Craig Samuel Allardyce (born 9 June 1975) is a retired footballer and a

football agent A sports agent is a legal representative (hence agent (law), agent) for professional sports figures such as athletes and coaches. They procure and negotiate employment and Testimonial, endorsement contracts for the principal (commercial law), at ...

. He is the son of former player and manager,

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (born 19 October 1954) is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football League, as well as brief spells in the North ...

. He was the manager of

non-League Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

club Turton from 2007 to 2009.

Footballing career

Playing career

Allardyce had a

journeyman A journeyman is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that field as a fully qualified employee ...

career, playing for eleven clubs in seven years. Allardyce started his career in 1993 with

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

and left the club in 1994, to join

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an association football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and from 1891 played home games at Moss Rose. It competed in the short ...

. In 1994, Allardyce moved to Chinese outfit Guangdong Hongyuan. On 31 July 1994, Allardyce was involved in an on-pitch brawl with

Hao Haidong Hao Haidong (; born 9 May 1970) is a Chinese former international footballer. He currently holds the record for being China's top goalscorer. As a player he represented Bayi Football Team, Dalian Shide and Sheffield United in a career that ...

in Guangdong Hongyuan's league match with Bayi FC. This resulted in Allardyce and Hao receiving a half-year ban by the

Chinese Football Association The Chinese Football Association (), abbreviated as CFA (), is the governing body for association football, beach soccer and futsal in the People's Republic of China (Mainland China). The CFA organizes the men's and women's national teams an ...

. He left China after this incident. Allardyce then returned to England to play for a short spell at

Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...

, before moving to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

, where his father Sam was manager until he was sacked in 1996. He stayed at the club for three years, playing only once in a league game during the 1995–96 season. After he was released by Blackpool in 1997, Allardyce then had short spells at

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ket ...

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...

, Chesterfield,

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The most prominent aspect of the club is its men's first team, who play in the , the seventh level of the E ...

and

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

, before joining

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club is known as 'the ...

to end his career in 2000.

Career as a football agent

After his retirement at 25, Allardyce became a

Corruption allegations

On 19 September 2006, Allardyce, and his father Sam were implicated in a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek language, Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any Obtuse angle, wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic image ...

'' documentary for allegedly taking "

bung A stopper, bung, or cork is a cylindrical or conical closure used to seal a container, such as a bottle, tube, or barrel. Description Unlike a lid or bottle cap, which encloses a container from the outside without displacing the inner v ...

s" (bribes) from agents if they signed certain players. Two agents, Teni Yerima and Peter Harrison, were secretly filmed, each separately saying that they had paid Sam Allardyce through his son. Sam Allardyce denied ever taking or asking for a bribe. The final report of the

Stevens inquiry The Stevens Inquiries were three official British government inquiries led by Sir John Stevens concerning collusion in Northern Ireland between loyalist paramilitaries and the state security forces. While Stevens declared in 1990 that collusio ...

, published in June 2007, expressed concerns regarding the involvement of father and son Allardyce in a number of transactions, however found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, stating: ″The inquiry remains concerned at the conflict of interest that it believes existed between Craig Allardyce, his father Sam Allardyce – the then manager at Bolton – and the club itself.″ In Summary, the Stevens Report stated: "there is no evidence of any irregular payments to club officials or players, and they are identified only as a consequence of the outstanding issues the inquiry has with the agents involved."

Managerial career

In December 2007 Allardyce took on a joint-managerial role of the

West Lancashire Football League The West Lancashire Football League is a Association football, football competition based in northern England, consisting of five divisions – three for first teams (Premier, One and Two), and two for reserve teams. The top division, the Prem ...

club Turton.Craig looking to follow in Big Sam's footsteps
''The Lancashire Telegraph'', first published 19 December 2007. He left in 2009.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allardyce, Craig 1975 births Living people Footballers from Bolton English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Preston North End F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Guangdong Winnerway F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Chorley F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Welling United F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Boston United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players Southern Football League players British sports agents English football managers Expatriate men's footballers in China English expatriates in China English expatriate men's footballers