Jeannie Allott
Personal information
Birth name Jeannie Allott
Date of birth (1956-11-17) 17 November 1956
Place of birth Crewe, England
Position(s) Winger
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1966–1976 Fodens
Zwart-Wit '28
KFC '71
International career
1972–1976 England 11 (1)
1985–1987 Netherlands 12 (8)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Jeannie Allott (born 17 November 1956) is a former footballer who represented both England and the Netherlands at international level.

Club career

When Allott was eight years old she featured in Sports Illustrated's 'Faces in the Crowd' segment, as the only girl player in the school football team at Wistaston Green Primary School.[1] In 1966 Allott debuted in a charity match for Fodens, originally a works team from the Edwin Foden, Sons & Co. lorry manufacturing plant in nearby Sandbach. She remained part of the Fodens team which defeated Southampton in the 1974 final of the Women's FA Cup, winning the Player of the Match award.[2]

In 1976 Allott moved to the Netherlands and joined the Zwart-Wit '28 club.[3] By May 1988 she was playing for KFC '71.[4] Allott remained in the Netherlands where she worked as a shipping planner.[5]

International career

In 1972, Allott progressed through a series of trials to be selected in Eric Worthington's first England team. She scored in the team's first official match, a 3–2 win over Scotland in Greenock on 18 November 1972. At sixteen years and one day old she remains England's youngest goal scorer.[6] In 2022 Allott recalled hitchhiking from her native North West England to London in order to train and play with England.[5]

After becoming established in women's football in the Netherlands, Allott was called up to the Netherlands women's national football team for their 1987 European Competition for Women's Football qualifying campaign. She scored the only goal on her debut against France and a hat-trick in the return fixture, a 5–3 win for the Dutch in Cambrai. She won 12 caps for the Netherlands, scoring a total of eight goals.

Allott felt valued in the Netherlands but remained unhappy at a lack of recognition and respect for female footballers in England: "Nothing that happened in the past should be forgotten but the FA forgot us. We want a cap and I believe we deserve an apology."[5]

She was allotted 10 when the English FA announced their legacy numbers scheme to honour the 50th anniversary of England’s inaugural international.[7][8]

References

  1. ↑ "Faces in the Crowd". Sports Illustrated. 29 November 1965. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  2. ↑ Slegg, Chris; Gregory, Patricia (6 May 2021). A History of the Women's FA Cup Final. The History Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-0750996594. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  3. ↑ "Players: Jeannie Allott". Women's Football Archive. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  4. ↑ "Dames KFC '71 kampioen West II" (in Dutch). Leydse Courant. 20 May 1988. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 Cunningham, Sam (26 July 2022). "Euro 2022: England's first women's team deserve an apology for being forgotten by the FA, claims former player". The Independent. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  6. ↑ Morrison, Neil; Gandini, Luca; Simões 'Kaizeler', João; Villante, Eric (27 August 2020). "Women – Youngest Goal-scorers". RSSSF. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  7. ↑ "England squad named for World Cup". The Football Association. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  8. ↑ Lacey-Hatton, Jack (18 November 2022). "Lionesses introduce 'legacy numbers' for players past and present". mirror. Retrieved 19 June 2023.


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