| Biography | Johnny Allan was born into a rural community in a small village near Halifax. At this time, the agricultural industry had boomed due to the war. Since a child, Johnny was passionate about farm working.
In the second half of the 1940s, John became interested in wrestling. Three years later, promoter Ted Beresford watched the young farmer wrestle, and offered John the chance to turn professional. Fitting comfortably in the middleweight division at the time John turned professional in 1950, and within a couple of years was travelling up and down the country, matched against experienced men such as Carlton Smith, Don Branch, Harry Fields and Ernie Riley. Early in his career he held World middleweight champion Gilbert Le Duc to a draw.
When ITV began televising wrestling Johnny Allan was one of the first to be signed up, matched against Johnny Kwango in 1956, a Norman Morrell Promotion in what was the nation's second exposure to professional wrestling. Johnny beat the charismatic Kwango and just half a dozen years after turning professional had established himself as one of the country's top wrestlers. By 1963 he was making the cover of The Wrestler magazine.
Johnny appeared on television more than twenty-five times during his career. His final television appearance came in 1968, a draw with Mike Marino. Shortly after, he made the more to become a promoter. As a promoter Johnny Allan had the respect of wrestlers. |