Clubs played for: Portsmouth, Aston Villa (1932-1944)
Born: 1909
Birthplace: Poole
Position: Defender
Biography: An England international with two caps, Jimmy Allen appeared for Pompey in the 1934 FA Cup final against Manchester City but it was his transfer to Aston Villa a few months later that has contributed to a much longer lating legacy. The £10,775 that Villa paid, which incidentally was only £250 less than the transfer record at the time, meant that he club had the money to build a new north stand. This increased the capacity of Fratton Park to 58,000 but it is hard to imaging how that number fitted into the ground. After the war, Jimmy went into management and helped to guide colchester United into the Football league with the help of a number of other former Pompey players. He eventually returned to his adopted home and ran the Festing Hotel in Southsea for many years. Although he died in a Southsea nursing home in February 1995, I for one still look forward to my Saturdays in the stand that he helped to build.
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