Kenny couldn’t stop scoring – then Hibees dropped him
HIBS hope another of their players can hit the net against Dundee United at Easter Road today.
Jason Cummings has scored eight of the Edinburgh side’s 12 league goals this season.
Clubs are normally desperate to keep hold of prolific goal-scorers. It didn’t work out that way for Ken Allison. The young striker was freed by Hibs after scoring four goals in his first five league matches.
But it certainly didn’t dampen his enthusiasm for fooball – he is still refereeing in the United States at the age of 79.
Ken burst on to the Scottish football scene in 1958 after joining Hibs from West Calder United.
He was suddenly keeping the company of famous names like Gordon Smith, Lawrie Reilly and Joe Baker.
Floodlit friendlies were in vogue and that gave Ken his break.
He said: “I scored in a game against Bayern Munich at Easter Road in September, 1958, where I was inside-right to Gordon Smith.
“It was a great start at the club. I was only 21 and had fans waiting for my autograph outside the ground.
“We also played games against Tottenham, Sheffield United and Hull City.
“I then scored again in match against the British Army and that got me into Hibs’ first team for a league match.”
Ken was again on target in a 2-1 victory over Clyde. That was followed by a double against Airdrie and one at Third Lanark.
Surprisingly, Ken never featured again for Hibs and was freed at the end of the season.
He recalled: “I was a bit surprised when the manager, Hugh Shaw, let me go. But I quickly got used to there being decisions like that happening in football.
“I think it probably came down to my lack of pace.
“I had the ability but I was slow. Eddie Turnbull once told me that I could play for Scotland if I had more speed.
“I was actually a great Hearts fan as a kid, and Willie Bauld was my hero.”
Former Hibs’ player Bobby Combe then took Ken to Dumbarton for a season before he moved on to Cowdenbeath.
He went on: “I scored a lot of goals with Cowdenbeath. I was really born a goal-scorer. It was all I wanted to do.”
A move to England saw Ken score a goal in every second game for Darlington.
He said: “I was in the team that was heading for promotion when I was transferred to Lincoln City.
“A lot of the fans were up in arms about my sale, but there was nothing I could do about it.”
Ken moved to the USA in 1967 and joined the Rochester Lancers of the ASL.
He said: “I played for Rochester and then had a spell with Syracuse Scorpions.
“The standard of football wasn’t that great but I’m glad I moved my family to the States.
“I got a job working for Kodak and became a referee when I stopped playing.
“I was just watching an amateur game one day, and a German coached persuaded me to take up refereeing.
“It was great to keep a link with the game and I took charge of six state finals. “I think it helped that I was a former player. “It meant I got a bit more respect on the pitch and I understood the challenges being made.
“These days I only referee indoor football, but it’s good to still be moving about a pitch at my age.”
Ken, now 79, lives in a small town outside Rochester in New York State.