A Celtic fan who was rejected by Rangers, but Bobby is as keen as mustard to play for Clarke’s Scotland
Dijon keeper is ready to travel over from France for a cap
When Steve Clarke and his backroom staff met to discuss their first squad last month, the name of Dijon FCO goalkeeper, Bobby Allain, probably didn’t get a mention.
The 27-year-old is pretty much unknown over here.
But he is eligible to play for Scotland, and his star is rising in France, thanks to some fine displays in his breakthrough season between the sticks for the Ligue 1 side.
Allain was born and bred across the English Channel. But a piece of his heart will forever remain in Scotland, thanks to the strong influence of his Scottish mother and memories of a short spell spent at Clyde.
And the Dijon shot-stopper is as keen as mustard to pledge his allegiance to his mother’s homeland and force his way into the new national manager’s future plans.
“I’ve always identified as both Scottish and French - my dad likes to say I’m half and half,” Allain, whose accent has a decidedly Scottish twang, said.
“The Dijon fans bring Scottish flags to the games. They think of me as more Scottish than French.
“And the boys in the dressing room call me ‘the Scottish guy’, and always rib me about not being called up to the Scotland squad.
“Scotland is a second home for me. We always holidayed there when I was growing up, as my mum wanted to see her family back in East Kilbride.”
It was on one of those trips back home that Allain took his first serious tilt at becoming a professional footballer.
When he was 16, his uncle, Michael McCann – the former Labour MP for East Kilbride – set him up for a short stint with Clyde.
“I was playing in the top league for young players in Paris with a few different clubs,” Allain explained.
“I was about to sign for a French side when my uncle told me he had a trial for me in Scotland with Clyde, and I thought, ‘Why not?’.
“The coaches at the time – John Brown and Andy Goram – were really happy, and told me that they wanted me to sign and play with their Under-19s.
“I was able to stay with my mum’s family in East Kilbride. I was still in college at the time, so every morning it was football, and in the afternoon I was trying to do studies at home.
“It was a big step up for me and I learned so much from Andy Goram.
“Having the chance to work with him was unbelievable.
“I knew him from his time at Rangers. But when I went on YouTube and watched some of his videos, I was like, ‘This is insane. He’s my coach now!’.
“John and Andy obviously knew a lot of people at Rangers, and they arranged for me to have a week’s trial there, which was amazing.
“I was training with the reserves and the Under-19s, but I remember Jean-Claude Darcheville made me feel at home.
“But I was told I was at the same level as their own Under-19 keeper, so they didn’t want to keep me.”
That news was met with a mixed response from his Scottish relatives.
“Supporting Celtic is a family thing, so it was difficult for them when I was on trial with Rangers,” joked the goalkeeper.
“When I was over from France, I went to Celtic Park all the time with my cousins.
“Even my dad, who is a PSG supporter, loved to go to Celtic Park. It is totally different from going to a match in France.
“I grew up idolising Henrik Larsson. He was incredible.
“So I always watch for the Celtic results – and Clyde’s as well.
“I learned so many things in Scotland. It brought a lot of things to
I learned so much from Andy Goram. Having the chance to work with him was unbelievable
my game – fighting spirit, mentality, how you act on the pitch.
“I stayed for six or seven months, but then I got injured and decided to go home.”
Allain signed for Fifth Division side, Ivry, before moving on to the country’s second-oldest club, Red Star, in Paris.
And, after four years in the Second Division, in 2016 he finally got his shot at the big time with Dijon.
“I knew the goalkeeping coach there, and he gave me the chance to become professional and play with the second team.
“I worked really hard and managed to become second choice for the first team. Then, in December last year, the first-choice goalkeeper had the flu and I finally got my chance.
“I felt under pressure, but luckily we won an important game with relegation rivals, Guingamp, 2-1.
“Not long after my debut, the coach got fired and I was worried. But the new coach came in, and he made me his first pick.
“My Scottish gran is my biggest fan, and she watches all my games on TV at her home in East Kilbride.
“She always told me that my time was going to come – and she was right.”
Allain remained the first pick for Antoine Kombouare – who had two years as a player at Aberdeen in the 1990s – until late in the season when Icelandic internationalist, Runar Alex Runarsson, reclaimed the No. 1 spot.
However, an injury to Runarsson in the warm-up before the crucial second leg of their relegation playoff final against Lens saw Allain restored to the starting XI, where he helped Dijon to a 3-1 victory.
“It was quite a hard season as the team was struggling, but all my focus was on keeping Dijon up,” Allain said.
“My contract is up this summer. I’ve already been contacted by other clubs but I’ve not had any concrete offers, so we’ll see what happens.”
Scotland’s next action will be the Euro qualifiers against Russia and Belgium in September.
With Allan McGregor retired, Steve Clarke recalled David Marshall to the No. 1 position for the double-header against Cyrpus and Belgium at the beginning of the month.
Scott Bain and Jon McLaughlin were on the bench so Allain has plenty of commpetition for the national side. He might not be involved in the
Scottland set-up yet, but Bobby’s already had a taste of international football thanks to his father Brice, who works with the French national deaf tearm.
My parents are both deaf,” Allain explained.
They met when my mother was visiting a cathedral in Burgundy. She was with her sister, speaking in sign language.
My dad went up to them and started signing with them, as he didn’t get to meet many other deaf people, and their love story started there. My father is the sporting director for the National Deaf. And because of my parents, I’m fluent in sign language and I’m involved with the team as goalkeeper coach.
Obviously I can’t go everywhere they go because of my club commitments, but I help out when I can.”
And Allain insists he would find time in his schedule to answer Steve Clarke’s call
“It would be a big honour to play for Scotland,” he said. “But I can understand that the national coach might think that as I was born in France, I’ll not be interested.’
“All I can do is keep working hard to show him I’ve got the ability to play for the national team.
“Hopefully, one day it will happen.”