Anthony Allison Proud to Represent Junior Lone Star FC
After spending five seasons in Europe, forward Anthony Allison is back home with Junior Lone Star FC.
“I always said I was part of this team,” Allison said, “I left for Europe and it was a no-brainer to come back to the team I love.”
As the forward said, Allison started his youth career with Junior Lone Star FC and progressed through the ranks, eventually helping lead the club to their first-ever title when Allison and the U-23 squad captured the state championship in 2008, followed up by a regional title and a national semifinal spot.
Following his time on the youth level of Junior Lone Star FC, Allison moved on to Wilmington University in Delaware, where he continued to shine through his goal scoring. In his time with the Wildcats, Allison earned NSCAA and NCAA Daktronics First Team selections, along with a trio of Regional Player of the Year awards between the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC), Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), and NCAA Daktronics East Region. All of the awards resulted from Allison’s impressive numbers, as the forward netted 56 goals and 26 assists in 72 games for Wilmington University.
Following his collegiate career, Allison signed with the Puerto Rico Islanders of the USL, before signing professionally in Sweden.
In Sweden, Allison consistently moved up the ranks, scoring a smattering of goals along the way. The Philadelphia native started his Swedish professional experience in 2011 with IFK Sundsvall, where he won the Golden Boot award of the Swedish third division with 24 goals in just 21 games played. In 2012, Allison scored 19 goals in 21 matches, helping lead Harnosands FF to a third-place finish in the Swedish second division. In 2013, Allison moved up to the top flight in Sweden, where he saw a position change, but still managed to net three goals in 19 appearances. Allison continued with more of the same in 2014 and 2015, scoring 25 goals and 20 goals respectively.
All in all, Allison netted a whopping 91 goals in his five seasons in Sweden, and Allison explained that goal- coring is what he does, but he’s still looking to simply create chances for his team.
“Scoring goals is my identity, up front. If I have the chance to score I will, but if a chance isn’t there I’ll open chances to other players.”
After his time in Sweden, Allison jumped on the chance to return to Junior Lone Star FC of the NPSL in 2016. Junior Lone Star FC Head Coach Bobby Ali has been impressed with Allison’s efforts helping the team, both on and off the pitch.
“Allison has been phenomenal since he re-joined the club last season. Allison’s experience has been useful for the younger forwards who have learned a lot from his time back with the club.”
Now back in America, Allison sees the NPSL as an opportunity to prove himself (and his club to prove themselves) against some of the best talent in the country.
“Soccer is growing here in America and when you look around the NPSL you see a lot of good players…it’s definitely a very deep league… and that’s why we are glad to be in the league, so we can prove to the country that we have an elite club on this level.”
How will Allison and Junior Lone Star FC prove it? Winning.
“Our goal right now is to make the playoffs. We feel like we’re one of the best teams in the conference, so we definitely want to push for the playoffs and push for the regional playoffs and go as far as we can.”
With an experienced forward with goal scoring prowess like Allison, it won’t be a surprise to see Junior Lone Star FC make a splash in 2017. The team currently sits third in the Keystone Conference, with Allison already netting a pair of goals in as many matches.
