Les Allen
Personal information
Full name	Leslie William Allen
Date of birth	4 September 1937 (1937-09-04) (age 72)
Place of birth	Dagenham, England
Playing position	Inside-forward
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1954-1959 1959-1965 1965-1969	Chelsea Tottenham Hotspur Queens Park Rangers	044 (11) 119 (47) 128 (55)
Teams managed
1968-1971 1972-1974	Queens Park Rangers Swindon Town
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Leslie William Allen (born Dagenham, Essex, 4 September 1937) was an English footballer and manager.

As a player, 16 year-old Les Allen made his senior football debut in February 1953 for Briggs Sports in an unforgettable FA Amateur cup quarter final tie at Victoria Road, Dagenham against the holders Pegasus, the great amateur team of the 1950s, a match which the Dagenham works team won 3-0 with Les scoring one and making the other two. Les was an apprentice at Fords and eventually signed as an amateur for Chelsea in September 1954. He was an exciting centre-forward who scored 11 goals in 44 league appearances, before joining Tottenham Hotspur in December 1959. He was a member of Tottenham's double winning side of 1960-61, forming a lethal goalscoring partnership with Bobby Smith. He scored 47 goals in 119 appearances, but lost his place upon the arrival of Jimmy Greaves.

He joined Queens Park Rangers in July 1965 and scored 55 goals in 123 starts and five substitute appearances. He was a member of the Q.P.R. team who became the first Third Division side to win the League Cup. After a spell managing Q.P.R. from 1969 to 1971, he retired from playing and joined Swindon Town as a scout. He was promoted to the manager's position in November 1972, upon the departure of Dave Mackay. Following an unsuccessful tenure he was sacked in February 1974 and he later managed in Salonika in Greece.

Allen is now a model manufacturer who lives with his wife part of the year in Hornchurch, Essex, and part, in the quiet village of Souni in Cyprus just outside of Limasol. His brother Dennis, sons Clive and Bradley, and nephews Martin and Paul all played football professionally. His grandson Oliver, son of Clive, continues the family tradition and currently plays for Stevenage Borough.

[edit] External links

• Les Allen's managerial history at The Internet Soccer Database