George Allen (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | George Henry Allen[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 23 January 1932[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Birmingham, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2] | ||
| Playing position | Left back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| – | Coventry City | ||
| 1952–1962 | Birmingham City | 135 | (0) |
| 1962–1965 | Torquay United | 134 | (0) |
| 1965–19?? | Bideford | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
George Henry Allen (born 23 January 1932) is an English former professional footballer who played more than 250 games in the Football League.
Playing career
Allen was born in Small Heath, Birmingham. A strong-tackling left-back, he joined Coventry City as an amateur whilst in the army without making any first-team appearances. In November 1952, he joined Birmingham City on a free transfer, making his league debut the following season on 19 April 1954 in a second division game against Nottingham Forest at St Andrew's which ended 2–2. The form of established full-back pairing Ken Green and Jeff Hall meant Allen was unable to establish himself as a regular in the side, making only 30 appearances in his first seven years at the club. When Green sustained the injury which eventually forced his retirement, Allen took his place and kept it until suffering a fractured skull in 1961. On his recovery, he could not regain his place in the side, mainly due to the form of Graham Sissons. After almost ten years at the club, and 165 games in all competitions, he joined Torquay United in January 1962, following in the footsteps of Birmingham team mate Gordon Astall who had made the same move six months earlier.
He made his Torquay debut in a 4–2 home win over Hull City on 20 January 1962[3] and was ever-present for the remainder of the season. The following season, he missed just one game as Torquay finished sixth in Division Four.[3] He began the 1963–64 season out of the side, Frank Austin beginning the season at left-back in his place. However, after three games of the season, Allen regained his place, with Austin switching to right-back in place of Colin Bettany. Allen went to play in 40 league games that season, as well as all three of Torquay's cup ties.[3] He began the 1964–65 season as a regular, but lost his place to Tony Hellin late in the season.[3]
In 1965 he moved to north Devon side Bideford, who played in the Western League. He had played 134 league games for Torquay, and failed to score for either of his league clubs.
Statistics
| Season | Team | Division | League Apps | League Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1952–53 | Birmingham City | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1953–54 | " | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 1954–55 | " | 2 | 13 | 0 |
| 1955–56 | " | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 1956–57 | " | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| 1957–58 | " | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 1958–59 | " | 1 | 27 | 0 |
| 1959–60 | " | 1 | 36 | 0 |
| 1960–61 | " | 1 | 39 | 0 |
| 1961–62 | " | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Total | 135 | 0 | ||
| 1961–62 | Torquay United | 3 | 19 | 0 |
| 1962–63 | " | 4 | 45 | 0 |
| 1963–64 | " | 4 | 40 | 0 |
| 1964–65 | " | 4 | 30 | 0 |
| Total | 134 | 0 | ||
| Career totals | 269 | 0 | ||
References
- Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hugman, Barry J. The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946-1998. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 1-85291-585-4.
- ↑ Soccer Who's Who compiled by Maurice Golesworthy The Sportsmans Book Club 1965
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Edwards, Leigh. The definitive Torquay United F.C. The Association of Football Statisticians. pp. 40–43. ISBN 1-899468-09-9.