Bolton Wanderers were seventh in the Premier League, with European qualification secured for the second time in three years, when Sam Allardyce called time on his eight years as manager of the club in April 2007.
The famous old club's walls had been decorated only by black-and-white photographs from the 1950s and earlier before Allardyce's arrival in October 1999. But soon after, Bolton became a byword for cutting-edge methods on and off the pitch, with "Big Sam" citing his brief spell in the North American Soccer League with the Tampa Bay Rowdies in 1983 as the moment when his eyes were opened to the way ahead for the English game.