Allchurch's mother. As a child, he attended Plasmarl School, leaving at the age of 14 to find work. After leaving, Allchurch worked in an office at Baldwin's Foundry, a company that manufactured bomb casings, but grew frustrated in the role and quickly looked to move on. He instead took up work as a porter in a local fish market, after noticing that the younger boys working there were frequently allowed early finishes during winter time due to a lack of stock in wartime which allowed them to play football on a regular basis. The job also allowed him to supplement his income as each worker was allowed to take any remaining stock to sell of their own accord once a week, a task that Allchurch would undertake with his brother Len. Allchurch's brothers were also keen footballers, Charlie and Arthur both played football in local leagues, Arthur represented Wales at amateur level and Len played professionally for Swansea Town, Sheffield United and Stockport County as well as representing Wales. Playing career Youth and wartime Allchurch was playing local youth football at under-18 Cwm Level Park when he was spotted by Joe Sykes, a scout who worked for Swansea Town under the management of Haydn Green. Following a match, Sykes approached Allchurch, who was only 14 at the time, and asked for his name and address, visiting the family home soon after where he reached an agreement with Allchurch's father that he would join the club when he turned 15 as an amateur and train two days a week. During his time as an amateur at the club, Allchurch was approached on two occasions by scouts from Football League sides to sign for different clubs but turned the moves down as he did not want to break the verbal agreement that he and his father had made to sign for the Swans. In 1948, when he turned 18, Allchurch was called up to start his National Service and enlisted as a gunner in the British Army. Stationed in Oswestry, he continued to play football for the representative sides of his unit and Western Command. His performances for the teams in November 1948 attracted the attention of Shrewsbury Town manager Leslie Knighton who signed Allchurch to represent the side in the Midland Football League during his military service, describing him as "a future star". He made his debut at Gay Meadow in