Wayne Allison

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Wayne Allison
Personal information
Full name	Wayne Anthony Allison
Date of birth	16 October 1968 (1968-10-16) (age 39)
Place of birth	Huddersfield, England
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Unattached
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1987-1989 1989-1990 1990-1995 1995-1997 1997-1999 1999-2002 2002-2004 2004-2008	Halifax Town Watford Bristol City Swindon Town Huddersfield Town Tranmere Rovers Sheffield United Chesterfield Career	084 0(23) 007 00(0) 195 0(48) 103 0(31) 076 0(15) 102 0(26) 073 00(7) 115 0(23) 752 (173)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12 June 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Wayne Allison (born 16 October 1968 in Huddersfield, England) is an English football centre forward currently a free agent. In a career spanning over 20 years; he has played for 8 clubs and scored over 170 goals.

Allison, who is nicknamed the "Chief",^[1] began his career at home town club Westend Juniors and was the first player from that amateur side to turn professional. His first professional team was Halifax Town, for whom he played from 1987 to 1989, scoring 31 goals in 84 games. Allison then moved on to Watford for £250,000. At Watford he made only 7 appearances, scoring no goals. This prompted another move, this time for £300,000 to Bristol City in August 1990. He was more successful in Bristol, netting 57 goals in 225 games over a 5 year spell at the club.

Steve McMahon signed him to local rivals Swindon Town in 1995 for a fee set by tribunal of £475,000.^[1] 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 the inclusion in Swindon Town Football Club 100 Greats.^[1] He left Swindon for Huddersfield Town, his home town team, for his highest transfer fee of his career (£800,000). Unfortunately, this spell was not quite as successful as he may have hoped and Allison was on the move again in September 1999. This time to Tranmere Rovers for a £300,000 fee. During his three year stay at Prenton Park he netted 32 goals in 117 appearances.

Allison then moved on a free transfer to Sheffield United. Although he had been offered a better deal at League One Boston, he opted for a the challenge of gaining promotion for the Blades. He then went on to become an important part of Neil Warnock's Plans at Bramall Lane, featuring heavily in a season where Sheffield United reached both domestic cup semi finals. He started in both semi finals against Arsenal (FA Cup) and Liverpool in both legs of the League Cup. He made his last move to date, to Chesterfield on 25 June 2004, on another free transfer, aged 36.

On the 25 February 2008 he was released by Chesterfield in order to pursue his football career elsewhere due to limited options available at the Recreation Ground as well as lack of support from the board for his application as assistant manager. This decision came as a shock to Chesterfield fans who will always remember him as a loyal servent to the club who always inspired others around him.

Along with his most popular nickname, 'The Chief', it is also rumoured that some of his teammates refer to him as 'The Supplier'. This originates from Wayne's style of play, which isn't just scoring goals, but involves bringing others into the game. Another nickname that crops up on the training ground "The Package" as known by team mates, an explanation is not needed for this name.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Wayne Allison career stats at Soccerbase
• Swindon Town profile

Persondata
NAME	Allison, Wayne "The Supplier"
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Allison, Waybe
SHORT DESCRIPTION
DATE OF BIRTH	16 October 1968 (1968-10-16) (age 39)
PLACE OF BIRTH	Huddersfield , England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH