Ralph Slack Littlewood Allen (30 June 1906 – 9 May 1981) was an English professional footballer. He played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

and he was born in

Newburn Newburn is a semi rural parish, former electoral ward and former urban district in western Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. Situated on the North bank of the River Tyne, it is built rising up the valley from the river. It is situated ...

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

Career

Ralph Allen was playing for Dipton United when signed by

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

in 1928. After 8 goals in 16 games for the Cottagers, he moved to

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 ...

in March 1931 for a fee of £275. He failed to make much of an impression on the first team during three seasons with the Bees, but did score heavily in the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

London Combination The Football Combination was a football competition for the reserve teams of English Football League clubs from Southern England, the Midlands and Wales; other clubs from the Midlands and those from the North playing in the Central League (it is n ...

title wins in 1931–32 and 1932–33, also captaining the team. He left the club to move to

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

in October 1934 for £650. At Charlton he averaged almost a goal a game, scoring 47 goals in only 52 league appearances. He still holds the Charlton record for league goals in one season, a feat made more impressive by the fact that he didn't join them until October. In June 1936, Allen moved on again, this time to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

for a fee of £820, but moved to

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

in October 1936 after only 10 league games in which he scored seven times. He stayed for just over two years at Northampton, scoring 41 goals in 52 games, before moving to

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 nicknamed ...

in November 1938 in exchange (and as a direct replacement for)

Jack Haycox Jack Haycox (7 May 1910 – 21 July 1962) was an English footballer who scored 47 goals from 97 matches in the Football League playing for Newport County, Bristol City, Torquay United and Northampton Town. Primarily a centre forward, he also pl ...

. He scored on his United debut, netting the only goal in a 1–0 win away to

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

on 12 November, and remained a regular for the rest of the season. As throughout his career, Allen was scoring regularly (top-scoring with 15 goals in 28 league games) when the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

began and drew an early close to a career that started late and saw Allen score a total of 122 goals in 171 league appearances.

Personal life

Allen's brother

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

was also a footballer.

References

1906 births 1981 deaths People from Newburn Footballers from Tyne and Wear English footballers Association football forwards Wombwell F.C. players Dipton United F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Reading F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Annfield Plain F.C. players English Football League players {{England-footy-forward-1900s-stub