Kenneth Richard Allen (born 12 January 1948) is an English retired professional football

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

. Kenny Allen began his career as an amateur with

Hartlepool Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County D ...

, who he joined in August 1968 from non-league

Tow Law Town Tow Law Town Association Football Club is an English non-league football club from Tow Law, County Durham, currently playing in the Northern League Division One, in the ninth level of the English football league system. The team, nicknamed "Th ...

, a side later to produce

Chris Waddle Christopher Roland Waddle (born 14 December 1960) is an English former professional football player and manager. He currently works as a commentator. Nicknamed "Magic Chris", football journalist Luke Ginnell wrote that Waddle was "widely ackn ...

. He played only 7 league games for Hartlepool, before leaving, turning up next at South African side Hellenic. In December 1972 he returned to England, signing for

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

, but left without appearing in their league side. He had a spell with

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Locat ...

before joining

Bath City Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club have ...

in July 1973. He made nearly 300 appearances for Bath over the next five years. In August 1978, Allen joined

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a r ...

, where he was to make 152 league appearances. In 1983, he signed for Bury on non-contract terms, but failed to make the first team, and in December 1983 he joined

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

, playing only once in the

Associate Members' Cup 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 Lea ...

away to

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 ...

. Peterborough proved to be an unhappy place for Allen a couple years later when, as a Torquay player, he was attacked on the pitch by Peterborough 'fans'. From Peterborough, he moved to Sweden, playing for

Halmstads BK Halmstads Bollklubb, also known simply as Halmstad () or (especially locally) HBK or Bollklubben, is a Swedish football club located in Halmstad in the county of Halland. The club, formed 7 February 1914 and approved membership in the Swedish ...

,http://www.fotbollsweden.se/Allsve%201983.htm before joining

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 nickna ...

on a free transfer in March 1984, taking over from

John Turner John Napier Wyndham Turner (June 7, 1929September 19, 2020) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Canada from June to September 1984. He served as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and leader of t ...

as first choice goalkeeper, making his début in a 2–1 defeat away to

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

on 17 March. In September 1985, he left

Plainmoor Plainmoor is an association football stadium located in the Plainmoor suburb of Torquay, Devon, England. Since 1921, the stadium has been the home of Torquay United Football Club, who currently compete in the National League, the fifth tier o ...

to join

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

again on a free transfer. He played 40 league games the following season as Swindon won the Fourth Division title, but early the following season he lost his place to

Fraser Digby Fraser Charles Digby (born 23 January 1967) is an English football coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper. He spent much of his career with Swindon Town, for whom he played in the Premier League. In 2008, he found new fame through re ...

, only playing a further 5 league games, before being transferred back to Torquay in December 1986 as a replacement for

John Smeulders John Smeulders (born 28 March 1957) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, best remembered for his three spells in the Football League with Bournemouth. He also played League football for Torquay United, Brent ...

. By now his grey hair and moustache made him instantly recognisable and he helped Torquay to remain in league football, playing in the first great escape when Torquay drew 2–2 with

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

at Plainmoor thanks to a late equaliser from Paul Dobson and help from the police dog Bryn biting

Jim McNichol James Anthony McNichol (born 9 June 1958) is a Scottish former professional footballer who is most noted for his career at Torquay United and Exeter City. He was capped by Scotland at U21 level. Playing career An apprentice at Ipswich Town, Mc ...

ensuring that injury time would be required. The following season, he was an ever-present as

Cyril Knowles Cyril Barry Knowles (13 July 1944 – 30 August 1991) was a footballer who played left-back for Tottenham Hotspur and England. He was the son of the rugby league footballer; Cyril Knowles, and the older brother of fellow professional footbal ...

' side made the play-offs, but was released in the summer, joining

in July 1988. He began the season as a regular, but after only nine games, broke his leg while conceding a penalty against

Dorchester Town Dorchester Town Football Club are a semi-professional football club, based in Dorchester, Dorset, England. They currently play in the . The club is affiliated to the Dorset County Football Association and is a FA chartered Standard club. They ...

. He regained his fitness, but was released in February 1989. He moved on to recently relegated Newport County, but as Newport folded and failed to complete their Conference season, he returned to Torquay for a third time in April 1989 to cover for the injured Ken Veysey and played at Wembley in the Associate Members' Cup Final as Torquay's only other professional keeper Mark Coombe was cup-tied. He retired from football in June 1989 to work for the Post Office. In May 2001, the Torquay ''Herald Express'' reported that Allen was living in

Paignton Paignton ( ) is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paig ...

, captaining

Chudleigh Chudleigh () is an ancient wool town located within the Teignbridge District Council area of Devon, England between Newton Abbot and Exeter. The electoral ward with the same name had a population of 6,125 at the 2011 census. Geography Chud ...

cricket team and working as an ambulance driver for the South & West Devon Health Authority

References

External links

Player Profile
– Swindon-Town-FC.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Kenny 1948 births Living people People from Thornaby-on-Tees Footballers from County Durham English footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Hartlepool United F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Bury F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Halmstads BK players Torquay United F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Bath City F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players English Football League players Tow Law Town F.C. players Footballers from Yorkshire Thanda Royal Zulu F.C. players Workington A.F.C. players Allsvenskan players English expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Sweden