West Bromwich Albion have confirmed Bolton Wanderers legend Sam Allardyce as the club's new boss.
The 66-year-old has been out of football management since 2018 but is now back in a dugout at the helm of the Baggies.
Allardyce represented Bolton both as a player and a manager.
The defender played nearly 250 times for the Trotters in two spells with the club, winning the Second Division title in the 1977/78 season.
He took over the helm at the Reebok Stadium, as it was then known, for almost a decade from 1999 and oversaw a rise that included promotion via the play-offs from the First Division to the top flight and all the way to qualifying for the UEFA Cup.
He led Bolton to a sequence of top-half finishes in the Premier League, including sixth in the 2004/05 season and led Wanderers into the UEFA Cup, reaching the last-32 stage in the 2005/06 season.
He left Bolton in April 2007 and has since had several managerial positions across the top flight, including at Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers, West Ham United, Sunderland, Crystal Palace, Everton and a brief spell in charge of the England national team.
But he is now back in the game after agreeing an 18-month contract with the Baggies to be head coach and takes over from the departed Slaven Bilic with the club in the relegation zone.
He was the odds-on favourite for the job and will take training tomorrow in preparation for Sunday’s Premier League fixture against Aston Villa.
West Brom sporting and technical director Luke Dowling said: “In Sam, we have a man who has a proven Premier League pedigree with a track record of improving every club he has managed.
“We believe and, more importantly, Sam believes we have a group of players that have the quality needed to give the club its best chance of Premier League survival.”
