1954 cup winner at four
YESTERDAY we named Jeff Astle fifth in our list of Albion’s all-time top ten greatest goalscorers.
At four we have Ronnie Allen – who scored 208 goals in 415 appearances for Albion between 1950-61.
The Puskas-like forward helped Albion emulate the inspirational football of the great Hungarian side of the 1950s.
Two great feet, played all along the forward line, reinvented the role of the centre-forward by dropping deep, a footballing intellect which won him five England caps.
He scored twice in the 1954 FA Cup Final win.
Allen was a visionary and a true giant of the club.
He joined Albion from Port Vale in March 1950 and left for Crystal Palace in May 1961.
Allen returned to The Hawthorns to act as scouting advisor from January to May 1977 - then as manager from June 1977 to December 1977 before leaving to act as advisor to the Saudi Arabian national team.
He returned as manager between July 1981 and May 1982 and was general manager thereafter until June 1983, later acting as coach and scout at the club.
At 11am tomorrow we will reveal the next name in our countdown of Albion’s top-ten greatest goalscorers.
10. Tommy Glidden
9. Bob Taylor
8. Joe Carter
7. Tony Brown
6. Fred Morris
5. Jeff Astle
4. Ronnie Allen
3. ?
2. ?
1. ?
To qualify for the prestigious top ten, players must have scored at least 100 league goals for the Baggies.
We then sorted our list by goal ratio (goals scored divided by appearances).