
Allan grew up in East London and along with his younger brother, Ron "Chopper" Harris, he made an early mark on the game as a full-back. Both boys joined Chelsea and Allan won England schoolboy caps before progressing to the national Youth team. He got a first team chance at the age of 18 but competition was tough for full backs at Stamford Bridge and in December 1964 manager Tommy Docherty accepted Jimmy Hill's offer of £35,000 for Allan. He quickly settled into the Sky Blues team and impressed with his stylish play and tough tackling. His time at the club however was short. In May 1966 he rejoined his old club after 60 odd games for the Sky Blues. A year later he was on the move again, to QPR where, in his first season, he was a member of Rangers' Division 2 promotion team under Alec Stock.
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He left QPR in 1971 and after brief spells at Plymouth and Cambridge United he moved into management as Terry Venables' assistant at Crystal Palace. Two promotions in three seasons made Venables and Harris hot property and in 1980 Allan followed Terry to QPR.
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At Loftus Road the pairs' reputation was enhanced by an FA Cup final appearance in 1982 (they lost after a replay to Spurs) and promotion to Division 1 the following year. In May 1984 Venables received a huge offer to manage Barcelona and Allan was Terry's right hand man as they helped Barca win their first Spanish league title for 11 years. The following season they were surprisingly beaten by Steaua Bucharest in the European Cup final and in 1986 when Venables resigned Allan followed him to Tottenham.
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In 1989 he left Spurs to manage Spanish club Espanol. Later spells managing club sides in Kuwait, Egypt and Turkey have enabled him to achieve his ambitions and see the world. His last post in England was a spell as number 2 at Reading in 1997 and then had three years as national coach of Malaysia.



















































































































































