Sam Allardyce and his Black Country roots

Dudley-born Sam Allardyce is now the bookies' favourite to become the next England manager.

It's a job he has craved ever since being overlooked in 2006 when the FA instead opted for Steve McClaren.

Allardyce is known to be hugely proud of his West Midlands roots – and often comes back to visit family.

But the no-nonsense defender felt he had to move away in order to pursue a dream career in professional football.

Allardyce grew up on Wren's Nest estate and was educated at Sycamore Green Primary School and later at Wren's Nest School.

But he left the area aged just 15 when he was approached by Bolton.

In an exclusive interview with the Express & Star, Allardyce said: "I was born in Dudley but I left there when I was 15.

"I was there throughout my school days, but when I left school I had to look around for people offering me the opportunity to become a professional and the best offer was from Bolton.

"None of the Midlands clubs made me an offer, which was disappointing because I had to leave home.

"But in the long run it worked out well for me because I managed to break into the team at Bolton and that gave me the start of a long career."

Allardyce still follows the fortunes of Wolves, after supporting them while growing up, and recalled how his Dudley Town career was cut short after just two matches.

He continued: "I played for Dudley and Brierley Hill Schools, Staffordshire Boys and Birmingham and District Boys.

"I played for my youth club and I played with my brother a couple of times for Dudley Town.

"But when the teachers found out they stopped me because I was only 14 or 15 so I would have been playing against lads who were four years older than me.

"I wasn't very happy at the time because I'd only managed to play a couple of reserve games, but they did the right thing for me because I could have got a serious injury."

Allardyce's playing career took him to Bolton, Huddersfield, Sunderland, Coventry City, Millwall and Preston.

But no matter what part of the country he was in, he always expressed his pride at being from Dudley.

He said: "I am a Black Country lad. Whenever people ask me whether I'm from Birmingham I always correct them and tell them I'm from Dudley.

"It's been a long time since I've lived there, although of course I still have some affinity for the area I was brought up in."

Despite his boyhood leaning towards Wolves, ironically it was Albion who gave Allardyce his first taste of coaching when he was appointed to Brian Talbot's coaching staff at the Hawthorns in 1989.

Although his stay back in the West Midlands ended when he and Talbot were sacked, he still believes his first backroom job was a valuable part of his managerial education.

He said: "It was a difficult time for the club, for Brian Talbot and certainly for me. I was reserves manager but then, in the second year, Brian wanted me to work with him and the first-team.

"But it was always going to be difficult because he was under pressure from the start and it only lasted until January.

"I enjoyed working with the players in the reserves and we won the Birmingham League. It was a good experience for me."

The next step in Allardyce's coaching career saw him head to Limerick where he guided the League of Ireland team to promotion.

He then managed Blackpool, who sacked him when he failed to guide them to Division One.

In January, 1997, he became manager of Division Two basement club Notts County.

Athough he couldn't save them from relegation, they won promotion at the first attempt by finishing top of Division Three the next year.

They won the title by 19 points and becoming the first post-war side to win promotion by mid-March.

In 1999 he returned to Bolton, for whom he had played 198 times, as manager and, in 2001, they beat Preston 3-0 in the play-off final to reach the Premier League.

He then stabilised them in the top flight to help form his reputation as a survival specialist, but his time at the Reebok Stadium wasn't just about keeping Bolton in the league.

The Trotters, with the likes of Youri Djorkaeff and Jay-Jay Okocha, qualified for the UEFA Cup and reached the Round of 32 in the 2005-06 campaign.

Allardyce was offered the Manchester City job shortly after, but the offer was withdrawn after Thaksin Shinawatra's purchase of the club was accepted.

Since then he has had spells in charge of Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers and West Ham and last season he defied the odds to keep Sunderland in the Premier League.