Welcome to Last Word on Football’s ‘Families in Football’ series. Over the next few weeks, we take a look at siblings, cousins and even parents and children that have played the beautiful game. Some have played cup finals together while others have been on opposing sides. Today, we look at Tottenham Hotspur cousin pairing, Clive and Paul Allen
Families in Football: Clive and Paul Allen
Clive Allen
During an illustrious career, Clive Allen played for seven different London clubs and was a clinical goal scorer throughout, none more so than at Tottenham Hotspur where he played alongside cousin Paul Allen. It was at Queens Park Rangers where he first showed his prowess, scoring 32 goals in 49 games before he left for Tottenham’s arch-rivals Arsenal, although he would never play a competitive match for them.
Allen returned to QPR via Crystal Palace and scored 13 goals for Terry Venables’ team but it was not quite enough to gain promotion back to the top division. Ironically, it was Allen who was instrumental in QPR reaching the 1982 FA Cup final where the opposition was Spurs. He was injured in the first match and missed the replay when Tottenham regained the Cup. In 1984, he then moved to North London and the club that his father Les Allen had played for in the 1960s glory days for a fee of £700,000.
Allen’s most impressive season in the white of Spurs was the 1986/87 season when he scored an incredible 49 goals in all competitions, but that effort was not rewarded with a trophy as Coventry City beat them in the 1987 FA Cup final in which he played alongside cousin Paul. His goalscoring was rewarded though as he took the PFA Player of the Year and Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year awards.
Allen then moved on to France and Bordeaux before stints at Manchester City, West Ham United, Millwall and finishing his playing career at Carlisle United. Allen went on to be a coach at Spurs and still appears at functions at the club.
Paul Allen
Whilst Clive Allen was ploughing his own furrow, Paul was becoming the youngest player at the time to appear in an FA Cup final when he appeared against Arsenal in 1980 at Wembley Stadium. He won the Second Division title with West Ham at the end of the 1980/81 season and scored six goals in 152 appearances before he left to join Tottenham in 1985 for a fee of £400,000.
Between 1985 and 1993, Allen became an integral part of a Spurs side that featured the likes of Glenn Hoddle, Ossie Ardiles and cousin Clive. He was on the losing side with Clive in the 1987 cup final but turned the tables in 1991 when he was part of the side that beat Nottingham Forest. Allen was a firm favourite with the Spurs fans and in total played 292 league games scoring 23 goals. His final season at White Hart Lane was the 1992/93 season where he was voted player of the year.
Games Played Together and Against
Include the 1987 FA Cup final defeat against Coventry, the cousins turned out 20 times together for Spurs, with Clive scoring 11 goals.
The duo also faced each other once when Clive lined up for Chelsea, with the forward netting the opener in a 2-0 win in 1992.
Interesting Facts
Although football was his game, Clive Allen did try his hand at American Football playing for the London Monarchs in the European NFL in 1987 although his legacy will be for getting balls below the bar rather than over it.
Following his retirement from the game, Paul Allen did work for a period for the Professional Footballers Association.
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