Martin Allen unveiled as new Chesterfield manager

Picture by Gareth Williams/AHPIX.com; Football; Sky Bet League Two; Barnet v Chesterfield FC; 05/05/2018 KO 15:00; The Hive Stadium; copyright picture; Howard Roe/AHPIX.com; a disappointed Barnet boss Martin Allen thanks the crowd as his sides' relegation was confirmed

The 52-year-old has left Barnet, where he was in a fifth stint in charge, after just missing out on League Two safety.

Allen guided the Bees to a 3-0 win over the Spireites on the final day of the season, but needed Coventry to beat Morecambe and that match ended in a 0-0 draw.

He arrives at the Proact with ex Spireite Carl Muggleton and Adrian Whitbead in tow, as goalkeeping coach and assistant manager respectively.

A former Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United midfielder, Allen has won the title in the division Chesterfield will find themselves in next season.

He masterminded Barnet’s 2014/15 Conference Premier triumph and has also won League Two with Gillingham.

Allen has been in management since March 2003 in his first spell with Barnet.

He moved to Brentford in March the following year and saved them from relegation that season in League One before taking them to the play-offs in successive campaigns.

Another play-off finish came with League Two Milton Keynes in 2006/07, before a four-game stint with Championship club Leicester City.

Allen followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming Cheltenham manager but less than three years later was back at Barnet.

Notts County was his next destination, guiding them to League One safety.

Barnet appointed him for a third time in April 2012, winning two games to avoid the drop into non-league.

The 2012/13 season saw him at Gillingham, where he landed the club’s first trophy for 50 years, the League Two title.

After being sacked by the Gills in October 2013, he returned to Barnet and led them back to the Football League, winning the Conference title.

In December 2016 he left Barnet once more, moving to Eastleigh, where he won just two of his 14 games and was fired in February 2017.

The Hive was his next destination, Allen returning to Barnet in March this year, winning five of eight games and so nearly helping them complete the great escape.

His winning percentage as a manager is 40.64 per cent, of the 561 games he’s taken charge of.