Craig Samuel Allardyce (born 9 June 1975) is a retired footballer and a football agent. He is the son of former player and current manager, Sam Allardyce. He was the manager of non-League club Turton from 2007 to 2009.

Footballing career

Playing career

Allardyce had a journeyman 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 football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

and left the club in 1994, to join Macclesfield Town. In 1994, Allardyce moved to Chinese outfit Guangdong Hongyuan. On 31 July 1994, Allardyce was involved in an on-pitch brawl with Hao Haidong 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. He left China after this incident. Allardyce then returned to England to play for a short spell at

Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

, before moving to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, 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,

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 came pr ...

, Chesterfield, Peterborough United, Welling United and Mansfield Town, 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 North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is know ...

to end his career in 2000.

Career as a football agent

After his retirement at 25, Allardyce became a football agent.

Corruption allegations

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

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...

'' documentary for allegedly taking " bungs" (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, 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 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 footballers 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 footballers in China British expatriates in China English expatriate footballers