Harry Allen (19 January 1866 – 23 February 1895) was an English international

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 lea ...

, who played most of his career for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

, and was their captain.

Career

Allen started his career with Walsall Swifts in 1883 before moving to

in 1886, making his senior debut - and scoring - in a 6–0 FA Cup win over

Matlock Town Matlock Town Football Club is a association football, football club based in Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock, Derbyshire, England. Nicknamed 'the Gladiators', they are currently members of the and play at Causeway Lane. History The club was esta ...

on 30 October 1886. Harry Allen was a formidable defender, 'rather rash at times' but nevertheless a great competitor for Wolverhampton Wanderers. Harry Allen made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

debut on 8 September 1888, playing at centre–half, at

Dudley Road Dudley Road was a football ground in Wolverhampton in England. It was the home ground of Wolverhampton Wanderers between 1881 and 1889, and was used during the first season of the Football League. History The ground began to be used in 1881 b ...

, the then home of Wolverhampton Wanderers. The home team drew with the visitors,

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

1–1. Allen also played in the 1889 FA Cup Final, where Wolverhampton Wanderers lost 3–0 to League Champions

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

. Harry Allen, playing at centre–half (22 appearances), appeared in all of the Wolverhampton Wanderers 22 Football League matches in season 1888–89 and was part of a defence-line that kept four clean–sheets and restricted the opposition to one–League–goal–in–a–match on eight separate occasions. Harry Allen and Dick Baugh were the only Wolverhampton Wanderers players to appear in every League match in season 1888–89. Despite the setback of losing a FA Cup Final, he went one step further in

1893 Events January * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * January 6 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress; th ...

as he scored the only goal to lift the FA Cup against Everton and he was the Wolverhampton Wanderers team captain. Allen's club form won him a call-up to the England team in 1888, as he made his debut in a 5–1 win over

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

on 4 February 1888. He won 5 caps in total, all in Home International fixtures spread over three years. Illness and a back injury forced him to retire from the game though in October 1894. In total, he made 153 appearances for Wolves, scoring 8 goals. He became landlord of a pub in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

, but died suddenly on 23 February 1895, aged 29.

Honours

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

winner:

finalist:

1889 Events January * January 1 ** The total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 is seen over parts of California and Nevada. ** Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka experiences a vision, leading to the start of the Ghost Dance movement in the Dakotas ...

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Harry 1866 births 1895 deaths Footballers from Walsall English men's footballers England men's international footballers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players English Football League players Walsall F.C. players Men's association football defenders