Background
Allen was born in Small Heath, Birmingham.
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 Street 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.
The following season, he missed just one game as Torquay finished sixth in Division Four. He began the 1963-1964 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. He began the 1964-1965 season as a regular, but lost his place to Tony Hellin late in the season. 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.