No Thanks – Joe Allon

Get a proven goal scorer they said. Someone who knows where the net is, someone who always scores goals they asked. In 1993, that was Joe Allon.

Us signing Allon from Port Vale was something of a coup. He bagged goals for Brentford, Swansea and most notably Hartlepool, as well as earning a move to Chelsea which didn’t work out, but as he rocked up at the Bank he was sure to be a hit. Perhaps, many years later, a blogger might issue a word of thanks to Port Vale for his signature.

Not likely. Four starts, one more outing from the bench and a red card was the sum total of his Imps career. He spent more time on the treatment table with piles than he did wearing red and white. He was soon gone, flogged off to Hartlepool where he came back and bagged against us within a few months.