Sam Allardyce: England manager 'set to resign' following undercover sting

The former Bolton Wanderers, West Ham United and Sunderland boss will reportedly leave his role after just 67 days in charge

Mark Critchley
Tuesday 27 September 2016 19:44 BST
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Allardyce was caught out by undercover journalists investigating corruption in football
Allardyce was caught out by undercover journalists investigating corruption in football (Getty)

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Sam Allardyce is reportedly set to quit as England manager after he appeared to advise undercover reporters on how to “get around” rules on third-party ownership.

According to the Daily Mail, the former Bolton, West Ham and Sunderland boss will leave his role voluntarily, just 67 days after his appointment; the shortest reign of any full-time England manager in history.

The Independent understands that Allardyce fears he will be sacked over the course of the next 24 hours, as the Football Association are furious at the damage caused to the organisation’s reputation.

Allardyce was secretly filmed by a group of journalists from the Daily Telegraph, who were carrying out a 10-month-long investigation into corruption in British football.

The 61-year-old told the reporters, who we posing as representatives from a business firm, that it was “not a problem” to bypass his employer’s rules surrounding third-party ownership.

Allardyce claimed that certain individuals had been “doing it for years” and that firms “can still get around it” by employing agents.

The footage also showed Allardyce negotiating a £400,000 deal for public speaking gigs in East Asia and mocking the rhotacism of Roy Hodgson, his predecessor as England manager.

Allardyce has managed just one game during his time in charge of the national team, a late 1-0 World Cup qualifying victory away to Slovenia earlier this month.

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