Irish bowls legend Sammy’ Allen (b. 1938, Ballymena) rose from a 1966 club bowler to an international champion. He first came to prominence internationally as British Isles singles champion in 1980.
Sammy is one of Ireland’s characters and was a great team man. But to say he was simply a support player would be to undervalue his qualities. He was the ‘middle man’ or second between Stan Espie and his good friend Jim Baker when Ireland won the world triples title in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1984.
Sammy played third to Baker, with Rod McCutcheon and John McCloughlin at the front end at Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand, in the 1988 World Bowls Outdoor Championship. Ireland won the world fours title beating the home-town Kiwi favourites of Phil Skoglund, Morgan Moffat, Ian Dickison, and fellow Hall of Famer Rowan Brassey.
Four years later, in Worthing, England, he skipped Stevie Adamson to a silver medal in the pairs losing to Hall of Famers Alex Marshall and Richard Corsie, of Scotland. This was the perfect prelude to striking pairs gold with fellow Hall of Famer Jeremy Henry in Adelaide in 1996 up against one of the strongest fields in the history of World Bowls events. Sammy and Jeremy turned the tables in the final on Marshall and Corsie, and they defeated Hall of Famer Robert Weale and Will Thomas from Wales in the semi-final. Allen played like a magician throughout the event, constantly pulling off amazing conversion shots throughout their march to the gold.
Sammy is one of only two men to have struck gold in three of the four disciplines in the world outdoor championships – the only other man to have achieved this is England’s Tony Allcock.
Commonwealth Games
1982 (Fours Bronze) 1990 (Fours Silver) 1994 (Pairs Bronze)
World Bowls
1984 (Triples Gold), 1988 (Fours Gold), 1992 (Pairs Silver), 1996 (Pairs Gold)
