George Allen (footballer, born 1932)

George Henry Allen (23 January 1932 – 13 July 2016) was an English footballer who played more than 250 games in the Football League.[1]

For other footballers named George Allen, see George Allen (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with George Allan (footballer, born 1885) or George Allan (footballer, born 1885).

George Allen
Personal information
Full name George Henry Allen[1]
Date of birth (1932-01-23)23 January 1932
Place of birth Birmingham, England
Date of death 13 July 2016(2016-07-13) (aged 84)
Place of death Solihull,[2] England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[3]
Position(s) Left back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
19??–1952 Coventry City
1952–1962 Birmingham City[lower-alpha 1] 134 (0)
1962–1965 Torquay United 134 (0)
1965–19?? Bideford
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Allen was born in Small Heath, Birmingham.[7] A strong-tackling left-back, he joined Coventry City as an amateur while in the army but made no first-team appearances. In November 1952, he joined Birmingham City on a free transfer, and made 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, mainly due to the form of Graham Sissons. After almost ten years at the club, and 166 games in all competitions, he joined Torquay United in January 1962, following in the footsteps of Birmingham teammate 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[8] 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.[8] 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, Allen regained his place and Austin switched 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.[8] He began the 1964–65 season as a regular, but lost his place to Tony Hellin late in the season.[8]

In 1965 he moved to north Devon club 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. He died on 13 July 2016.[2]

Club statistics
Source:[9]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Fairs Cup Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Birmingham City 1953–54 Second Division1000——10
1954–55 Second Division13000——130
1955–56 First Division2000—1030
1956–57 First Division8020—10110
1957–58 First Division4000—2060
1958–59 First Division27060—30360
1959–60 First Division36010—30400
1960–61 First Division380303060500
1961–62 First Division50—100060
Total 134[lower-alpha 1]0120401601660
Torquay United 1961–62 Third Division190———190
1962–63 Fourth Division4502020—490
1963–64 Fourth Division4002010—430
1963–64 Fourth Division3004010—350
Total 13408040—1460
Career total 2680200801603120
  1. Some sources list Allen with 135 League appearances, an error which possibly stems from Matthews (1995) attributing an appearance in Birmingham's match against Blackburn Rovers in March 1961 to Allen rather than to Graham Sissons who actually played in the match.[4][5][6]

References
  1. Hugman, Barry J. The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946-1998. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 1-85291-585-4.
  2. Dick, Brian (18 July 2016). "Ex-Birmingham City defender George Allen passes away". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  3. Golesworth, Maurice (1965). Soccer Who's Who. The Sportsmans Book Club.
  4. Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 196. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  5. "Matches: Saturday, March 25, 1961". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  6. "Birmingham are in confident mood". Sports Argus. Birmingham. 25 March 1961. p. 8.
  7. Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  8. Edwards, Leigh. The definitive Torquay United F.C. The Association of Football Statisticians. pp. 40–43. ISBN 1-899468-09-9.
  9. "Player search: Allen, GH (George)". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
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