After starting his playing days at Bolton Wanderers, the club he would later go on to manage, Allardyce had spells with Sunderland, Huddersfield Town, Coventry City, Millwall and Preston North End, in a career spanning 19 years.

Among the nine clubs he played for, perhaps the most surprising was the Tampa Bay Rowdies. It was while playing for the Florida side that Allardyce was exposed to some of the practices that have helped him to become one of the most innovative coaches in modern times.

He employs scientific principles in his approach to coaching, using psychologists and the latest technology in order to better understand the fitness and mentality of his players.

'Big Sam' took up his first coaching role as a player/coach at West Bromwich Albion in February 1989, parting company with the club two years later, following their relegation to the Third Division.

Allardyce accepted a similar position with League of Ireland side Limerick in the 1991/92 season, where as a player/manager, he guided the club to promotion in his only season at the club. He was then named coach/assistant manager of Preston North End in time for the start of the 1992/93 season.

After a poor start, the North Enders parted company with then manager Les Chapman, with Allardyce being handed the role of caretaker manager.

Despite some impressive results, the club felt Allardyce did not have the necessary experience to take the job on a permanent basis, and he returned to his original postion at the club following the appointment of John Beck as manager. A year-and-a-half later, Blackpool offered him his first full-time managerial position.

In two seasons at Bloomfield Road, the Seasiders narrowly missed out on promotion to Division One, with the failure to win the play-offs in the 1995/96 season seeing Blackpool sack their manager.
Allardyce returned to the game in January 1997, taking charge of Division Two's Notts County.

On his arrival, the club were bottom of the league, and the task of keeping the Meadow Lane side in the division proved too difficult to achieve. However, with Allardyce at the helm in the 1997/98 season, the club won promotion from the Third Division, breaking several records in the process, finishing with a 19-point margin and securing their promotion in March. He stayed with County until October 1999, when former club Bolton came calling.

Placed in the bottom half of the second tier at the time of his arrival, Allardyce worked wonders in his first six months with the club, helping them to reach the play-off places, only to lose to Ipswich Town in extra time of the semi-final second leg.

In 2000/01, the Trotters enjoyed play-off success, beating Allardyce's former employers Preston North End 3-0 in the final to confirm their return to the Premier League following their relegation three years previously.

Allardyce's first two seasons in the Premier League saw Bolton struggle to maintain their top-flight status, but in 2003/04 Allardyce's side showed a marked improvement, finishing eighth in the league and reaching the League Cup final, losing 2-1 to Middlesbrough. Much of their success was credited to Allardyce's dealings in the transfer market and man-management skills.

The next season saw another improvement with a sixth place finish and qualification to the UEFA Cup for the first time in the club's history. An eighth place finish followed in 2005/06, as well as qualifying for the knockout rounds of the UEFA Cup.

Having been linked with the vacant England manager's job the previous year, Allardyce was again rumored to be on his way out of Bolton in late April 2007. This was confirmed soon after, with Allardyce ending a 16 year association with the club.

Just two weeks later, Allardyce was named Glenn Roeder's successor at Newcastle United. After a series of disappointing results in the first half of the 2007/08 season, Allardyce parted company with the Magpies in January 2008.

Having had almost a year out of the game, Allardyce was appointed Blackburn Rovers manager, taking over from Paul Ince in December 2008. He got off to an impressive start, winning his first match 3-0 against Stoke City at Ewood Park just days after signing a three-year contract.

Under Allardyce, Rovers finished the season strongly to finish 15th, seven points clear of the drop zone.

2004: Manages 100th Premier League match (Bolton Wanderers 2-2 Liverpool, 7th February)
2006: Celebrates 50th Premier League win (West Ham United 1-2 Bolton Wanderers, 27th August)
2006: Manages 200th Premier League match (Bolton Wanderers 0-4 Manchester United, 28th October)
2008: Manages 250th Premier League match (Blackburn Rovers 2-2 Manchester City, 28th December)