Cheltenham Town Football Club have this morning announced the appointment of Martin Allen as new first team manager.
The 43-year old has agreed a three year contract with the club and will start work immediately, taking charge of his first match tomorrow night against Bristol Rovers at Whaddon Road (7.45pm).
Martin will be embarking upon his fifth job in football management having previously worked at Barnet, Brentford, Milton Keynes Dons and, most recently, Leicester City.
As a player he began his career with Queens Park Rangers, signing professional for them in 1983 and spending six years at Loftus Road. A competitive midfield player who won two caps for the England Under-21 side, he played in the 1986 League Cup Final against Oxford United before a £670,000 move to West Ham United. At West Ham he won two promotions to the top flight in 1991 and 1993.
He stayed with the Hammers until 1995 when he made a £500,000 switch to Portsmouth and had a brief loan spell at Southend United during his three years at Fratton Park.
Martin's coaching career began at Reading, his home town club, where he was assistant manager to Alan Pardew. His first management job was at Barnet and led the Bees to the brink of the Conference play-offs in 2004 but was offered the chance to manage Brentford before the end of the season. He enjoyed two successful seasons at Griffin Park, leading Brentford to the League One play-offs in both 2004-05 and 2005-06 and reaching the FA Cup fifth round in both seasons.
In the summer of 2006 he moved to Milton Keynes Dons and once again led his team into an unsuccessful play-off campaign, this time in League Two. A year later Martin was appointed manager of Leicester City in the Championship but left after only four games following a difference of opinion with chairman Milan Mandaric.
Since leaving Leicester Martin has remained involved in football by doing some scouting and media work.
His managerial record in the Football League is impressive having taken charge of 183 games across his spells with Brentford, Milton Keynes and Leicester. Of those games, 84 have resulted in wins, 51 draws and 48 defeats.
However, despite this good record his only previous visit to Whaddon Road as a manager was not a happy one. In August 2005 Martin brought his Brentford team to Cheltenham and left on the end of a 5-0 defeat to John Ward's team. Martin was also in charge of Leicester City when Cheltenham visited the Walkers Stadium for a behind closed doors pre-season friendly in 2007 that Leicester won 2-0.
If you would like to see Martin's first match in charge of Cheltenham Town there are tickets available for the home match against Bristol Rovers on Tuesday night. For comprehensive ticket information please visit the ticketing section of the website. Tickets are available either in advance, with a £2 discount for members of our free membership scheme, or at the turnstiles on the evening of the game.
