All time fan favourite Sam Allardyce, also known as ‘Big Sam’, is a well established English football manager, who has also been a former professional player. As a player, Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a fruitful 21-year career, which was mostly spent in the hyper-competitive English Football League. As well as becoming one of the biggest draws in English league football, Allardyce enjoyed brief spells in the North American Soccer League and Irish League. As a manager, Allardyce has always been in high demand, with the football oracle managing major teams such as Everton and Newcastle United. Allardyce enjoyed one of his most successful spells at Bolton Wanderers, where he led the club to promotion out of the First Division through the play-offs in 2001. Additionally, he carried the underdog club to a League Cup final and UEFA Cup qualification during his tenure.
Allardyce’s successful time at Bolton meant that he was hot property. The FA put him on a short-list of four managerial greats to become England manager after Sven-Göran Eriksson stepped down. Allardyce’s competition was Alan Curbishley, Steve McClaren and Martin O’Neill. Allardyce was interviewed for the position and was hinted to by the FA that the final choice would be between himself and McClaren. Unluckily for Big Sam, the job was given to McClaren. Allardyce is a big advocate of sports science and often used technology and science based approaches in the coaching of his teams. He often utilized computerised performance analysis before any other manager, making him a pioneer of advanced management strategies.
With Allardyce still at the top of his game, it is not unlikely that he will be seen managing another top team in the English Premier League.