[1][2] Allen was born in Hanley in Stoke-on-Trent,[3] and after playing football for his schools and the Boys' Brigade, he was signed by Stoke City as an amateur, before turning professional on his seventeenth birthday in November 1956.

After winning caps at youth and under-23 levels, he was called up for the full international side for a British Home Championship match against Wales in place of Jimmy Armfield on 17 October 1959.

Under new manager Tony Waddington he became a vital member of 'Waddington's wall' a tactic which helped Stoke stave off the threat of relegation in 1960–61 and then gain promotion in 1962–63 by winning the Second Division title.

[2] Stoke finished their first season back in the First Division in 17th place, and also reached the final of the League Cup in 1964, where they were defeated by Leicester City 4–3 on aggregate.

Partridge was unable to respond with conclusive evidence, but nevertheless the International Board changed the Laws of the Game to put spitting on a par with violent conduct, and therefore a dismissible offence.

[7] Midway through the 1966–67 season Allen's pace began to desert him, so Waddington switched him to centre back alongside Maurice Setters and this allowed him to prolong his career until Willie Stevenson was signed from Liverpool in 1967.