Glen Robertson continues his series of ‘Ask Yer Dad’ features – this week, it’s Hartlepool legend Joe Allon…
Nobody can accuse Joe Allon of living a boring life. The former Hartlepool United and Newcastle United striker not only boasts an impressive record on the pitch, but off it as well.
The 45-year-old scored in the famous Newcastle No9 jersey for his boyhood club, became a legend at Victoria Park, became the only footballer outside the ‘big three’ to win the North-East Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year award, roomed with a Hollywood movie star, was an usher at weddings for two of Britain’s most notorious midfielders and is a close friend of Paul Gascoigne.
Allon also played for Chelsea, Swansea, Port Vale, Brentford and Lincoln City. He scored 136 goals in his career, over half of which came for Hartlepool.
The man from Gateshead started his career on the books of Newcastle United, where he scored 120 goals for the youth sides and the reserves. He was also an integral part of the club’s 1985 FA Youth Cup victory – only the second time the club had won the competition.
Allon was the team’s goalscorer, with Gazza the creator. Both netted a brace against Watford in the second-leg of the final, as Newcastle romped to a 4-1 victory at Vicarage Road, after a goalless first game at St. James’ Park.
While Gazza went on to become a major player for both the Magpies and England, Allon would only make 10 appearances for his favourite club. He did manage to bag himself two goals in that time, fulfilling his dream of scoring for the Toon wearing the iconic No9 jersey.
But while Jack Charlton thought Allon was good enough for the first team, his successor in the St. James’ hot-seat, Willie McFaul, disagreed, and released the then 21-year-old from the club.
Swansea was Allon’s next destination, where he scored 12 goals in 40 games, before he moved back to the North-East and joined Hartlepool in November 1988.
Newcastle legend Bobby Moncur was responsible for taking Allon to Victoria Park, but within 18 months of the signing Hartlepool were struggling at the bottom of Division Four and Moncur was on his way out of the club.
Cyril Knowles replaced Moncur, and he led the club to safety. The following season was to be a landmark season for both Pools and Allon.
The Hartlepool players reportedly went to the bookmakers and backed themselves to win promotion at odds of 45-1 – something that wouldn’t be accepted in today’s football world.
With Allon leading the line, the Pools players were heading towards a cash windfall. He scored 35 goals- the most a Hartlepool player has ever netted in a single season – as Pools secured an emotional promotion.
Not only was it the club’s first promotion since 1968, but they had to do it after manager Knowles was diagnosed with brain cancer and forced to step down from his role. Alan Murray took charge from February until the end of the season, and led the club to third.
Allon’s goalscoring exploits didn’t go unnoticed. He was named player of the year by the North-East’s football writers, the first – and only – player not representing Newcastle, Sunderland or Middlesbrough to achieve it.
And other clubs had been paying attention. Division One side Chelsea splashed out £250k for the striker and took him to the capital.
Chelsea also signed midfielder Vinnie Jones and Allon moved in with the future Hollywood film star, who he lived with for four years. The pair were also good friends with Denis Wise, and Allon was an usher at both their weddings.
Allon’s career at Stamford Bridge started with a bang, as he scored on his debut. His second goal was a spectacular over-head kick, but it would be his last goal for the Blues as he struggled to break into the starting line-up.
The following season he was off to Brentford. House-mate Jones was off to Wimbledon, so the pair were able to carry on living together in London, and carry on their entertaining nights out with Wise. One night infamously ended with Wise putting out a windscreen of a taxi.
On the pitch, Allon continued to score goals. He netted 28 in 56 games for Brentford, before moving to Port Vale, via an unsuccessful loan spell at Southend. He only made 26 appearances – 11 coming off the bench – but still scored 10 goals.
He netted two in the 1993/94 season, as Vale were promoted to the first division (the modern-day Championship). The next year he scored seven league goals and one in the FA Cup against Hartlepool.
He was soon on the move again in the summer and moved to Lincoln City, but just three months later he was packing his bags for the North-East again, and a return to Victoria Park.
By this stage in his career, Allon was struggling with knee ligament problems, but they couldn’t stop him writing his name further into Hartlepool folklore. In his final full season, Pools were struggling down at the bottom of Division Three.
They went into the penultimate game second-bottom. They travelled to fierce rivals Darlington. In the 90th-minute, the sides were drawing 1-1. The result would’ve left Pools rooted to the bottom heading into the last game of the season, and the Darlo fans were making their Pools counterparts know about it.
Allon had other ideas. Seven-minutes after coming on as a sub he popped up to scramble home the winning goal in stoppage-time to spark wild scenes of celebration among the Pools supporters. He wasn’t finished there, though, and grabbed a brace the following week as Hartlepool thumped Barnet 4-0 to survive in the Football League.
His last goals as a professional came in Hartlepool’s 3-2 victory over Colchester in August 1997, with Allon scoring twice, including the winner.
Since his retirement, Allon has worked in the local media and is a popular after-dinner speaker. After running round London on nights out with Gazza, Wise and Jones during his career, he certainly has a lot of stories to tell.
