Up Front

Clive Allen was one of the finest goalscorers of his generation, but arguably his biggest battle has been to prove himself the best in his own family. The son of legendary Spurs double-winning forward, Les Allen, elder brother of QPR forward, Bradley, cousin and teammate of Paul Allen, and nephew of Dennis Allen, Clive was born into a family of footballing aristocracy. His remarkable 49-goal haul for Tottenham in the 1986/87 season still stands as a club record which earned him the rare dual honour of Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year and Football Writers' Association Player of the Year in addition to the First Division Golden Boot. That stunning achievement was the climax of a career which began as a prodigy at Queens Park Rangers – where he was the highest league scorer in England's four divisions at the age of 18 – before becoming English football's first million-pound teenager when signing for Arsenal in 1980. Yet, in one of the most mysterious transfers of modern times, Clive was sold to Crystal Palace without playing a game and went on to represent eight more clubs, including a year in France with Bordeaux, before a brief stint as an NFL kicker for the London Monarchs. Later, he was assistant manager at Harry Redknapp's resurgent Tottenham team, and twice served as caretaker manager at White Hart Lane. Now one of football's most respected broadcast experts, Allen has for the first time decided to tell his life story in full. Frank, funny and forthright, he takes you inside the dressing room and onto the pitch and tells what it is like to have lived a life in the glare of a game he has devoted his life to.