Clive Allen

Clive Allen
Personnel
Surname	Clive Darren Allen
birthday	May 20, 1961
place of birth	Stepney , London ,  England
position	Center Forward
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1978-1980	Queens Park Rangers	49 (32)
1980	Arsenal FC	0 0(0)
1980-1981	Crystal Palace	25 0(9)
1981-1984	Queens Park Rangers	87 (40)
1984-1988	Tottenham Hotspur	105 (60)
1988-1989	Girondins Bordeaux	30 (21)
1989-1991	Manchester City	53 (16)
1991-1992	Chelsea FC	16 0(7)
1992-1994	West Ham United	38 (17)
1994-1995	Millwall FC	12 0(0)
1995	Carlisle United	3 0(0)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1984-1988	England	5 0(0)
Stations as a trainer
Years	station
2007	Tottenham Hotspur (Interim)
2008	Tottenham Hotspur (Interim)
1 Only league games are given.

Clive Darren Allen (born May 20, 1961 in Stepney , London , England ) is a former English football player . As a center forward , he appeared at numerous clubs as a goal scorer and completed five international matches for the English national team .

Athletic career

Clive Allen comes from a "soccer family". He is the son of former center forward Les Allen , who won the English championship and FA Cup double with Tottenham Hotspur in 1961 , the latter victory taking place two weeks before Clive was born. In addition, his brother Bradley Allen was also a former soccer player. The squad is completed by coach Martin Allen and former West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur player Paul Allen , both of whom are Clive's first cousins . His son Ollie Allen was also a professional footballer for a while.

The center forward joined the Queens Park Rangers ("QPR") as a youth player and made his debut for that club in 1978 . Although Allen was able to contribute three goals to 5-1 in his first game against Coventry City from the start , the club rose in 1979 to the second division. Nevertheless, Allen developed into a regular player and scored 28 goals in the direct re-promotion season. This led local rivals Arsenal to bid for £ 1.25 million for the teenager - which was an unusually high amount at the time - which QPR's management accepted in the summer of 1980.

Before Allen could even play a single game for his new club, he was sold directly to Crystal Palace two months later . This renewed million dollar trade included a swap with the international Kenny Sansom , who in turn moved from Palace to Highbury . Rumor has it that there was an agreement between the Queens Park Rangers and Crystal Palace that provided that a direct transfer to Palace would not be possible and that Arsenal would act as a "middleman" to circumvent this clause. Ultimately, this thesis could neither be confirmed nor rejected.

While at Crystal Palace, one disapproved goal by everyone sparked major disputes in British sports coverage . When Allen was fouled on September 6, 1980 in the game against Coventry City - after he had already scored - just outside the penalty area, he took the due free kick himself. The ball hit the right inner post and apparently also the goal net before jumping back into the field. Despite violent protests with the linesman , the referee refused to acknowledge the hit. Palace lost the game 3-1 and was relegated from the English elite class at the end of the season. Allen, who had only scored eight goals that season, then returned to his old club Queens Park Rangers.

The club, now coached by Terry Venables , was still playing in the Second Division and Allen was able to build on his previous good form with 13 goals in the 1981/82 season. Although the club failed to return to the Football League First Division , the team moved into the FA Cup final - for the first time in club history. Previously, Allen had scored the decisive goals to 1-0 against Crystal Palace and in the semi-finals against West Bromwich Albion . In the final, the second division team then faced Tottenham Hotspur, for whom Clive Allen's father had previously played. However, the game at Wembley itself was unfortunate for the QPR striker, as he was injured after a tough duel and had to be replaced early in the second half. The game ended with a 1-1 draw after extra time and therefore had to be decided in a replay. However, Allen could not recover in time for this encounter and missed the 0-1 defeat of his team.

Within the next two seasons Allen scored 27 goals for QPR, rose with his club in the 1982/83 season as a second division champion and then asserted himself in the 1983/84 season with a surprisingly good fifth place in the English first division. In the summer of 1984, Allen made his debut during a tour of South America as a substitute in a friendly against Brazil for the English national team led by Bobby Robson . England won that game 2-0 and Allen's second appearance in the 2-0 defeat by Uruguay followed just three days later . His international series on the tour ended with a third game in the goalless draw against Chile . Shortly after his return, he moved to Tottenham Hotspur for £ 700,000, following in his father's footsteps.

There followed a period of acclimatization with his new club. After his debut with two goals, Allen scored a total of eight goals in 15 missions. During his first two years at Spurs, he struggled with injuries, but then began his third season to a large increase in performance and was instrumental in ensuring that his club was able to play for three titles this season. In the meantime, his cousin Paul Allen had also joined the club.

The only striker behind creative midfielders Glenn Hoddle , Osvaldo Ardiles and Chris Waddle , Allen scored 33 goals in the championship and 16 more in the two cup competitions. The Spurs moved into the semi-finals in both the FA Cup and the League Cup and were a serious competitor for the English championship. In the league cup semifinals there was a play-off against Arsenal after the return leg and although Allen scored a total of three goals in the three games, his club was eliminated against their local rivals. In the FA Cup, however, the team was able to move into the final after a convincing semi-final victory over Watford FC . As the season came to an end, Allen also made his fourth international match, scoring a goal against Turkey that was not recognized by the referee.

The Spurs were clearly favored in the FA Cup final against Coventry City and the game started well for everyone. Five years after his bad luck with an injury, he was now able to score an early opening goal in the second minute. A free kick by Hoddle was initially blocked and taken back by Waddle on the far right. Allen was able to turn his cross into 1-0 with a header in the center of the storm . Still, the game ended in disappointment for Spurs and Coventry eventually won 3-2 after extra time. With his 49 goals, however, Allen broke Jimmy Greaves' previous club record and was ultimately voted England's Footballer of the Year by both journalists and fellow players .

The Spurs peak was subsequently exceeded and Allen could no longer fully confirm the qualities shown. He scored another eleven goals and was also used for the last time in the English national team, although he shouldn't score in the 0-0 win against Israel . In March 1988, he moved to reigning French champions Girondins Bordeaux for £ 1 million and returned to England eighteen months later to join Manchester City . Although he was able to score a number of goals there, he was removed from the squad by Peter Reid after he took over as coach. Allen then left the club and came to some shorter jobs at Chelsea FC , West Ham United , Millwall FC and finally at Carlisle United , before he announced his retirement from football in 1995.

He later changed the sport again and was part of the London Monarchs in the European American football league NFL Europe . Under Martin Jol , Allen was accepted into the coaching staff at Tottenham Hotspur and is responsible for looking after the reserve team. After Jol's dismissal at the end of October 2007, Allen was the interim coach of the professional team for a game before Juande Ramos took over the coaching position. Exactly one year later, he took on the team again for a game as an interim coach after Ramos' resignation.

He also worked as an expert for English television station ITV .

successes

• England's Footballer of the Year: 1987

Web links

• Photo by Clive Allen