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London Cobras Appoint New Head Coach
The London Cobras are delighted to announce that Tony Allen will be taking over as Head Coach with immediate effect.
It is with regret that previous Head Coach Jeff Brown steps down due to work commitments.
The Cobras, the senior team within the London Warriors program, were lead by Brown through their 2008 undefeated debut season which ended with a win at the BAFL Division 2 Championship in September last year. Although concentrating on his professional commitments, Brown will remain as a core member of the Cobras coaching staff.
Tony Allen steps up with a huge task ahead of him, but there couldn’t be anyone better suited for the job.
He has an impressive football background which started back in 1985 with the Croydon Coyotes. His coaching career moved on quickly and Allen was soon an intrinsic part of the most successful British American Football team to date, the London Olympians.
Allen joined the Olympians in 1989 as the youth defensive coordinator and quickly climbed the ranks until becoming Head Coach of the senior team in 1992.
From here Allen and the Olympians went from strength to strength winning several national titles and back to back European titles in 1993 and 1994.
Surrounded by a familiar squad including Gerry Anderson, Wes Roach and Aden Durde, who are all now coaches within the Warriors Program, Allen built a legacy which is still talked about today.
In 1995, Allen took a position as a professional coach in NFL Europe for the London Monarchs as their defensive line coach. He remained as the Director of Football with the Olympians while they continued to win titles until 2005.
Allen left the Monarchs in 2001 to become the Director of International Player Development for the NFL, ensuring the success of European players in the NFL.
2005 saw Allen, along with Gerry Anderson, become involved in a youth program – the London Warriors. Since its inception, the programme has won 4 youth titles and developed a senior programme that won the aforementioned BAFL Division 2 title in 2008.
Speaking shortly after the announcement, Allen said ‘There is a lot of work to be done at the Cobras.
Division 1 is a tough league and after last season it appears that a lot of teams see us as the team to beat. We are only half way through this season and I’m grateful to be taking over a team that is currently 6-0. Jeff has done a fantastic job with the team, and I hope that we can carry that on and do the programme proud.’
The Cobras are next in action at home against the Kent Exiles on 2 August, an important first game for the new Head Coach.