Malcolm Allen (born 21 March 1967) is a Welsh football coach, former professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
and sports pundit and co-commentator.
As a player, he was a
striker, notably having a brief spell in the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
with
Newcastle United and a loan spell with
Aston Villa, although spells with
Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...
,
Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
and
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...
in the
Football League brought most of his appearances during his career. He retired having had a brief spell with non-league side
Stevenage Borough
Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...
. He was capped 14 times by
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
, scoring 3 goals.
Since retiring, he has worked as a youth team coach for
Aberystwyth, but now works in media and is a pundit and commentator for
S4C show
Sgorio
() is a Welsh-language football television programme produced by Rondo Media for S4C. First broadcast on 5 September 1988, it is one of S4C's longest-running shows and renowned for its coverage of European football, but for the first few years ...
.
Early life
Allen was born in
Deiniolen
Deiniolen (; ; ) is a village in Gwynedd, Wales, at the foot of Elidir Fawr, in Llanddeiniolen Community. Deiniolen has views over Caernarfon (7 miles away) and on a clear day, Holyhead Mountain and occasionally the Wicklow Mountains in Irelan ...
,
Gwynedd.
Playing career
Allen began his career with Watford, signing apprentice terms in July 1983, before becoming professional in March 1985.
[Jones, pp 23] He scored Watford's only goal in 1985
FA Youth Cup final.
He played and scored for the Hornets in their
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 ...
semi-final defeat against
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 1987, and in 19 cup appearances for Watford scored eight goals.
He was loaned to
Aston Villa in September 1987 by new Watford manager
Dave Bassett
David Thomas Bassett (born 4 September 1944 in Stanmore) is an English football manager and a former player. During his career he has managed Wimbledon, Watford, Sheffield United, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest, Barnsley, Leicester City a ...
, and after Watford were relegated he joined Norwich for a fee of £175,000 in August 1988.
Whilst with Norwich he scored four in their club record FA Cup victory, 8–0 against
Sutton United
Sutton United Football Club is a professional football club in Sutton, South London, England, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They play home games at Gander Green Lane in Sutton about 11 miles so ...
in the fourth round. This was one of the most successful seasons in Norwich's history, as they finished fourth in the league and were semi-finalists in the FA Cup.
Allen joined
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...
in March 1990 for £400,000, spending three years there before moving to
Newcastle United for £300,000 in August 1993, in time for their first season in the
FA Premier League following their promotion as Division One champions. He started off well on
Tyneside
Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt.
The population of Tyneside as publishe ...
, scoring seven goals in 12 games, before suffering a serious ankle injury. He made just one more appearance for the Magpies, and after a long struggle to regain full fitness, he retired from playing aged 28 in December 1995.
In February 1997, Allen signed for
Conference side
Stevenage Borough
Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...
in an attempt to continue his career at non-league level, and continued to play at this level in
Hertfordshire for a few more years.
International career
Allen represented
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
at youth, B and full international level.
He received his first full cap aged 18, after only playing a small number of senior club games,
taking to the field on 25 February 1986 in a 2–1 friendly win over
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
in
Dhahran
Dhahran ( ar, الظهران, ''Al-Dhahran'') is a city located in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. With a total population of 240,742 as of 2021, it is a major administrative center for the Saudi oil industry. Together with the nearby citi ...
. He was capped a total of 14 times by Wales at senior level, his last appearance coming on 17 November 1993 in the disappointing 2–1 defeat to
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
at
Cardiff Arms Park
Cardiff Arms Park ( cy, Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British ...
, which ended their hopes of qualifying for the
1994 World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...
. This came shortly before the ankle injury which ultimately ended his career at senior level.
Coaching career
He returned to his native Wales in the summer of 2002 to work as the head of youth development for
Aberystwyth in the
League of Wales
The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 2 ...
.
Media career
He is a pundit on ''Sgorio'', a
Welsh language
Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has ...
football review programme on
S4C. Malcolm also regularly co-commentates on live
Sgorio
() is a Welsh-language football television programme produced by Rondo Media for S4C. First broadcast on 5 September 1988, it is one of S4C's longest-running shows and renowned for its coverage of European football, but for the first few years ...
games as well as on
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's Camp Lawn programme.
In August 2006, Allen was in court charged with assault. In April 2008, charged from his
and a ban for drink-driving after admitting drinking ten pints of beer.
In the autumn of 2009 Y Lolfa published his autobiography in his native Welsh language.
*''Canary Citizens'' by Mark Davage, John Eastwood, Kevin Platt, published by Jarrold Publishing, (2001),
*