ALLEN, Clive Darren (1984 88)
Position: Striker
Height: 5ft 10ins
Weight:12st 3lbs
Born: Stepney, East London, 20 May, 1961
Signed from Queens Park Rangers August 1984
Transferred to Bordeaux (France) March 1988
Also played for: Queens Park Rangers, Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Bordeaux, Manchester City, Chelsea, West Ham United, Millwall, England
Spurs Record:
Debut: 25 August, 1984 v Everton (FL) (a) won 4-1
Appearances: League 97(8), FA Cup 11(1), League Cup 13(1), Europe 3(1)
Goals: League 60, FA Cup 9, League Cup 13, Europe 2
Following in the footsteps of his Double-winning father, Les, was never going to be easy for Clive Allen but while he never won the trophies his father did, he left as indelible a mark on our history for his individual exploits as Les did as a member of the club’s greatest team.
Allen began his career with Queens Park Rangers, notching 34 goals in 55 games, before becoming the youngest player transferred for a seven figure fee when he joined Arsenal for £1.25 million in June, 1980. Within a couple of months he was off to Crystal Palace, spending a season at Selhurst Park before returning to Loftus Road.
Allen quickly rediscovered his goalscoring form and led the line as Rangers progressed to the 1982 FA Cup Final but the joy of playing in a Wembley final was short-lived. Injured in the first 10 minutes, he had to go off and missed the replay, won for us by Glenn Hoddle’s penalty.
On returning from England’s 1984 tour to South America, Allen became - along with John Chiedozie - new manager Peter Shreeves’ first signings. He made a great start with two goals on his debut and his partnership with Mark Falco looked full of promise until Allen sustained a groin injury in December, 1984. It was almost a year before he returned but signs of what was to come were apparent in the last three games of 1985-86 as Allen found the net five times.
The following season every touch of the ball turned to goals for him. Right from an opening day hat-trick at Aston Villa, he could do no wrong but it was when David Pleat decided to play with an attacking, fluid five-man midfield that Clive’s goalscoring reached new levels. He flourished as the sole attacker supported by Hoddle, Chris Waddle, Paul Allen, Steve Hodge and Ossie Ardiles or Tony Galvin. In 54 matches he scored 49 goals, an incredible total that beat Jimmy Greaves’s 1962-63 record of 42.
Everything that made Clive a natural goalscorer was encapsulated in that one season. No matter how the ball arrived into the area, he had the ability to get it under control instantly, twist away from his marker and find just enough space to get in a shot that usually found the target. His great strength though, was an uncanny ability to know where the ball was going to end up irrespective of where it seemed to be heading.
The last of his 49 goals came in the 1987 FA Cup Final, a near post header in the first two minutes, but again Wembley did not prove a happy venue as Coventry City went on to win the most entertaining final for years. Small consolation came with both the PFA and FWA Player of the Year awards.
The 1986-87 season proved the peak of Clive’s Spurs career. He moved to Bordeaux in March, 1988, and later played for Manchester City, Chelsea, West Ham United and Millwall giving him a total of seven London clubs. He added another in 1997, as kicker for the London Monarchs in the World League of American Football, aiming to put the ball over a bar he had proved so adept at putting it under.
He was appointed Development Coach for us in the summer of 2004, working with the senior squad but chiefly in charge of the Reserve side. In the 2005-06 season, he led the Reserve team to the Barclays Premiership Reserve League South title, as we won 20 of our 26 matches, and only lost the Play-Off Final at Old Trafford to Manchester United. He was then appointed First Team Assistant Coach in the summer of 2010, as part of Harry Redknapp’s staff.