Clive Allen – Tottenham Hotspur Legend
Born in 1961, Clive Allen had an automatic association with Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, as his father, Les Allen, was a member of Tottenham’s famed League and FA Cup winners that same year.
Clive Allen began his football career with Queens Park Rangers, making his debut in 1978, and although playing for a struggling Rangers side, he managed to score 28 goals the following season, garnering the attention of top clubs.
Allen then signed for Arsenal in 1980, and in a bizarre sequence of events, never playing a competitive game for Arsenal, he was then sold to Crystal Palace for whom he scored eight goals in 25 games during the 1980-81 season that saw Crystal Palace finish bottom of Division One and they were relegated.
The following season Clive Allen returned to Queens Park Rangers where his prolific goal scoring over the next few seasons helped Rangers win promotion back to the top division and also reach the 1982 FA Cup Final, where ironically they played Tottenham but Rangers lost 1-0. after one repeat.
In 1984, Allen signed for Tottenham Hotspur on a £700,000 transfer, and after a rather inauspicious start to his Spurs career, he finally settled into the first team. During his first two seasons, Allen suffered injuries that restricted him to just 15 appearances during his first season.
It was to be the 1986-87 season at Tottenham that Clive Allen will always be remembered, now fully fit and backed by an impressive midfield that included Chris Waddle, Glen Hoddle and Ossie Ardiles, Tottenham challenged for an unprecedented treble. Allen scored an incredible 33 league goals as Tottenham challenged for the league title, but they were ultimately disappointed to finish third in the league.
Allen scored a further 12 goals in the League Cup, as Tottenham narrowly lost to rivals Arsenal in the semi-final and 4 goals in the FA Cup as Tottenham reached the final to play Coventry, a game in which Allen scored, although Spurs lost the final 3-2.
A total of 49 goals in all competitions capped off a great season for Allen, if not for Tottenham who finished the season without a trophy, but Allen was credited with the Football Player of the Year award. His record goal tally of 49 scored in a single season for Tottenham still stands to this day.
The following season Tottenham finished a disappointing 13th in the League and Allen scored 11 goals, and at the end of the 1988 season he signed for Bordeaux after scoring 112 goals in 173 appearances for Tottenham. He will always be remembered for his record breaking season.