KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's soccer team and head coach Chad Wiseman have announced the addition of Chris Allen as an assistant coach for the 2026 season.

"I am thrilled to bring Coach Allen on board to Bronco Nation!" says Wiseman.  "I have known and coached against coach Allen for many years, frequently at the club level.   His 10 years of head coaching experience at the collegiate level will certainly be welcomed within our program.  

"He has a great personality on the field and has always connected well with his players.  He is a high energy guy who has a very positive attitude to train our fleet of goal keepers. Coach Allen compliments our staff very well, and the players will really enjoy working with him."

Allen joins the Broncos after spending five years as a recruiting specialist for Next College Student Athlete College Recruiting through IMG Academy. While working on the recruiting side of the industry, Allen was one of the top 10 best sellers throughout NCSA. He also presented US Soccer recruiting webinars to help match soccer players with college programs.

Before moving into recruiting, Allen was a Head Soccer Coach for 10 years at Davenport University in Grand Rapids. Allen led the Panther women's soccer program to three Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference regular season championships and two WHAC tournament championships during his decade tenure. Allen helped guide Davenport through the transition from the NAIA level to Division II play in 2017 as a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. In his 10 years with the Panthers, Allen put together an 113-57-16 record on the pitch and was named the United Soccer Coaches National College Coach of the Year in 2013 for the NAIA Mid East Region. He was also named the WHAC Coach of the Year three separate times during his tenure in Grand Rapids.

Before coming to collegiate coaching, Allen was a high-level club coach with Halifax Town Football Club and Vardar West Soccer Club. While coaching for Vardar West, Allen guided his team to three straight Michigan State Cup Championship games and helping the team to two births to the Region 2 National Championship series. In 2008, Allen won the Midwest Regional League D1 Championship. And in 2010, he guided the Chicago Fire Juniors - Michigan to the Super Y National Championships in Tampa, Fla.

Allen continued working with club teams during his time with Davenport as the Director of Coaching for the Michigan Rangers from 2014 to 2019. With the Rangers, Allen not only led programs to develop coaches and players, but also managed all business aspects of the organization as the Executive Director of Operations. 

Originally from Huddersfield, England, Allen came to Michigan to play collegiate soccer at Davenport. Allan was a stellar four-year midfielder for the Panther men's team from 2001-2005 where he helped compile an overall record of 36-26-4 while claiming the 2005 WHAC Tournament championship and reaching the regional championship.

Allen, his wife Stephanie, and their two daughters Maisy and Pippa now reside in Kalamazoo.