1967–1971 Middlesbrough Years Team | 1966–1967 Middlesbrough Name Michael (footballer) | |
Date of birth (1949-03-30) 30 March 1949 (age 66) | ||
Place of birth South Shields, England Playing position | ||
Michael Allen (born 30 March 1949) is an English retired professional football left back who made over 230 appearances in the Football League, most notably for Brentford.
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Middlesbrough
Born in South Shields, Allen began his career at nearby Division Three side Middlesbrough in 1966. Boro achieved promotion to Division Two during the 1966–67 season and Allen made his professional debut on 30 December 1967, in a 2–1 defeat to Bolton Wanderers. He scored his only goal for the club in a 1–1 FA Cup third round draw with Millwall on 4 January 1969. Allen failed to make a breakthrough into the first team, his best tally being 15 appearances during the 1969–70 season. He departed Ayresome Park a few months into the 1971–72 season, having made 38 appearances and scored one goal for Middlesbrough.
Brentford
Allen dropped through the leagues to join Division Four high-flyers Brentford in October 1971 in a £10,000 deal. Operating as a midfielder, his 33 appearances during the 1971–72 season helped the club to a third-place finish and promotion to Division Three. The Bees were relegated back to Division Four at the first time of asking and after moving to his preferred left back position in 1974, Allen put in a Player of the Year award-winning season in 1975–76, missing only one league game. Allen helped the club secure promotion back to Division Three in 1978 with a fourth-place finish. He made just seven appearances in Division Three and departed Griffin Park at the end of the 1978–79 season. Allen made 255 appearances and scored 13 goals during nearly 9 years with the Bees.
Whitby Town
In 1979, Allen returned to his native northeast and saw out his career with a spell as player/coach at Northern League side Whitby Town.
Personal life
After retiring from football, Allen worked for ICI.
As a player
Brentford