Joe Allen (footballer, born 1990)

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Joe Allen
File:Joe Allen 2012.jpg
Allen warming up for Liverpool in 2012
Personal information
Full name Joseph Michael Allen[1]
Date of birth (1990-03-14) 14 March 1990 (age 34)[1]
Place of birth Carmarthen, Wales
Height Script error: No such module "person height".
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Liverpool
Number 24
Youth career
1999–2007 Swansea City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2012 Swansea City 127 (7)
2008 Wrexham (loan) 2 (1)
2012– Liverpool 90 (4)
International career
2005–2006 Wales U17 10 (1)
2006–2007 Wales U19 4 (0)
2007–2011 Wales U21 14 (2)
2009– Wales 25 (0)
2012 Great Britain 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:00, 11 May 2016 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 28 March 2016

Joseph Michael "Joe" Allen (born 14 March 1990) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays for Liverpool and the Wales national team as a midfielder.

He began his career at Swansea City, making his debut in January 2007 at the age of 16. Allen totalled 150 games across all competitions in six years at the Liberty Stadium, also having a loan at Wrexham. During his time at Swansea, they won two promotions, going from League One to the Premier League. In 2012, he joined Liverpool for £15 million, signed by his former Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers.

A full international for Wales since 2009, Allen has earned over 20 caps for his nation. He represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics.

Early life

Born in Carmarthen,[1] Allen was raised in the Pembrokeshire town of Narberth, and is a former student of Ysgol y Preseli.[3] He is a fluent Welsh speaker.[4] Allen started his career playing in local team Tenby.[5]

Club career

Swansea City

Allen was part of the Swansea City youth set-up from the age of nine. As a first-year scholar in the youth team in the 2006–07 season, he featured as an unused first-team substitute in a 0–3 away win over then Premier League side Sheffield United in the third round of the FA Cup.[6] Two weeks later, when Allen was just 16, Swansea manager Kenny Jackett gave him his debut in the FAW Premier Cup away tie to local Welsh Premier League side Port Talbot Town. He played the first half of the match, as Swansea lost 2–1 after extra time.[7] Allen made his league debut for Swansea as a 75th-minute substitute for Andy Robinson in a 6–3 home defeat to Blackpool on 7 May, the final day of the League One season, as Swansea missed out on a play-off position under new manager and former team captain Roberto Martínez.[8]

Allen made a first start on 14 August 2007, in a 2–0 home win over Walsall in the first round of the League Cup. He was named man of the match for his performance, which included assisting in the first goal by providing a left-footed chipped cross to Paul Anderson. Two days later, Martínez awarded Allen his first professional contract, to keep him at Swansea until 2010.[9] Allen started in the next round of the tournament at home to Reading, and again received the man of the match award despite a 0–1 loss.[10] He made 14 appearances over the campaign, six in the Swans' victorious capture of the League One title.

File:Joe Allen - 2.jpg
Allen playing for Swansea in 2010

The following season, Swansea's first in the Championship, Allen struggled to get into the first team due to competition from midfielders Darren Pratley, Ferrie Bodde, Owain Tudur Jones, Jordi Gómez and Leon Britton. On 7 October 2008, Allen joined Conference National club Wrexham on a one-month loan deal,[11] and scored a goal from 25 yards on his debut for the North Wales side the same day, a 3–1 win over York City at the Racecourse Ground.[12] His loan was curtailed after only one more game, when he damaged ankle ligaments and was sidelined for a month.[13] Allen returned from the injury in December, going back into the Swansea squad at home to Barnsley; regular midfielder Bodde had been ruled out for the remainder of the season as a result of injury.[14] With Swansea 2–0 down and playing terribly, manager Martínez was prompted to bring Allen on from the bench; the team went on to earn a late 2–2 draw and, despite only playing 25 minutes, Allen once more received the man of the match award.[15] On 5 April 2009, Allen came on as a 68th-minute substitute for Mark Gower, and 20 minutes later scored his first goal for Swansea in a South Wales derby 2–2 draw away at Cardiff City.[16] At the end of the season, he signed a new three-year contract until 2012.

After frequently being injured in the 2009–10 season, Allen returned to regular first-team football at the start of the 2010–11 season. A string of impressive performances prompted manager Brendan Rodgers to play Allen in the South Wales derby in November 2010, with Allen receiving the man of the match award in the 1–0 win. He played 40 league matches and scored twice over the Championship campaign, and featured for the full 90 minutes as Swansea won promotion with a 4–2 victory over Reading in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium. However, he scored an own goal in that match.[17]

A few days prior to the beginning of the 2011–12 Premier League, Allen signed a new four-year contract with Swansea until 2015.[18] He played 36 out of 38 top-flight fixtures that season, scoring four goals. On 3 December 2011, he was sent off for two bookings in a 4–2 loss to Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.[19]

