Ralph Slack Littlewood Allen (30 June 1906 – 9 May 1981) was an English professional footballer. He played as a forward and he was born in

Newburn Newburn is a village and district of Newcastle upon Tyne, in Tyne and Wear, England. Situated on the North bank of the River Tyne, it is built rising up the valley from the river. It is situated approximately from the city centre, east of H ...

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

Career

Ralph Allen was playing for Dipton United when signed by

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 ...

in 1928. After 8 goals in 16 games for the Cottagers, he moved to

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

in March 1931 for a fee of £275. He failed to make much of an impression on the first team during three seasons with the Bees, but did score heavily in the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

's London Combination title wins in 1931–32 and 1932–33, also captaining the team. He left the club to move to

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

in October 1934 for £650. At Charlton he averaged almost a goal a game, scoring 47 goals in only 52 league appearances. He still holds the Charlton record for league goals in one season, a feat made more impressive by the fact that he didn't join them until October. In June 1936, Allen moved on again, this time to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

for a fee of £820, but moved to

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

in October 1936 after only 10 league games in which he scored seven times. He stayed for just over two years at Northampton, scoring 41 goals in 52 games, before moving to

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

in November 1938 in exchange (and as a direct replacement for) Jack Haycox. He scored on his United debut, netting the only goal in a 1–0 win away to

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

on 12 November, and remained a regular for the rest of the season. As throughout his career, Allen was scoring regularly (top-scoring with 15 goals in 28 league games) when the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

began and drew an early close to a career that started late and saw Allen score a total of 122 goals in 171 league appearances.

Personal life

Allen's brother Jack was also a footballer.

References

1906 births 1981 deaths People from Newburn Sportspeople from Newcastle upon Tyne (district) Footballers from Tyne and Wear English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Wombwell F.C. players Dipton United F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Reading F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Annfield Plain F.C. players English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-footy-forward-1900s-stub