| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1967-03-21)21 March 1967 (age 58) | ||
| Place of birth | Deiniolen,Gwynedd, Wales | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1] | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1985–1988 | Watford | 39 | (5) |
| 1987 | →Aston Villa (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 1988–1990 | Norwich City | 35 | (8) |
| 1990–1993 | Millwall | 81 | (24) |
| 1993–1995 | Newcastle United | 12 | (7) |
| 1996 | Stevenage Borough | ||
| Total | 171 | (44) | |
| International career | |||
| 1986–1993 | Wales | 14 | (3) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Malcolm Allen (born 21 March 1967) is a Welsh football coach, former professionalfootballer and sports pundit and co-commentator.
As a player, Allen was astriker, notably having a brief spell in thePremier League withNewcastle United and a loan spell withAston Villa, although spells withWatford,Norwich City andMillwall in theFootball League brought most of his appearances during his career. He retired having had a brief spell with non-league sideStevenage Borough. He was capped 14 times byWales, scoring 3 goals.
Since retiring, Allen has worked as a youth team coach forAberystwyth, but now works in media and is a pundit and commentator forS4C showSgorio.
Allen was born inDeiniolen,Gwynedd.
Allen began his career with Watford, signing apprentice terms in July 1983, before becoming professional in March 1985.[2] He scored Watford's only goal in 1985FA Youth Cup final.[2] He played and scored for the Hornets in theirFA Cup semi-final defeat againstTottenham Hotspur in 1987, and in 19 cup appearances for Watford scored eight goals.[2] He was loaned toAston Villa in September 1987 by new Watford managerDave Bassett, and after Watford were relegated he joined Norwich for a fee of £175,000 in August 1988.[2] Whilst with Norwich he scored four in their club record FA Cup victory, 8–0 againstSutton United in the fourth round.[3] This was one of the most successful seasons in Norwich's history, as they finished fourth in the league and were semi-finalists in the FA Cup.
Allen joinedMillwall in March 1990 for £400,000, spending three years there before moving toNewcastle United for £300,000 in August 1993, in time for their first season in theFA Premier League following their promotion as Division One champions. He started off well onTyneside, scoring seven goals in 12 games, before suffering a serious ankle injury. He made just one more appearance for the Magpies, and after a long struggle to regain full fitness, he retired from playing aged 28 in December 1995.[2]
In February 1997, Allen signed forConference sideStevenage Borough in an attempt to continue his career at non-league level, and continued to play at this level inHertfordshire for a few more years.
Allen representedWales at youth, B and full international level.[2] He received his first full cap aged 18, after only playing a small number of senior club games,[2] taking to the field on 25 February 1986 in a 2–1 friendly win overSaudi Arabia inDhahran. He was capped a total of 14 times by Wales at senior level, his last appearance coming on 17 November 1993 in the disappointing 2–1 defeat toRomania atCardiff Arms Park, which ended their hopes of qualifying for the1994 World Cup. This came shortly before the ankle injury which ultimately ended his career at senior level.[4]
Allen returned to his native Wales in the summer of 2002 to work as the head of youth development forAberystwyth in theLeague of Wales.[5]
Allen is a pundit onSgorio, aWelsh language football review programme onS4C. Malcolm also regularly co-commentates on liveSgorio games as well as onBBCRadio Cymru's Camp Lawn programme.
In August 2006, Allen was in court charged with assault.[6] In April 2008, charged from hisWatford home, he was given asuspended sentence and a ban for drink-driving after admitting drinking ten pints of beer.[7]
In the autumn of 2009 Y Lolfa published his autobiography in his native Welsh language.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |