Rory Allen (born 17 October 1977) is an English 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 le ...

. He now works for the Civil Service.

Club career

Early career

A striker, Allen made his professional football debut for

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

on 4 September 1996 as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat at

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

(aged 18). He went on to score four times in 28 games for Spurs, and started the 3rd round

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 ...

tie in 1997 against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

alongside

Neale Fenn Neale Michael Charles Fenn (born 18 January 1977) is a former professional footballer who is also the former manager of League of Ireland clubs Longford Town and Cork City. Club career Early career Fenn played for Tottenham Hotspur, making his ...

. Two of his four goals came in the league, against Newcastle and Manchester United, also scoring a brace against Preston North End in the League Cup. Allen was sent on loan to

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

in 1997, scoring 6 goals in 8 appearances in what was then Division Two (the third tier of English football).

Portsmouth

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

paid Spurs a club record £1,000,000 for him in July 1999, as he became Pompey's first million-pound signing. He scored his first goal for Portsmouth on 15 August 1999 in a match against

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

. The following week, he made it two goals in a week, scoring in a 2–0 victory at home to

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

. He injured his ankle in September 1999, lasting only 24 minutes of a league match against

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

. He wouldn't play again until making an appearance as a substitute in March 2000. Allen scored his third Portsmouth goal against

QPR 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 R ...

in May 2000, equalising in the 53rd minute but with Portsmouth finally losing the match 3–1. He struggled for match fitness, and missed the whole of the 2000–01 and 2001–02 seasons due to knee problems. He scored in a pre-season friendly match against Spanish side Alavés in August 2002, but made no further competitive appearances. He left the club in November 2002, handing in a letter of resignation with eight months of his contract remaining. Having already undergone eight operations to his ankles and knees over the course of his career, this signalled his retirement from football aged just 25. Manager

Harry Redknapp Henry James Redknapp (born 2 March 1947) is an English former football manager and player. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, West Ham United, Portsmouth, Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City. In his ...

did not know that Allen was going to leave, receiving the resignation letter after Allen had already left the country to watch

The Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, ''The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, its first Te ...

in Australia.

Personal life

In 2000, Allen was arrested and fined alongside Portsmouth goalkeeper

Aaron Flahavan Aaron Adam Flahavan (15 December 1975 – 5 August 2001) was an English Association football, football Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper who played for Portsmouth F.C., Portsmouth. Life and career Flahavan played for the Southam ...

after he admitted to being abusive towards police officers following a drinking session.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Rory 1977 births Living people English men's footballers Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Footballers from Beckenham Men's association football forwards