James Allan | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | James Allan |
Born | 21 September 1979 |
Origin | Dalmarnock, Scotland |
Genres | Indie rock |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
Years active | 2003 – present |
Labels | Columbia |
Associated acts | Glasvegas |
Personal information | |||
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Full name | James Allan | ||
Date of birth | 21 September 1979 | ||
Place of birth | Dalmarnock, Scotland | ||
Playing position | Winger | ||
Youth career | |||
Abronhill United | |||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1997–1999 | Falkirk | 2 | (0) |
1999–2001 | Cowdenbeath | 24 | (3) |
2001–2002 | East Fife | 33 | (2) |
2002–2003 | Queen's Park | 26 | (4) |
2003–2004 | Gretna | 6 | (0) |
2004–2005 | Stirling Albion | 9 | (0) |
2004–2006 | Dumbarton | 16 | (0) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
James Allan (born 21 September 1979) is the lead singer and guitarist of the Scottish rock band Glasvegas, and a former footballer.
Born in Dalmarnock, Glasgow, he attended the city's St Mungo's Academy. Allan is a lifelong supporter of Celtic.
Allan's cousin is Glasvegas bandmate/guitarist Rab Allan. His sister Denise is the band's co-manager.
Allan played as a winger for Falkirk, Cowdenbeath, East Fife, Queen's Park, Gretna, Stirling Albion and Dumbarton, making 116 appearances in the Scottish Football League. He was part of the Cowdenbeath squad that won promotion as runners up in the 2000–01 Scottish Third Division.
During his football career, Allan decided to write songs and form a band. After touring Scotland for several years Glasvegas released four singles, before eventually being signed to Columbia. His songs deal with social issues such as psychopathic fathers ("Daddy's Gone"), murder ("Flowers & Football Tops") and the challenges of social work ("Geraldine").
On 8 September 2009, bandmates Rab Allan and Paul Donoghue announced that James Allan had been missing since the previous Friday, which resulted in a no-show at the Mercury Prize awards ceremony. However he made a call to the band's manager on 9 September 2009 that he was safe and well in New York, where Glasvegas were about to embark upon a US tour supporting Kings of Leon. It is thought that the lack of communication sourced from Allan being without a mobile phone for six months, according to bandmates.