Sam Allardyce has agreed a shock return to football with Leeds United and will start work tomorrow.
The Englishman has been without a job since leaving West Bromwich Albion in 2021 as he wants to keep Leeds in the Premier League. He will take charge of his first game on Saturday, when the club take on Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
Over the years he has had a reputation for keeping clubs in the Premier League. He comes in Leeds’ lane with the side in 17th place on 30 points, level with Leicester City and Nottingham Forest.
Allardyce also had a brief stint with the England national team in 2016, but would only make one appearance.
But how has Allardyce fared in his Premier League managerial career and where did he go wrong at England? Mail Sport provides all the answers below.
Sam Allardyce has agreed to a shock return to football after being appointed as Leeds United’s new manager
Leeds are currently 17th in the table and are outside the relegation zone on goal difference
Bolton Wanderers (1999-2007)
Allardyce would make his Premier League managerial debut in 2001 for his beloved Bolton Wanderers.
He took over from Colin Todd in 1999, with the side 12th in the First Division. Before joining Bolton, Allardyce had brief spells at Blackpool and Notts County.
In 2001, he guided the team through the play-offs to the Premier League, beating Preston North End 3–0 in the final.
The Englishman would manage to avoid relegation in Bolton’s first season in the top flight, before finishing eighth in 2003/04 and guiding the club to the League Cup final – where they would lose to Middlesbrough.
In the 2004/05 season, the side would finish sixth and qualify for the UEFA Europa League. Following their successful campaign in 2005, the club would finish eighth a year later.
Allardyce resigned in April 2007 and the club finished fifth in the league with two games remaining.
Newcastle United (2007–2008)
In May 2007 he succeeded Glenn Roeder as the new Newcastle manager. There was a lot of anticipation that season following the arrival of Mark Viduka, Alan Smith, Geremi, Joey Barton, Jose Enrique and Abdoulaye Faye.
Allardyce got off to a good start to the season, winning five and drawing two of his first nine games.
The results would deteriorate. Newcastle would lose seven games between October and early January, winning only twice.
Allardyce was sacked in January 2008 after just 24 games in charge of the club.
Sam Allardyce enjoyed an eight-year career with Bolton before leaving in 2007
Blackburn robbers (2008-2010)
In December 2008, Allardyce signed a three-year contract with Blackburn Rovers, succeeding Paul Ince who left the club in 19th place with just three wins from 17 games.
The win would be the first of a nine-match unbeaten run and would ultimately keep the side in the Premier League, finishing 15th in the league table.
In the following season, Blackburn reached the League Cup semi-final against Aston Villa, but lost over the two legs. They would end the season in 13th place in Allardyce’s last full season in charge.
In December 2010, Rovers would sack Allardyce after a poor start to the season which saw the club win just one of their opening ten games. The Englishman left the club in 13th.
After being sacked by Newcastle United in 2008, Allardyce signed a three-year contract with Blackburn Rovers
West Ham United (2011-2015)
In 2011, West Ham finished in a league low and were relegated to the Championship. Following their relegation, the Hammers appointed Allardyce as their new manager on a two-year deal.
The side missed out on automatic promotion that season, finishing just two points behind Reading in second place. However, the Hammers would go on to gain promotion back to the Premier League via the play-offs after beating Blackpool 2–1 in the final.
West Ham would finish 10th in their first season back in the Premier League. In the next few seasons that followed, a mid-table finish seemed to be a popular repeat for the Hammers.
In 2013/14 they would finish 13th in the table and 12th the season after. Following their 12th-place finish in 2015, the club chose not to renew Allardyce’s contract.
Sunderland (2015-16)
After leaving West Ham, the English were appointed as Sunderland’s new manager in October 2015. At the time, the Black Cats were 19th in the league, picking up just three points from their first eight games. Things did not improve, with the club going five games without a win in December.
In January, the club signed the likes of Jan Kirchhoff, Steve Harper, Lamine Kone and Wahbi Khazri in a bid to keep the side in the Premier League.
The signings would inspire the club as the Black Cats avoided relegation in the last game of the season, where they drew 2–2 with Watford. The 3–0 win over Everton a week earlier proved vital as Newcastle would finish just two points behind the north east side on 37 points.
Sunderland secured a place in the Premier League in 2016, finishing two points above Newcastle United
Allardyce joined Sunderland with the club 19th in the league and struggling for form
Crystal Palace (2016-17)
After an unsuccessful spell with England, Allardyce would sign a two-and-a-half-year contract with Crystal Palace.
He took over for the side on 23 December 2016, one day after Alan Pardew’s departure. At the time, the club was 17th in the Premier League with 15 points from 17 games.
In January, the Englishman received a lot of support, with the club spending a total of £30 million on Luka Milivojevic, Patrick van Aanholt and Jeff Schlupp.
From then on, the club recorded victories over Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. The Eagles secured their place in the league in the penultimate game of the season where they beat Hull City 4–0. Allardyce’s side finished 14th with 41 points from 38 games.
After keeping the side in the league, the Englishman left the club to take a break from football.
Allardyce guided Crystal Palace to safety in 2017 and would leave the club to take a break from football
Everton (2017-2018)
However, it wasn’t long before he was back in the dugout. After a terrible start to the season, Everton sacked manager Ronald Koeman in November 2017. The club had only won one game out of its first 10 games.
After Koeman’s sacking, the club appointed Allardyce in an attempt to bring Everton back to the table. The Englishman kept things steady early on, helping the Toffees to five clean sheets in their first seven games and also remaining undefeated in that time.
Despite their solidity at the back, the Toffees struggled to find the back of the net. However, the club would finish the season in eighth place, but the fans were not satisfied with the style of play. The club was ranked 20th for total shots and 19th for total shots on target.
After their last game of the season against West Ham on 16 May 2018, Allardyce would leave the club.
After a short break from football, Allardyce joined Everton and would lead the club to an eighth-place finish in 2018
West Brom (2020-2021)
In his final spell in the Premier League, the Englishman was appointed manager of West Brom on an 18-month contract after sacking Slaven Bilic, with the club 19th in the table.
In its first game, the club lost 3-0 to rivals Aston Villa. It wasn’t until the sixth game that Allardyce would take his first win by beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2.
However, Allardyce was unable to take the club to safety and suffered its first relegation from the Premier League after 17 seasons. The defeat to Arsenal in May confirmed their relegation to the Championship.
West Brom were relegated from the Premier League in 2021 following their defeat to Arsenal
Allardyce suffered his first relegation from the Premier League after 17 seasons with West Brom
What went wrong for him in England?
After leaving Sunderland in 2016, Allardyce was set to take over as England manager in July 2016 following the Three Lions’ woeful Euro 2016 campaign.
He took charge of his first and last game as manager, a World Cup qualifier against Slovakia where the Three Lions won 1–0.
Allardyce was released from his role as Three Lions boss by the Football Association on September 27 after it was revealed that he was using his position to explore the possibility of making extra money, while also offering advice on how to get around the Football Association’s transfer rules .
His sacking made him the shortest-serving England manager of all time and was replaced by current boss Gareth Southgate.