Michael Allen (born 30 March 1949) is an English retired 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 le ...

who made over 230 appearances 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 ...

, most notably for

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 ...

. A

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, he also played League football for Middlesbrough.

Playing career

Middlesbrough

Born in

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

, Allen began his career at Middlesbrough in 1966 and made his professional debut on 30 December 1967, in a 2–1 Second Division defeat to

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. He scored his only goal for the club in a 1–1 FA Cup third round draw with Millwall on 4 January 1969. Allen failed to break through into the first team, with his best tally being 15 appearances during the 1969–70 season. He departed

Ayresome Park Ayresome Park was a football stadium in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Middlesbrough F.C. from its construction in time for the 1903–04 season, until the Riverside Stadium opened in 1995. It was demolished in 1997 and r ...

a few months into the 1971–72 season, having made 38 appearances and scored one goal for Middlesbrough.

Brentford

Allen dropped through the leagues to join

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

high-flyers

in October 1971, for a £10,000 fee. Operating as a midfielder, his 33 appearances during the 1971–72 season helped the club to a third-place finish and promotion to the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

. The Bees were relegated straight back to the Fourth Division and after moving to his preferred

position in 1974, Allen put in a Player of the Year award-winning season in 1975–76, when he missed only one league match. Allen helped the club secure promotion back to the Third Division in 1977–78, with a fourth-place finish. He made just seven appearances in the Third Division and departed

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

at the end of the 1978–79 season. Allen made 255 appearances and scored 13 goals during nearly 9 years with the Bees.

Whitby Town

In 1979, Allen returned to his native

northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

and ended his career with a spell as player-coach at

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

club

Whitby Town Whitby Town Football Club is an English football club based in Whitby, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Northern Premier League, the seventh tier of English football. Founded in 1880, Whitby are one of the oldest clubs from the Nor ...

Personal life

After retiring from football, Allen moved to Marton and worked for

ICI Wilton Wilton International is a multi-occupancy industrial site in Redcar, North Yorkshire, England. Originally a chemical plant, it has businesses in a variety of fields including energy generation, plastic recycling and process research. History an ...

Career statistics

Honours

Brentford *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

third-place promotion: 1971–72 * Football League Fourth Division fourth-place promotion: 1977–78 Individual * Brentford Supporters' Player of the Year: 1975–76 * Brentford Players' Player of the Year: 1975–76

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Michael 1949 births Footballers from South Shields English men's footballers Brentford F.C. players English Football League players Middlesbrough F.C. players Whitby Town F.C. players Northern Football League players Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football midfielders Living people