbach. She remained part of the Fodens team which defeated Southampton in the 1974 final of the
Women's FA Cup, winning the Player of the Match award.
In 1976 Allott moved to the Netherlands and joined the
Zwart-Wit '28
RCVV Zwart-Wit '28 (full name: ''Rotterdamse Christelijke Voetbalvereniging Zwart-Wit 1928'') was a Dutch Saturday football club from Rotterdam, dubbed the "Feyenoord of Saturday Football". Its women's team won the 2000 National Women's Cup then ...
club. By May 1988 she was playing for
KFC '71
KFC '71 was a women's football club from Delft, Netherlands.
The team was founded in 1971 and got dissolved after the 2009-10 season, after failing to better their financial situation.
The team won two national championships by winning the Hoofdkl ...
. Allott remained in the Netherlands where she worked as a shipping planner.
International career
In 1972, Allott progressed through a series of trials to be selected in
Eric Worthington
Eric Senior Worthington (29 December 1925 – 16 November 2006) was an English professional footballer and football coach who played as a forward. After a playing career which included spells in the Football League with Watford and Bradford ...
's first England team. She scored in the team's first official match, a 3–2 win over
Scotland in
Greenock
Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...
on 18 November 1972. At sixteen years and one day old she remains England's youngest goal scorer. In 2022 Allott recalled
hitchhiking
Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free.
Nomads hav ...
from her native
North West England
North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...
to
London in order to train and play with England.
After becoming established in
women's football in the Netherlands, Allott was called up to the
Netherlands women's national football team
The Netherlands women's national football team ( nl, Nederlands vrouwenvoetbalelftal) is directed by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB), which is a member of UEFA and FIFA.
In 1971, the team played the first women's international foo ...
for their
1987 European Competition for Women's Football qualifying campaign. She scored the only goal on her debut against
France and a
hat-trick in the return fixture, a 5–3 win for the Dutch in
Cambrai
Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, regio ...
. She won 12
caps for the Netherlands, scoring a total of eight goals.
Allott felt valued in the Netherlands but remained unhappy at a lack of recognition and respect for female footballers in England: "Nothing that happened in the past should be forgotten but the
FA forgot us. We want a
cap and I believe we deserve an apology."
She was allotted 10 when the English FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England’s inaugural international.
References
External links
Jeanny Allottat
Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB)
Living people
English women's footballers
England women's international footballers
Netherlands women's international footballers
Women's association football midfielders
1956 births
Footballers from Crewe
English emigrants to the Netherlands
Dual internationalists (women's football)
Fodens Ladies F.C. players
{{England-women-footy-bio-stub