Liverpool

File:Joe Allen (2).jpg
Allen warming up against Roma in 2014

On 10 August 2012, after passing a medical at Melwood,[20] Allen signed a long-term contract with Liverpool in a deal worth £15 million, following manager Rodgers to Anfield.[21] He made his Premier League debut on 18 August 2012, starting in a 3–0 loss against West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns.[22] He started Liverpool's next game of the league campaign against Manchester City, where he was voted man of the match on the club's official website by fans and journalists.[23] He went on to win the Liverpool Player of the Month award for August 2012.[24] Allen scored his first goal for Liverpool on 27 January 2013 in a 3–2 defeat to Oldham Athletic in the fourth round of the FA Cup.[25] He scored his first European goal on 21 February in a 3–1 win over Zenit Saint Petersburg in the UEFA Europa League.[26] On 20 March, it was announced that Allen would be ruled out for the remainder of the 2012–13 season, with him requiring surgery on his left shoulder.[27]

On 5 May 2014, Allen scored his first goal for Liverpool in the 2013–14 Premier League season with a header from a corner to give Liverpool the lead in a 3–3 draw against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.[28]

Throughout the 2014–15 season, Allen was criticized for his performance in the matches where he played and he also got injured in between. Allen was praised when he played the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 win against Manchester City, where he outplayed City star Yaya Touré.[29] On 13 April 2015, Allen scored the second goal in a 2–0 win over Newcastle United, his first at Anfield.[30]

Before the start of the 2015–16 season, Allen suffered an injury during one of the pre-season matches and was ruled out for a month.[31] On 13 January 2016, he scored a last-minute equalizer in a 3–3 home draw against league leaders Arsenal.[32] Thirteen days later, he scored the winning penalty in a shootout against Stoke City to send Liverpool to the 2016 Football League Cup Final.[33]

International career

Soon after receiving his first professional contract for Swansea City in August 2007, Allen was called up for the Wales under-21 team in a friendly match away to Sweden. He scored the winning goal in a 4–3 victory.[34]

In May 2009, Allen made his debut for the senior Wales team as an 80th-minute substitute for Jack Collison during a friendly against Estonia. Wales, who won 1–0 in Llanelli, were fielding their youngest team ever, with an average age of 21.[35] He made his first start for Wales in a 2–0 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group G match against Switzerland at his club's Liberty Stadium in October 2011.[36] He was awarded the prize for the Wales' Player of the Year for 2012 in October of that year.[37]

Allen captained Wales for the first time in the absence of Ashley Williams through injury on 4 June 2014 against the Netherlands.[38] He played throughout the nation's successful qualification for UEFA Euro 2016. On 13 November 2015, in a 3–2 home loss to the Dutch, he had a penalty saved by Jasper Cillessen, but Joe Ledley scored from the rebound.[39]

2012 Summer Olympics

Allen chose to be included in Team GB's 2012 Summer Olympics football squad.[40] Allen was one of five Welsh players including captain Ryan Giggs, but a mistake in the official Team GB programme for their first game described Allen as English.[41]

Personal life

Allen is married to Lacey, and they have a son. Inspired by her involvement in animal welfare, he adopts hens to save them when they can no longer lay eggs.[42]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 8 May 2016.
Club statistics
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Swansea City 2006–07[43] League One 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2007–08[44] League One 6 0 3 0 2 0 3[lower-alpha 1] 0 14 0
2008–09[45] Championship 23 1 2 0 1 0 26 1
2009–10[46] Championship 21 0 1 0 0 0 22 0
2010–11[47] Championship 40 2 2 0 3 0 3[lower-alpha 2] 0 48 2
2011–12[48] Premier League 36 4 2 0 1 0 39 4
Total 127 7 10 0 7 0 6 0 150 7
Wrexham (loan) 2008–09[45] Conference Premier 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 1
Liverpool 2012–13[49] Premier League 27 0 2 1 1 0 7[lower-alpha 3] 1 37 2
2013–14[50] Premier League 24 1 1 0 1 0 26 1
2014–15[51] Premier League 21 1 5 0 0 0 6[lower-alpha 4] 0 32 1
2015–16[52] Premier League 17 2 2 1 5 0 10[lower-alpha 3] 0 34 3
Total 89 4 10 2 7 0 23 1 129 7
Career total 218 12 20 2 14 0 23 1 6 0 281 15
  1. Appearances in Football League Trophy
  2. Appearances in Championship play-offs
  3. 3.0 3.1 Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

As of match played 28 March 2016.[53]
International statistics
National team Year Apps Goals
Wales 2009 2 0
2011 4 0
2012 6 0
2013 3 0
2014 4 0
2015 4 0
2016 2 0
Total 25 0

References

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  25. "Oldham 3-2 Liverpool" BBC Sport. 27 January 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  26. [1] BBC Sport. 21 February 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
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  28. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/27184083
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  33. Bell, Tom (26 January 2016) Jurgen Klopp hails Liverpool's shootout winner Joe Allen espnfc.com. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
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External links

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