Joe Allen : Swansea City’s gem continues to shine and grow….

Swansea City’s gem continues to shine and grow….

Every football fan knows the feeling, and treasures it. Wishes it could happen more often, of course, regularly even, with a bit of luck. And knows , that in the real football universe, it’s a once in a generation thing. That’s if you’re born lucky.


It’s that moment that you’re watching the team you love and see for the first time a young player who’s been nurtured through the ranks within the Club and he demonstrates to you, and all lucky enough to be there, confirmation that hey, there’s a new kid on the block. And he can’t half play.

Joe Allen, the Swans’ midfield diamond, is that player.

The 21 yr old made his first team debut in the final game of the 2006/07 season , as a sub in the 6-3 away defeat to Blackpool, although he’d played for the first team previously in an FAW Premier Cup tie and had even featured as an unused sub in a 3-0 FA Cup win for the Swans at Bramhall Lane. He was then a 16yr old 1st year scholar with the Youth team.


I didn’t see either of the above games so the first time I set eyes on him was in a a 2-0 Carling Cup tie win over Walsall, early in the following, 2007/08 season . I remember him setting up a goal for our flying winger Paul Anderson (then on loan to us from Liverpool- sadly, nowadays lost amongst the morass at Forest) with a sublime cross. My footballing compadre Jimmy in the next seat turned to me as we celebrated the goal and confirmed what we both knew “…looks like we’ve got a good ’un then. Boy can play a bit.” As a fan who can give me 20 yrs service over and above mine , at first the Vetch and now the Liberty, Jimmy can usually spot a decent player. He wasn’t wrong.

Joey , since that’s what he’s known as amongst us Swansea cognoscenti, has continued to progress. From limited involvement at first- in first League 1 and then the Championship over the periods 07/08, /08/09, 09/10 with 6,23 and 21 appearances his real breakthrough year was 2010/11, the year the Swans made the leap to the Prem via the Play-offs with 43 appearances. Despite competition over this period from Darren Pratley,Jordi Gomez, Mark Gower, Leon Britton, Kemy Agustien amongst others, many would argue that Joey’s contribution was vital. Our savvy manager, Brendan Rodgers has recognised this in the award of a recently endowed 4 yr contract which allows him to stay with us until 2015, if both he and the club want.

And why would they not?

I have seen this excellent professional develop over this time. I saw him run the Wales U-21 midfield at Parc-y-Scarlets in a defeat of Luxembourg. I saw him score in the 2-2 Derby draw at Cardiff (“you jack bastard” sang the crowd, as is our wont for a favourite). I saw him in the 2010 Cardiff City derby again, where, after a stunning performance in a 1-0 win he won the MOM award. It was one among many so far with many more to come.

I don’t need to tell you what it’s like to watch a genuinely talented footballer perform because you know- how they always seem to have time, how they look and perform like an athlete, how they make the difficult look commonplace, and above all else, how they grace and often change for the better the beautiful game. This Friday night just gone Joey made his first starting appearance for the Welsh national team in their 2-0 defeat of Switzerland at the Liberty. He was excellent, of course. Here’s what the Wales manager Gary Speed had to say - “ Joe was excellent and that was only his first start. He has been playing great for Swansea and he showed that he can play at the top level. I had no hesitation in picking him ,and there was no sentiment involved, it wasn’t a Swansea thing because we were playing at their ground. He is an excellent player on the ball.”

So, it’s not just me and Jimmy then. For those of you who haven’t seen him yet I recommend a viewing. You-Tube if you can’t do live. MOTD when you get a chance.

So what’s he like? To you Gooners he’s like Aaron Ramsey with a bit more pace. To Utd fans he’s like Cleverley but Welsh, see. To Chelsea regulars he’s like McEachran but with 2 years more experience. MCFC fans will remember Michael Johnson before injuries and parties(allegedly) took their toll.

But, to all us Swans……….he’s a diamond being polished by each and every game.

“One Joey Allen,,,,There’s only one Joey Allen”