NEVER ON A SUNDAY

I am on the Isle of Cumbrae in the middle of the Clyde estuary. As you may have guessed there was not internet yesterday but the 21st century arrived this morning and I can now tell you about Jimmy Allan. Jimmy was born in 1953 and played as a goalkeeper with Brora Rangers in the Scottish Highland League. he was signed by Swindon Town in 1971 and then became more of a regular first team choice.
If you remember Chariots of Fire, Eric Liddle refused to run on a Sunday and this didn't help him win gold in the Olympics. There was no way he would catch them up on Monday.

Jimmy was a devout Christian and he refused to play in a Sunday match in January 1974, the first professional footballer to do so. Manager of Swindon Town, Les Allen, stated that he respected Jimmy's beliefs and then didn't give him a first team place until 1976-7. Perhaps he just wasn't good enough?

Playing at swindon Town between 1971-84, he made 371 appearances, so he must have been quite good. As a goalkeeper all went well until he shattered his elbow in a collsion with Rochdale's Steve Johnson and he never recovered. He completed 186 clean sheets in his goal at Swindon and was given a testamonial against Chelsea as a farewell.

He retired from the game to Devon and did a few good things with local Torrington FC where he played in goal occasionally, albeit with one arm!