John Allen

John Allen (born 1956) is a former Irish sportsperson. He played both hurling and Gaelic football with his local club St. Finbarr's and with the Cork senior inter-county teams in the 1970s and 1980s. He later served as manager of the Cork senior hurling team from 2005 to 2006.

Early life

John Allen was born in Cork in 1956. He was educated locally and in time he would later go on to have much success as a dual player at club and inter-county levels.

Playing career

Club

Allen played his club hurling and football with the famous St. Finbarr's club in Cork. Towards the late 1970s he won several Cork county championship medals in both codes. In 1977 he won both Munster and All-Ireland club medals with the St. Finbarr;s hurling team. Two years later in 1979 and 1980 Allen won back-to-back Munster and All-Ireland club football medals. He won a third Munster club football title in 1982 before adding another set of Munster and All-Ireland club football titles in 1986.

Inter-county

Allen was quickly noticed by the Cork inter-county selectors and became a member of the minor hurling panel in 1973. Over the next decade he would have great success as a dual player. Allen first tasted major success in 1976 when he won an All-Ireland medal with Cork's under-21 hurling side. He soon made the step up to senior level where he won his first and only All-Ireland medal as a player in 1978. Allen's sporting career turned to football following this. He won a National Football League in 1980 and won a Munster Football Championship medal in 1983.

Managerial career

Stats

Team		From	To	Championship Record
				P	W	D	L	Win %
Cork		October 27, 2004	September 19, 2006	10	9	0	1	90.00

Overview

In retirement Allen became involved in coaching various teams at all levels. From 1999 until 2001 he served as masseur with the Cork hurling team. He opted out for a year after this and returned as a selector in 2003. In late October 2004 Allen succeeded Donal O'Grady as the Cork manager for a two-year term and was immediately charged with the task of guiding the team to a second consecutive All-Ireland title for the 2005 Championship. He succeeded in doing this, however, the pressure was on Allen for the 2006 Championship when the team was on the verge of winning the coveted three-in-a-row. Allen's side were defeated by Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final. It was his first defeat in ten championship games. In September 2006 Allen announced, after much speculation, that he was not seeking another term as Cork manager. Allen's selector, Ger Cunningham, was the early favourite to succeed him, before ex-Cork player Gerald McCarthy got the position.

Teams

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