Coventry City feature from CoventryLive as Sky Blues reporter Andy Turner sat down with Jamie Allen to reflect on an eventful summer for the midfielder.
Like the rest of his Coventry City teammates, Jamie Allen experienced the come down in the summer after going so close and yet now being so far away from promotion to the Premier League. The days after the energy-sapping play-off final at Wembley Stadium were a time for reflection for most, fans included, of what might have been after the club’s fate was cruelly decided in a penalty shootout.
Attention then turned to the summer. Time for a well-earned break, planning a personal challenge to scale the heights of Britain’s biggest peak and looking forward to the excitement of becoming a dad for the first time in the weeks ahead. His plans, however, were thrown into turmoil when he started experiencing chest pains – the last thing a supremely fit professional footballer would expect to suffer.
“It started probably midway through the summer, not long after the playoffs,” said the Sky Blues midfielder, recalling his ordeal which he is keen to play down. “I started feeling a bit weird in myself and then one day I just got some pains in my chest. Over the next couple of days I just took myself to the doctors and just got it looked at, and then I was admitted to hospital for about four days.”
“It was, yeah,” said the naturally shy character who is keen to put the whole episode behind him.
Asked if at any point he was concerned that it might affect his career, he said: “To be fair, I didn’t really think about football in that instance. It was just a bit of a shock at the time to me and my family. So we just tried to focus on it and then we got it sorted in the end, so it was all good.
“It’s just one of those things that obviously you just need time to recover from really, and fortunately it was nothing too serious, I can say that. But it just took time to recover and complete rest is what I needed.”
Once the doctors had got to the bottom of his heart problem, Jamie’s focus quickly switched to his partner and the imminent arrival of their baby. Days after he was discharged from the heart unit he was back in hospital, this time checking into maternity where little Louie came along to bring a happy ending to an emotional and worrying time.
Although it was a close call with the baby due so near to his illness, the timing couldn’t have been better in the end and a bouncing baby boy proved to be the perfect pick-me-up as he began his long road to recovery.
“He’s definitely kept me in high spirits,” said Allen, whose pre-season was wiped out by strictly imposed rest and recuperation, followed by a rigid recovery plan including regular cardio tests as he began to build up his fitness levels again.
Football is no stranger to heart issues, with high profile incidents in recent years with Fabrice Muamba and Christian Eriksen collapsing during matches. So was there a mental hurdle to get over in terms of having the confidence to push his body to the limit once more?
“It’s just one of those things and when I play football I kind of forget about everything really,” said the high-energy player known for his non-stop running.
“I had to be patient. I mean, you can’t rush things like this. Obviously I have good people around me giving me good information. But as soon as they were happy for me to be back training I’ve gone from strength to strength really. And once you step onto the grass you kind of forget about everything, so I don’t have any worries or anything like that. I just concentrate on playing football.”
As for whether the issue has completely cleared up or if it’s something he and the medical staff will have to keep an eye on, he said:
“I would say it’s cleared up, yeah. It’s done with now and I just want to focus on playing games now.”
His return to action proved to be a godsend for Mark Robins and his team, coming amid a difficult period of adjustment to life without the influential Gustavo Hamer and a string of injuries in midfield. After a couple of cameo appearances from the bench, Allen was handed his first start of the season at QPR where he more than played his part in the 3-1 win, secured in 12 devastating second half minutes at Loftus Road where he provided an assist for one of Ellis Simms’ goals.
Reflecting on his three games in the space of eight days, he said: “It’s been quite tough. Obviously I didn’t expect to be playing for as long as I have been but I feel I’ve coped with it well and we’ve got some decent results. I feel I have played well and it’s pleasing coming as my first starts of the season and the fact that I am just getting back into it. I got an assist so I’m happy with that.”
The international break provides a welcome rest, time to catch his breath and spend a bit of quality time with baby Louie before going again against Bristol City. There’s also, perhaps, time for reflection on an eventful few months, to say the least, and shelved plans to climb Ben Nevis.
“No, I never got to do it,” he said. “I was planning on doing it but it didn’t happen in the end. I had a busy summer anyway with the baby coming in and stuff like that…”
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