Dr. Wayne Anthony Allison (born 16 October 1968) is an English former

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 ...

and coach. In a career spanning over 20 years, he played for eight clubs and scored more than 200 goals. He played as a

centre forward 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 be ...

and was nicknamed the "Chief".

Playing career

Born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

, Allison joined Halifax Town as a trainee in August 1986, breaking into the first-team before signing a professional contract in July 1987. In two seasons with Halifax he scored 23 league goals in 84 games. Allison joined

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

for £250,000 in July 1989, one of three players signed by Steve Harrison from Halifax during his tenure. At Watford he made only seven appearances, scoring no goals. In July 1990 Watford signed

Mark Gavin Mark Wilson Gavin (born 10 December 1963). Is a Scottish footballer who played as a winger. He made over 290 Football League appearances in the 1980s and 1990s. Career Mark Gavin played his youth football with Leeds United. Gavin signed profes ...

from

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

for a fee for £250,000 and Allison, who was valued at £150,000, went to City in exchange. He was more successful in Bristol, netting 57 goals in 225 games over a five-year spell at the club.

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

manager

Steve McMahon Stephen Joseph McMahon (born 20 August 1961) is an English football manager, former professional footballer and current television pundit. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1979 to 1998, most notably playing for Liverpool in the late 1980s. ...

signed Allison in 1995 for a fee set by tribunal of £475,000. A roaming player for the club, Allison's ability to hold the ball up whilst others advanced in support and also help in defence earned him inclusion in ''Swindon Town Football Club 100 Greats''. He left Swindon for

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

, his home town team, for the highest transfer fee of his career, £800,000. However he moved again in September 1999 to

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

for £300,000. He was cup-tied for their run to the 2000 Football League Cup Final. During his three-year stay at Tranmere he netted 32 goals in 117 appearances. In July 2002 Allison moved on a free transfer to

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

. Although he had been offered a better deal at Third Division side

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, he opted for the challenge of gaining promotion for the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

club. He was a regular in a side that reached both domestic cup semi finals in the 2002–03 season. He started in both 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 ...

semi final against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and in both legs of the League Cup against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. He made the last transfer of his career to Chesterfield on 25 June 2004 on a free transfer.

Coaching and management

On 25 February 2008, Allison left Chesterfield due to limited playing options as well as lack of support from the board for his application as assistant manager. After completing both his UEFA 'A' and 'B' licences Allison also passed his Certificate of Applied Management in the summer of 2008 before starting the first year of his pro licence in June. In August 2008, Allison began helping manager Simon Davies at Chester City and he was confirmed as assistant manager early the following month. On 15 October 2008, the day before his 40th birthday, it was announced Allison had agreed playing terms with the club. Despite being named as substitute on three occasions, he did not make any appearances for City. After Davies was sacked on 10 November 2008, Allison became Chester's caretaker manager but he informed the club he would not be applying for the position on a permanent basis. Before the club played its next match against

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

, Chester had reappointed Mark Wright as manager. Allison was involved in leading the team on the day but then announced he was leaving the club despite being offered the chance to remain. He later had a brief spell on the coaching staff at Bury before leaving in January 2009. He was appointed as a coach by Tranmere Rovers in October 2009, before moving to

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

in July 2011. In 2010 Allison completed a PhD at

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield station, Sheffield railway station, whil ...

studying the effects of high-intensity exercise on decision-making in football. It was announced in early 2017 that Allison would replace

Christian Edwards Christian Edwards (born 23 November 1975) is a Welsh football coach and former professional footballer who was most recently manager of Cymru Premier side Cardiff Metropolitan University. He played mainly as a centre back but has also played o ...

as the first team coach of

Welsh Premier League The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. It was found ...

side

Cardiff Metropolitan University Cardiff Metropolitan University () is a public university located in Cardiff, Wales. Formerly known as the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC; , ) which was established in 1996. The university offers degree courses in a variety of d ...

. Allison stepped down from the role in September 2017.

References

External links

*
Swindon Town profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allison, Wayne 1968 births Living people Footballers from Huddersfield English men's footballers English football managers Halifax Town A.F.C. players Watford F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Chester City F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football forwards Chester City F.C. managers Bury F.C. non-playing staff Cymru Premier managers Cardiff Metropolitan University F.C. managers Alumni of Sheffield Hallam University