Where Are They Now: Brandon Allen

Brandon Allen will not go down in history as one of Minnesota United’s most productive players. The young forward spent time with the Loons in the latter half of the 2017 season on loan from the New York Red Bulls.

What did he do?

In all honesty, not very much.

Allen came to United in search of playing time, something that he was not able to secure in New York under Bradley Wright-Phillips. He was lauded as a younger version of Chris Wondolowski who had a “penchant” for scoring at every level.

He made two appearances for the Loons and did not get very much playing time at all. He started Minnesota’s friendly with Club Atlas of Liga MX, but didn’t find his way onto the pitch in an MLS match—despite being named to the bench in fifteen games—until the final home game of the year, against Sporting Kansas City. He played nine minutes, registering zero shots.

Those few minutes brought his total time played in MLS to a whopping sixteen minutes.

How did he leave?

The loan from RBNY was only through the end of the season, and, unsurprisingly, neither club elected to extend the offer to the 2018 season.

Where is he now?

New York declined to pick up Allen’s option at the end of the 2017 season, making him a free agent. He signed with Bethlehem Steel FC of the USL, where he made seven appearances this season, scoring twice. Allen said his time with Bethlehem “didn’t really work out,” and he was transferred to Nashville SC, where he joined two other former Loons in Justin Davis and Ish Jome.

Allen has scored four goals in thirteen appearances for Nashville, who sit in sixth place in the USL Eastern Conference. Nashville are expected to begin MLS play in 2020.