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Sam Allardyce, sometimes affectionately known as "Big Sam", was born in Dudley, West Midlands, England on October 19 1954 and is a former professional footballer and the current manager of Bolton Wanderers F.C. of the English Premier League. He grew up on the town's Old Park Farm estate and is best remembered as a player for being part of the Bolton Wanderers side which won the Second Division title in 1978 and secured promotion to the First Division.
After retiring as a player, Allardyce was named as assistant manager to Brian Talbot at West Bromwich Albion in February 1989 - ironic as he was a Wolverhampton Wanderers supporter, West Brom's rivals. His spell at the Hawthorns lasted just two years before he and Talbot were sacked as the club slid towards the Second Division trap door for the first time.
Allardyce was not out of work for long. His first permanent appointment was with the Irish club Limerick FC, a time which, he later commented, was tougher than managing in the Premiership as he had to go door-to-door to keep the club afloat and nightclub-to-nightclub to drag his team out. In his season there he won the Irish First Division title. He was recruited by Blackpool to succeed Billy Ayre, and guided them to third place in Division Two at the end of the 1995-96 season, but was sacked after they lost to Bradford City in the playoffs and was replaced by Gary Megson.
In January 1997, Sam Allardyce made his return to football as manager of Division Two basement club Notts County. He arrived too late to save them from relegation, but they won promotion at the first attempt by finishing top of Division Three at the end of the 1997-98 season. Notts County broke several club and national records, winning the title by 19 points and becoming the first post-war side to win promotion by mid-March. He remained in charge at Meadow Lane until September 1999 when he returned to Bolton Wanderers in Division One and became their new manager.
Bolton lost to Ipswich Town in the 1999-2000 Division One playoffs, but had an eventful run to the FA Cup semi-finals. They went one better in 2000-01 by reaching the playoff final where they beat Preston North End 3-0 to achieve promotion to the Premiership after a three-year absence.
Bolton went top of the Premiership after gaining ten points from the first four games of the 2001-02 campaign and Sam Allardyce was even hopeful that the club could challenge for their first-ever league title. However, the Bolton squad was not strong enough to mount anything like a serious challenge and their safety was not ensured until the penultimate game of the season. In 2002-03 they avoided relegation by just two points and one place.
2003-04 saw Sam Allardyce and his squad firmly establish Bolton as a Premiership club. They finished eighth in the final table and reached the Carling Cup final, losing 2-1 to Middlesbrough who had never won a major trophy before. 2004-05 saw Sam Allardyce and Bolton finish 6th in The Barclay's Premiership, claiming their place in the next season's UEFA Cup, equal on points with 2005's UEFA Champions League victors Liverpool. In the early months of 2005-06, Allardyce once again took Bolton into the top half of the Premiership and also steered them into the knockout rounds of the UEFA Cup, which commence in February 2006. As a successful manager of English birth, Allardyce could be in line for the England job when Sven Goran Eriksson departs after the 2006 World Cup.
He writes a regular column for Four Four Two magazine, on amateur football management, coaching or tactics.
In the 2005/2006 season Allardyce has been strongly linked with the soon to be vacant managerial post at the Enland International Team and the one and only .
| Preceded byColin Todd | Bolton Wanderers manager 1999-present |
Succeeded byN/A |