ENGLISH NATIONAL LEAGUE club Halifax Town have confirmed that their first-team player Jamie Allen has left their pre-season camp to join the cast of ITV reality TV series Love Island, adding that the forward’s decision will be ‘reviewed on his return’.
Allen, a Montserrat international who joined Halifax from Dover Athletic in 2019, will miss a key portion of the club’s pre-season ahead of kick-off in their 2022/23 National League campaign away to Barnet on 6 August.
Halifax say that the 27-year-old made ‘his intentions clear that the opportunity is very important to him.’
Allen scored once in 24 National League appearances for Halifax last term, and ‘committed his future to the club’ with a new contract as recently as 9 June.
He will make his debut in the villa tonight alongside three other new contestants.
Did someone order 😱FOUR😱 new bombshells? #Loveisland pic.twitter.com/fcoyqXathC
— Love Island (@LoveIsland) July 20, 2022
Jamie Allen has decided to join the cast of ❤️ Island 2022, making his intentions clear that the opportunity is very important to him.
— FC Halifax Town (@FCHTOnline) July 20, 2022
The matter will be reviewed on his return.
“Jamie Allen has decided to join the cast of [Love] Island 2022, making his intentions clear that the opportunity is very important to him,” began a curt Halifax statement.
“The matter will be reviewed on his return.”
Allen is not the first footballer to feature on the dating game show, which has in recent years become a cultural phenomenon in the UK, Ireland and beyond.
Dennon Lewis, who began his career at Watford but was then playing for Wealdstone, featured in Love Island season 5 in 2019. He is currently on the books at National League side Boreham Wood.
Aaron Simpson featured in last year’s season 7 after helping Sutton United to seal promotion to the Football League in 2020/21.
Among the current favourites to win this year’s instalment is Gemma Owen, daughter of former Liverpool, Real Madrid and England striker Michael Owen.
Love Island 2022 will end on 1 August, five days before Allen’s Halifax raise the curtain on their new season at Barnet’s Hive Stadium.
