Robert Allan (10 February 1872 – 14 November 1918) was a Scottish
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...
who played as an
outside-right
In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...
for
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...
and its predecessor club Thames Ironworks. He had previously played for
Dundee
Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
.
Allan started his career at Dundee, making 11 total appearances and scoring 4 goals, including a
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...
in a
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,King's Park in January 1897. Finding first-team opportunities limited, he joined Thames Ironworks in 1899. There, he made 22 consecutive appearances in the Southern League Division One, between his debut against
Southampton
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
on 16 December and the end-of-season test match against
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...
on 30 April. Usually occupying the outside-right position, he was also played at
inside-left
In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...
and at
right-half
In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...
. His only goal came in a 4–1 victory over Southampton on 9 April 1900. He also made seven consecutive appearances in the Thames & Medway Combination. After the winding up of Thames Ironworks and the formation of West Ham United, Allan continued to play for the new club, making 57 appearances over three seasons. His only goal for United came against Wellingborough Town on 27 December 1901.
The club handbook from 1900 to 1901 featured the following description of Allan: