Dr. Wayne Anthony Allison (born 16 October 1968) is an English former

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 ...

and coach. In a career spanning over 20 years, he played for eight clubs and scored more than 200 goals. He played as a

centre 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 ...

and was nicknamed the "Chief".

Playing career

Born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

, Allison joined

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

as a trainee in August 1986, breaking into the first-team before signing a professional contract in July 1987. In two seasons with Halifax he scored 23 league goals in 84 games. Allison joined

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, a ...

for £250,000 in July 1989, one of three players signed by Steve Harrison from Halifax during his tenure. At Watford he made only seven appearances, scoring no goals. In July 1990 Watford signed

Mark Gavin Mark Wilson Gavin (born 10 December 1963) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a winger. He made over 290 Football League appearances in the 1980s and 1990s. Career Mark Gavin played his youth football with Leeds United. Gavin signed p ...

from

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

for a fee for £250,000 and Allison, who was valued at £150,000, went to City in exchange. He was more successful in Bristol, netting 57 goals in 225 games over a five-year spell at the club.

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, 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 ...

manager

Steve McMahon Stephen Joseph McMahon (born 20 August 1961) is an English football manager, former professional footballer and current television pundit. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1979 to 1998, most notably playing for Liverpool in the late 1980s. ...

signed Allison in 1995 for a fee set by tribunal of £475,000. A roaming player for the club, Allison's ability to hold the ball up whilst others advanced in support and also help in defence earned him inclusion in ''Swindon Town Football Club 100 Greats''. He left Swindon for

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

, his home town team, for the highest transfer fee of his career, £800,000. However he moved again in September 1999 to

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...

for £300,000. He was cup-tied for their run to the

2000 Football League Cup Final The 2000 Football League Cup Final was played between Leicester City, in their third final appearance in four years, and First Division side Tranmere Rovers at Wembley Stadium on 27 February 2000. It was the 34th and last League Cup Final to be p ...

. During his three-year stay at Tranmere he netted 32 goals in 117 appearances. In July 2002 Allison moved on a free transfer to

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

. Although he had been offered a better deal at Third Division side

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, he opted for the challenge of gaining promotion for the First Division club. He was a regular in a side that reached both domestic cup semi finals in the 2002–03 season. He started in both the

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 against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and in both legs of the

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 ...

against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. He made the last transfer of his career to

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

on 25 June 2004 on a free transfer.

Coaching and management

On 25 February 2008, Allison left Chesterfield due to limited playing options as well as lack of support from the board for his application as assistant manager. After completing both his UEFA 'A' and 'B' licences Allison also passed his Certificate of Applied Management in the summer of 2008 before starting the first year of his pro licence in June. In August 2008, Allison began helping manager Simon Davies at Chester City and he was confirmed as assistant manager early the following month. On 15 October 2008, the day before his 40th birthday, it was announced Allison had agreed playing terms with the club. Despite being named as substitute on three occasions, he did not make any appearances for City. After Davies was sacked on 10 November 2008, Allison became Chester's caretaker manager but he informed the club he would not be applying for the position on a permanent basis. Before the club played its next match against

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

, Chester had reappointed Mark Wright as manager. Allison was involved in leading the team on the day but then announced he was leaving the club despite being offered the chance to remain. He later had a brief spell on the coaching staff at

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

before leaving in January 2009. He was appointed as a coach by Tranmere Rovers in October 2009, before moving to

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

in July 2011. In 2010 Allison completed a PhD at

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield railway station, while the Collegiate Cr ...

studying the effects of high-intensity exercise on decision-making in football. It was announced in early 2017 that Allison would replace

Christian Edwards Christian Edwards (born 23 November 1975) is a Welsh football coach and former professional footballer who was most recently manager of Cymru Premier side Cardiff Metropolitan University. He played mainly as a centre back but has also played o ...

as the first team coach of

Welsh Premier League 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 20 ...

side

Cardiff Metropolitan University , image_name = Shield of Cardiff Metropolitan University.svg , image_size = 150px , motto = cy, Gorau Meddiant Gwybodaeth , mottoeng = The most valuable possession is knowledge , established = 2011 – Car ...

. Allison stepped down from the role in September 2017.

References

External links

*
Swindon Town profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allison, Wayne 1968 births Living people Footballers from Huddersfield English footballers English football managers Halifax Town A.F.C. players Watford F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Chester City F.C. players English Football League players Association football forwards Chester City F.C. managers Bury F.C. non-playing staff Cymru Premier managers Cardiff Metropolitan University F.C. managers Alumni of Sheffield Hallam University