Michael Allen (born 28 November 1990) from

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

is a retired Irish

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. He played at both

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

and

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

for

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

and

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Early life

Allen was educated at

Methodist College Belfast Methodist College Belfast (MCB), locally known as Methody, is a co-educational voluntary grammar school in Belfast, located at the foot of the Malone Road, Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1865 by the Methodist Church in Ireland and is one of e ...

. He twice won the

Ulster Schools' Cup The Ulster Schools' Challenge Cup is an annual competition involving schools affiliated to the Ulster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union. The Schools' Cup has the distinction of being the world's second-oldest rugby competition, having be ...

, scoring several tries in the 2009 Semi-Final as the school won the cup two years running, beating

Regent House The Regent House is the governing body of the University of Cambridge. It consists of academics, senior researchers, heads of colleges, librarians, curators, and administrators. It currently has more than 7,200 members. Meetings of the Regent H ...

in 2008 and R.B.A.I in 2009. He attended his first rugby match at only two weeks old to watch his father play for what is now

Belfast Harlequins Belfast Harlequins is a multi-sports club located off the Malone Road in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. The club name provides the overall umbrella for rugby union, men's and ladies' field hockey, hockey, and Squash (sport), squash. The club i ...

and spent his childhood at the club. Allen's mother, Corinne, is a former Northern Ireland Netball international and his sister also excelled at the sport.

Professional

Allen represented

Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the Irish regional pool of the United Rugby Championship and in the European Rugby Champions Cup, each of which they have won ...

at Under 18, Under 19 level and Academy level. He also played for the

Ulster Ravens Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the Irish regional pool of the United Rugby Championship and in the European Rugby Champions Cup, each of which they have won o ...

in the

British and Irish Cup The British and Irish Cup was an annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs and the reserves or developing teams from professional clubs from Great Britain and Ireland. It took place for the first time in the 2009� ...

Semi-Final in 2010 against Munster A. He made his

first team debut against

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

at The RDS in 2012 and was awarded with a Senior Ulster Contract in 2013. In the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, Allen scored his first senior Ulster try against

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park. Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back ...

and was named on the bench for the Final, coming on in the 64th minute in the 24–18 defeat to

. In the 2013–14 season, Allen made his breakthrough playing Wing due to injuries to

Tommy Bowe Thomas John Bowe (born 22 February 1984) is an Irish television presenter and former rugby union player from County Monaghan, Ireland. He played on the wing for Ulster, Ospreys, Ireland and the British & Irish Lions. After his playing career ...

and

Andrew Trimble Andrew Trimble (born 20 October 1984) is a former Irish rugby union player who played for Ulster and represented Ireland at international level. Club career He attended Coleraine Academical Institution, where he competed in the Ulster Schoo ...

, scoring a try against

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

and two against

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

. He has spoken about the competition he faces at wing with Bowe, Trimble and

Craig Gilroy Craig Gilroy (born 11 March 1991) is an Irish rugby union player who played wing for Ulster, and a former Ireland international. He was Ulster's player of the year in 2014–15, and was named in the Pro12 Dream Team twice. Born in the seaside ...

, who are all

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Internationals, saying "Obviously they're three world class players but I can't dwell on that. I have to try and make the most of the game time that I get but at the same time I recognise how tough it is. My priority is to play well enough to ensure that Mark (Anscombe, Ulster coach) has a decision to make each week." He moved to

in 2015, and played there for two seasons. After learning he was not to be offered a new contract at the end of the 2016-17 season, he decided to retire from rugby and focus on his family and his career as a financial adviser.

International

Allen represented

Ireland Schools The Irish Schoolboys rugby union team is the national team for secondary school students and under-18 school players in Ireland. There is an equivalent Ireland under 18 clubs side that play international rugby. Role The Irish Schoolboys side re ...

at under-19 Level. In 2013, Allen was selected for the

Emerging Ireland Emerging Ireland is an Irish international rugby union team that represents Irish Rugby Football Union, Ireland in selected matches, tours and competitions. Composed of Ireland qualified players only, mostly uncapped or at the beginning of their c ...

squad to play at the

2013 IRB Tbilisi Cup The 2013 IRB Tbilisi Cup was the inaugural edition of this international rugby union tournament, created by the International Rugby Board and was played from 7 to 16 June 2013 at the Avchala Stadium in Tbilisi. The hosts Georgia national rugby u ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

where he scored a try in a 19–8 defeat to South Africa President's XV. Emerging Ireland beat

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

42–33 on 16 June 2013 to secure a second-place finish in the tournament. At the end of the 2014 season Allen was selected for the Emerging Ireland squad which travelled to Romania.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Michael 1990 births Living people Irish rugby union players Ulster Rugby players People educated at Methodist College Belfast Rugby union players from Belfast Rugby union centres Edinburgh Rugby players