Thomas James Allan (born 30 October 1994) is an English professional

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 plays as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for club

Farsley Celtic Farsley Celtic Football Club is a football club based in Farsley, West Yorkshire, England. The club was founded in 1908, but folded in 2010 and were reformed as Farsley AFC before returning to the name Farsley Celtic in 2015.

. He has played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

. Allan started his career with hometown club York City aged eight and had a loan spell with

Hucknall Town Hucknall Town Football Club is a football club based in the town of Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, England. The club is a member of the and plays at the RM Stadium. History Hucknall Town were renamed from Hucknall Colliery Welfare in 1987 and for ...

of the Northern Premier League Division One South in 2011. He signed a professional contract with York in December 2012, and made his first-team debut in League Two shortly after. He had a loan spell with

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

club

Harrogate Town Harrogate Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Harrogate Hotspurs were fou ...

in 2013 before being released by York in 2014. He spent one season with

Conference Premier The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

club

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

before being released.

Career

York City

Born in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, Allan joined the youth system of hometown club

in 2002 at the age of eight. He signed for

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

Division One South club

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

in October 2011, making his only appearance as a substitute against Stamford before returning to York in November. While still a second-year trainee, he signed a one-and-a-half-year professional contract with York on 6 December 2012, with

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Gary Mills commenting: "Tom has come on unbelievably in the last 12 months and thoroughly deserves his first professional contract". He made his first-team debut as a 56th-minute substitute for

Chris Doig Christopher Ross Doig (born 13 February 1981) is a Scottish former professional Association football, footballer who became a coach when he retired as a player. As a player, he was a Defender (association football), defender who played from 19 ...

in York's 4–1 home win over

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 15 December 2012. Allan made his full debut on 13 April 2013 in a 2–0 away win over

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 ...

, and finished the 2012–13 season with five appearances for York. He joined

club

on a one-month loan on 21 November 2013, having made four appearances for York up to that point in 2013–14. His debut came two days later in a 3–0 victory away to

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

, and made one more appearance for the club before returning to York on 20 December 2013. Allan came on as an 89th-minute substitute for Will Hayhurst in York's 0–0 away draw with

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Established in 1997, the current Flee ...

in the play-off semi-final second leg, resulting in the team being eliminated 1–0 on aggregate. This was his sixth appearance for York in 2013–14. He was released by York in May 2014, as the offer of a new two-year contract was withdrawn after he failed to respond to it within a one-month timeframe.

Non-League

Allan joined

club

, managed by his former York manager Mills, on 30 June 2014. He signed a one-year contract that would be extended by a further year pending on him making a pre-determined number of appearances. He made his debut on 23 August 2014 as a second-half substitute for

Lewis Guy Lewis Brett Guy (born 22 August 1985) is an English former footballer who played as a forward. He last played for Annan Athletic. Club career Newcastle Guy started his career at Newcastle United and appeared for them once in the UEFA Cup. D ...

in a 6–1 home defeat to

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

. He scored his first career goal on 25 October 2014 in a 4–0 home win against

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the English Football League, Football League i ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. Allan made 22 appearances and scored 2 goals for a Gateshead team that ranked 10th in the Conference Premier in 2014–15. He was released by new manager

Malcolm Crosby Malcolm Crosby (born 4 July 1954) is an English former professional footballer and manager. He is currently working for Exeter City as the club's Chief Scout under former Wigan Athletic manager Gary Caldwell. Playing career Born in South Shield ...

in June 2015. Allan signed for newly relegated

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

club

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alf ...

on 6 July 2015 on a one-year contract. Allan dropped down two divisions in December 2016 by joining Northern Premier League Division One North club Tadcaster Albion on loan. He scored on his debut on 17 December 2016 in a 3–2 away win over

Radcliffe Borough Radcliffe Football Club (formerly Radcliffe Borough) is an English football club based in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, where they play their home games at Stainton Park. The club was formed on 24 May 1949 and currently plays in the National L ...

, dispossessing Lassana Nalatche before shooting into the bottom corner. In June 2017, Allan signed a new one-year contract at Alfreton.

Return to York City

Allan re-signed for York City, with the club now in the National League North, on 17 May 2018. He rejoined Alfreton Town on 16 November 2018 on loan until 1 January 2019, having started only four matches for York in 2018–19. His debut came the following day when starting Alfreton's 3–1 home win over

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Town Football Club is an English football club that was based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. It withdrew from Southern League Premier Division Central on 18 January 2024 due to financial problems and faces liquidation. In 1889, Nuneaton S ...

in the league. The loan was extended until the end of the season in January 2019. Allan missed the start of the 2019–20 season with a three-match suspension before joining York's divisional rivals

on 16 August 2019 on a one-month loan. He made seven appearances for Farsley, scoring two goals, and after returning to York went straight into the starting line-up for their 2–0 away win over

Irlam Irlam is a suburb in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, it had a population of 19,933. It lies on flat ground on the south side of the M62 motorway and the north bank of the Manchester Ship Canal, southwest of Salf ...

in the FA Cup as cover for the injured Steve McNulty. He returned to Farsley Celtic on 17 October on loan until 4 January 2020, making 13 appearances and scoring 1 goal during his second loan spell. Allan joined Northern Premier League Premier Division club Scarborough Athletic on 20 February on a one-month loan. Allan was released by York at the end of the 2019–20 season, in which he made two appearances for the club in all competitions. York had finished in second place in the 2019–20 National League North on points per game after the season was suspended in March 2020 because of the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confirm ...

before being eliminated from the play-offs in the semi-final.

Farsley Celtic

Allan signed for Farsley Celtic on 1 August 2020 on a one-year contract.

Alfreton Town

Prior to the 2021–22 season, Allan returned to former club Alfreton Town.

Return to Farsley Celtic

After a short spell with Alfreton, Allan returned to Farsley Celtic in October 2021.

Style of play

Allan primarily plays at

and

. By late 2016, he had started playing as a

left winger 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. ...

Career statistics

References

External links

Profile
at the York City F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:Allan, Tom 1994 births Living people Footballers from York English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football wingers York City F.C. players Hucknall Town F.C. players Harrogate Town A.F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Alfreton Town F.C. players Tadcaster Albion A.F.C. players Farsley Celtic F.C. players Scarborough Athletic F.C. players Northern Premier League players English Football League players National League (English football) players 21st-century English sportsmen