Former Leone Stars, Ports Authority, East End Lions and Old Edwardians striker, Leslie Allen has reportedly passed away today, 26 February at the 34 Military Hospital in Freetown.

Allen was also the ex-chair of the main opposition, All Peoples Congress (APC), USA branch, and was recently elected non-executive member of the party’s NAC.

He played as both winger and striker for three Sierra Leonean top-flight clubs Ports Authority, East End Lions, and Old Edwardians.

Allen also played club football in Benin, Ivory Coast, and Gabon. He had major surgery after he collided with Horoya FC of Guinea goalkeeper Fode Laye Kamara during a West African Football Union (WAFU) club game in Conakry. He scored a hat-trick in the first leg of the fixture in Freetown.

Allen won many caps with Leone Stars and scored goals. He was a member of the Leone Stars team that nearly qualified for the 1988 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco after knocking out both Liberia and Ghana but lost out in the final qualifying round 3-2 on aggregate to Nigeria. He netted the winning goal against Liberia in Freetown.

He played in several West African sub-regional Amical Cabral Zone II football tournaments and was a member of the Leone Stars team that first won the tournament in Freetown in 1993.

Allen was also a member of the Leone Stars team that represented Sierra Leone at the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations final in Tunisia. His last game for Leone Stars was during the 1997 Zone II tournament in Banjul.