John William Alcroft Allen (31 January 1903 – 19 November 1957) was an English professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

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 ...

and

outside left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, who played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

and

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

Career

Born in

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

, he played for his home town club

between 1931 and 1934. He played up front as a striker and managed to score 41 goals in 90 appearances for Newcastle. Perhaps the most important of those goals were scored in the

1932 FA Cup Final The 1932 FA Cup Final was contested by Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United and Arsenal F.C., Arsenal at Wembley Stadium (1923), Wembley Stadium in what became known as the "Over The Line" final. Newcastle won 2–1, both of their goals scored ...

, in which Newcastle beat

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 ...

2–1 with both goals coming from Allen. Allen is best remembered for his time at

where he scored 33 goals in both 1928–29 and 1929–30 to help the Owls clinch back-to-back Division One titles. Allen also played for

and

in his successful career.

Personal life

Allen's brother

Ralph Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

was also a footballer. His grandson

Paul Darling Paul Antony Darling is an English commercial law barrister, King's Counsel and current chair of the Horserace Betting Levy Board. Early life and education Darling grew up in Cleadon in County Durham and went to Tonstall School in Sunderland ...

is Chair of the

Horserace Betting Levy Board The Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB), commonly abbreviated to the Levy Board, is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in the United Kingdom. It is a statutory body established by the Betting Le ...

and another grandson

Ian Darling Ian David Darling is a documentary film director and producer. He is the executive director of Shark Island Institute and its production arm, Shark Island Productions in Sydney, Australia. His documentary producer and director credits inc ...

is a British circuit judge.

Honours

Sheffield Wednesday *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

: 1928–29, 1929–30 Newcastle United *

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 ...

: 1931–32

References

1903 births 1957 deaths English footballers Association football outside forwards Newcastle United F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Brentford F.C. players English Football League players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Gateshead A.F.C. players People from Newburn Footballers from Tyne and Wear Ashington A.F.C. players FA Cup Final players {{England-footy-forward-1900s-stub