The FA have chosen Sam Allardyce to succeed Roy Hodgson as the manager of England - a man well-connected with the EFL.
The 61-year-old leaves his role as Sunderland boss to take up the position with the national team, which was made vacant after the Three Lions' disappointing Euro 2016 exit at the hands of Iceland.It's official. We are delighted to announce that Sam Allardyce is the new manager of the #ThreeLions! pic.twitter.com/7L3y9S62TP
— England (@England) July 22, 2016
Allardyce has more than 40 years' worth of experience in football having started his career in the late 1960s.
His 21-year playing career, spent mostly in the EFL, took him from Bolton Wanderers to Preston North End, via Sunderland, Millwall, Coventry City, Huddersfield Town, West Bromwich Albion, and second spells with the Trotters and the Lilywhites.
He also played in the League of Ireland with Limerick, and that's where his managerial days began in 1991, combining on and off-field duties, after being a player-coach at West Brom.
It was then onto Deepdale in 1992 as a coach, before he was hired as caretaker following the sacking of Les Chapman.
He didn't get the job on a permanent basis at North End but another club in West Lancashire, Blackpool, appointed him as manager in July 1994. He spent two seasons at Bloomfield Road but left after Season 1995/96 following a Division Two Play-Off semi-final defeat to Bradford City.
Notts County was Allardyce's next club, taking the reins in January 1997. He failed to save them from relegation that year but led the club to the Division Three title in 1997/98, winning the league in March, and eventually by a 19-point margin.
Image: Sam Allardyce celebrates success at Notts County
He returned to Bolton Wanderers as boss in October 1999 and went on to spend eight succesful years at the club, managing 371 matches and recording a 41.2% win rate. He guided the Trotters out of Division One, establishing them as a top-flight club, and also led them into Europe, in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup.
Relatively brief spells at Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers came next before West Ham United selected him as the man to lead them back to the top flight after they suffered relegation to the EFL in 2011. West Ham's stay in the EFL under Allardyce was short as he guided them back to the Premier League via the Championship Play-Offs, and re-established the London club at the top table.
His move to Sunderland came in October 2015, having departed Upton Park in May of that year, and impressively kept the Black Cats up last term.
Now his attention turns to England, and producing a winning formula on the international stage.