Leslie William Allen (born 4 September 1937) is an English former football player and manager who played as a

inside forward 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 ...

Playing career

Allen started his playing career at amateur club Briggs Sports where he helped them to reach the semi-finals of the Amateur Cup in 1954. In the same year Allen signed for

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

on his 17th birthday in September 1954 but never established his place in the Chelsea first-team. He scored 12 League goals for Chelsea in 44 appearances.

Tottenham Hotspur

Allen joined

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

in December 1959 as part exchange for Johnny Brooks. He scored twice in his debut game for Spurs against Newcastle, and five against

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 ...

in the

1959–60 FA Cup The 1959–60 FA Cup was the 79th staging of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Wolverhampton Wanderers won the competition for the fourth time, beating Blackburn Ro ...

tie a few weeks later that ended 13–2, which is the highest scoring FA Cup tie of the 20th century, and the club's record win. He was a key member of Tottenham's double winning side of 1960–61, forming a lethal goalscoring partnership with Bobby Smith. He scored 23 goals in the league that season, and four in the cups. In all, he scored 47 goals in 119 league appearances for the club, and 61 goals in all appearances (134). but struggled to retain his place following the arrival of

Jimmy Greaves James Peter Greaves (20 February 1940 – 19 September 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Greaves is regarded as one of England’s best ever players. He is England's fifth-highest international goalscorer ...

, and had to compete with Bobby Smith for the centre-forward spot. Allen earned an England call-up in February 1961 where he earned one cap for England Under 23s against Wales.

Queens Park Rangers

Allen joined

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 ...

in July 1965 for a recorded sum of £21,000. Allen scored 55 goals in 123 starts and five substitute appearances. He was a member of the QPR team who became the first Third Division side to win the Football League Cup Final 1967.

Managerial career

Allen briefly managed QPR during the 1969–70 season. In November 1972 he became manager of

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 ...

, remaining in charge until 1974.

Family

His brother Dennis, sons Clive and

Bradley Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English. Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular. It is also an Anglicisation of t ...

and nephews

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

and

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

were also professional footballers.

Honours

Tottenham * First Division: 1960-61 *

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 ...

: 1960-61 QPR *

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 ...

: 1967

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Les 1937 births Living people People from London Association football inside forwards English footballers England under-23 international footballers Chelsea F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Queens Park Rangers F.C. managers Aris Thessaloniki F.C. managers Swindon Town F.C. players Footballers from Dagenham Footballers from Hornchurch English Football League representative players Les FA Cup Final players