Tributes to Terry | Clive Allen on the ‘visionary’ coach he knew for over 50 years

Clive Allen has a lovely photo of himself, aged just eight, with the then captain of QPR in 1969 – Terry Venables.

Clive’s father, Les, a prolific striker in our double-winning team in 1960/61, took over as manager at Loftus Road in 1969 and snapped up the midfielder from Spurs.

It was the first meeting of what would turn out to be quite a footballing relationship between the pair, as Clive played under Terry at three different clubs - Palace, QPR and Spurs - with particular success at QPR. Then in the old Second Division (now Championship), Terry led Rangers to the FA Cup Final in 1982, where they were beaten by Spurs in a replay as we retained the trophy, the Second Division title in 1982/83 and then to fifth in the First Division to qualify for the UEFA Cup. During that time, Clive banged in 41 goals in 89 games, securing a move to the Lane as ‘El Tel’ switched to Spain and Barcelona.

Speaking this week after the sad passing of a man he knew well, Clive, whose 49 goals in 1986/87 remains a club record, reflected on the influence Terry had throughout his career - with the striker particularly well-placed to talk about the impact of Terry’s coaching in those early days at Palace - who he took from the old Third Division to the First Division, and QPR.

“I go way back with Terry,” said Clive. “My dad, Les, signed him for QPR from Spurs (in 1969), so I knew him from eight years old. I’ve a photo of myself with Terry on the pitch at Loftus Road, he was captain of QPR, I was eight. The families also go back to Dagenham, the Allens and the Venables.

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“Terry took me to Crystal Palace in a swap deal with Kenny Sansom (who went to Arsenal) in 1980, that was the first time I played for him, then he went to QPR three months later. He then took me to QPR a year later...

“I had three years with him at QPR, winning the old Second Division, reaching the FA Cup Final in 1982 and we then qualified for Europe, which QPR had never done before. I also played for him for England Under-21s. In the last six months of my time at Spurs, he came back from Barcelona, so I worked with him again before I went to Bordeaux. So, I’ve known him a long, long time.

“He was a brilliant coach in the way he saw the game, the way he influenced players and the way he got his teams to play. I played on the plastic pitch at QPR for three years and the team he constructed there were all ball-playing footballers, not just defenders, midfielders, forwards, but players who could all deal with the football and pass the ball well, long and short. He’ll go down as one of the most innovative coaches ever. He was visionary, he really was.”