Sam Allardyce Profile

Sam Allardyce is one of the biggest managerial names in British football, having taken charge of 13 clubs and the England job for one game. He most recently failed to save Leeds from relegation.

Sam Allardyce replaced Javi Gracia as Leeds manager with four games of the 2022/23 season remaining, as the club bid to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

Leeds United was Allardyce's ninth managerial job in the top flight and the sixth time that he has been appointed during a season, both of which are records.

But after three defeats and a draw, Allardyce was unable to mask Leeds' systemic failings and save them from the drop.

Before moving to Elland Road the former England boss had taken charge of 537 Premier League games in total, which is the fifth-most behind Arsene Wenger (828), Sir Alex Ferguson (810), David Moyes (654) and Harry Redknapp (641).

Silverware has been hard to come by in Allardyce's long managerial career with the Third Division title with Notts County, two play-off final successes with Bolton and West Ham and the League of Ireland with Limerick the only trophies in his cabinet.

Playing career

Allardyce had a journeyman 20-year career as an uncompromising centre-back for a wide range of clubs including Bolton, Millwall, Preston and the Tampa Bay Rowdies between 1973 and 1993.

He made over 578 league and cup appearances and won the Second Division with Bolton (77/78) and promotion with Preston (86/87), where he was also named in the division's team of the year.

Early managerial career

After several coaching roles, Allardyce cut his managerial teeth as player-manager with Limerick and got them promoted to the League of Ireland Premier Division after winning the 1991/92 First Division.

He left Ireland to become a coach at Preston and soon became caretaker manager, but wasn't given the job on a full-time basis and moved to a role as youth team coach.

Blackpool came calling in July 1994 and took the club to a 12th-placed finish in the 94/95 season. The following year, despite finishing third they missed out on automatic promotion by one point and then lost in the play-off semi-finals and Allardyce was sacked.

After returning to coaching for a short time with Sunderland, Allardyce was back in a managerial hot seat with Notts County, but was unable to save them from relegation at the end of the 96/97.

But he led the club to promotion in the following season as champions of Division Three and then kept the club away from relegation during the 98/99 season.

He left Notts County in October 1999 to become manager of Bolton Wanderers.

Success at Bolton

Allardyce made his name at Bolton having played for the club for a decade and won promotion via the play-offs in his second season as manager in 2000/01.

Bolton initially struggled in the top flight, narrowly avoiding relegation in 2001/02 and 2002/03, before enjoying a breakthrough campaign in 2003/04. Boosted by the signing of target man Kevin Davies, the Trotters finished eighth in the league and reached a League Cup final.

The team went from strength to strength after that, qualifying for the UEFA Cup for the first time in 2004/05 and finishing eighth again in the following season.

After missing out on the England job to Steve McClaren, Allardyce announced his surprise resignation as Bolton manager with two games of the 2006/07 campaign remaining, while the club were performing well in fifth place.

Flop at Newcastle

Allardyce joined Newcastle in May 2007 and began his reign with a 3-1 opening-day victory over his former club Bolton. Four more victories followed in the Magpies' next eight games but their form deteriorated after that.

A run of two wins from 12 league games led Allardyce and Newcastle to part ways in January 2008, with new owner Mike Ashley seeking to win over the fanbase by appointing Kevin Keegan as manager for a second spell.

Saving Blackburn

Succeeding Paul Ince as Blackburn manager in December 2008 with the club in 19th place, Allardyce - who had spent almost a year out of work - began to establish his reputation as the man to turn to in a crisis.

Blackburn immediately went on a six-game unbeaten run to move clear of danger, eventually finishing in 15th place. A 10th-placed finish followed before Allardyce was sacked by new owners the Venky's midway through the 2010/11 campaign.

Guiding West Ham back to the Premier League

Allardyce dropped down to the Championship after his Blackburn departure by taking over at the recently relegated West Ham in June 2011.

Having signed several former Bolton players including club captain Kevin Nolan, he led the Hammers back to the top flight at the first time of asking by beating Blackpool in the play-off final.

He subsequently guided the club to 10th, 13th and 12th-placed finishes in the next three seasons, but his contract was not renewed amid unrest from supporters related to his perceived style of play and he left in May 2015.

Getting Sunderland out of trouble

Allardyce performed the second Premier League rescue act of his career when he took charge of a Sunderland side languishing in 19th in October 2015.

Despite struggling to engineer an immediate upturn in form, the Black Cats went six games without defeat at the end of the season to survive in 17th at the expense of local rivals and Allardyce's former employers, Newcastle.

Short spell at England

His ongoing proved sufficient to land him the England manager's job, but he famously lasted just 67 days in the role following allegations of corruption.

He won his one and only England game in September 2016, with a 1-0 win over Slovakia.

Back in London with Crystal Palace

Three months on from the England debacle, Allardyce joined Crystal Palace with the club hovering just above the relegation places.

The Eagles recorded just one victory in his first eight league games in charge, before winning six of the subsequent eight to climb the table.

They eventually finished 14th but Allardyce decided to resign from his post, stating that he had no ambitions to manage another club.

More criticism at Everton

Allardyce reversed his retirement decision a few months after leaving Palace by accepting the Everton job in November 2017.

He lifted the Toffees from 13th to eighth in the table but left the club at the end of the season following further criticism over his style of play.

Despite their improvement in results, Everton took the fewest shots of any team in the Premier League during Allardyce's tenure.

Disaster at West Brom

After an 18-month hiatus, Allardyce returned to Premier League management with West Brom in December 2020.

Albion were counting on Allardyce's familiar formula but his first four home games brought four defeats by an aggregate 17-0 scoreline to Aston Villa, Leeds, Arsenal and Manchester City.

A late-season improvement, including beating Chelsea 5-2 and Southampton 3-0 in back-to-back games, was not enough to dig the Baggies out of the hole and all hope was extinguished by the Gunners with three games remaining.

Allardyce stepped down as manager at the end of the campaign.

Relegation with Leeds

The 68-year-old became Leeds' third permanent manager of the season after Jesse Marsch and Javi Gracia.

He took over with the club languishing in 17th, and only goal difference keeps them out of the relegation zone.

Leeds lost four in a winless run of five matches and Allardyce had just four games left to save the club from a dropping into the Championship.

Allardyce reportedly agreed a basic salary of £500,000 for his four games in charge, with a £2.5million bonus if he kept Leeds up.

But he failed to achieve his goal and Leeds' three-year stay in the top flight was ended on the final day of the season after a 4-1 home defeat to Tottenham.

After three defeats and a draw the 68-year-old was unable to mask the club's systemic failings and save them.

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