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| Les ALLEN | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As a player, Les Allen had been a member of Tottenham's double winning side of 1960/1961, and was also in the Q.P.R. team who became the first Third Division side to win the League Cup - a feat emulated by Swindon in 1969. After a spell as manager at Loftus Road, he originally came to County Ground as a scout, but was promoted to the manager's position in November 1972, when both Dave Mackay and his assistant, Des Anderson, walked out to take over at Nottingham Forest. With no money to spend, Allen's job proved to be a difficult one. However, after the successes of the previous few seasons, the final position of 16th - just five places and three points from a relegation spot - was seen as a failure. Before the 1973/1974 season, Allen released six players, and was allowed just £20,000 to replace them. After Allen had fallen out with Town legend Peter Downsborough, he was allowed to leave also, meaning that a large chunk of the cash went on a reserve keeper - Alan Spratley from Q.P.R., who made just seven appearances for the club. All seemed well at the start of the season - the Town winning two and drawing one of their first three matches, but just seven matches and one goal later, they found themselves in the relegation zone. When Allen was sacked at the end of February 1974, they had one just five of their 32 league matches, and Swindon's relegation at the end of the season was a mere formality. MANAGERIAL RECORD AT SWINDON:
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date of birth senior career |
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ENGLAND