It was a long time between drinks at the elite level for Andy Allan.

He first played at the highest level in Collingwood’s first ever game, against Carlton in 1892. He had been recruited from South Melbourne Juniors, where he was captain, after a superb performance with the combined juniors team against Essendon during the 1892 pre-season. Just a couple of weeks later, he was wearing a Collingwood jumper for the first time.

His experience and talents would be very handy to the Magpies over the next couple of years. He played 39 games, mostly in defence, but also spent time on the ball and forward, managing to snaffle a couple of goals along the way. He was fearless, strong and even in those early days a great leader (as reflected in the fact he was added to the committee in 1893).

He was one of the standouts in that historic first game, when he played on the ball. The Argus named him as Collingwood’s best that day, saying he was “prominent for his good all-round play” and had done some “rattling work in the ruck”. The Sportsman credited him with “capital play” and also named him among the best, as did The Leader, which said he had been “conspicuously energetic”. Pretty much every newspaper named him among our best players that day.

He immediately became one of the regulars in the team, playing almost every game across 1892-93. In fact, after two seasons he was the club's joint games record holder, with 37 - a testament to how quickly he became a central part of the team. One newspaper described him as “as unselfish as he is clever” and another as “bulky but fast”. He was also not afraid to annoy opponents by sticking close, as Fitzroy champion Jim Grace found to his cost late in 1893. Allan’s close attention that day riled some observers, who felt he had gone too far. As one newspaper reported afterwards: “He was told to keep an eye on the great gun [Grace], and performed the duty assigned to him in an unnecessarily obtrusive and irritating manner.”

He was frequently named among our best players, so it was something of a surprise when, after a couple of games early in 1894, Allan returned to play with the ‘Marleys' (Marylebone, a South Melbourne junior club). By the middle of that year he was reported to be close to playing with Fitzroy, and ended up with Fitzroy Juniors. Then he went to Albert Park where The Herald reported he was 'doing great things' in 1895.

And so it continued. He stayed with Albert Park and carved out such a fine body of work there (his leadership was so highly regarded that he was described as that team’s ‘Wellington’, after the famous military commander) that eventually he got a second crack at the big time, playing four games with St Kilda in the VFL in 1899. After that he captained Preston for several years, leading them to three successive pennants (1900-02) in the same competition in which the Collingwood Juniors played.

Sadly Andy Allan died at the relatively young age of 46, in 1916. Tragically his son, also named Andy, died on active service in France just eight months later. Andy gave great service – and leadership – to a number of different football clubs. At Collingwood, especially, he was a solid and reliable contributor in the club’s formative years, helping to lay the foundations for all that would follow.

- Michael Roberts