Sam Allardyce is making a sensational return to the dugout – it could happen to your Sunday League team too! He could be the one to take charge of your club by taking part in our mirror football competition
Big Sam Allardyce makes a sensational return to your club’s management team.
The former England manager and Premier League legend teamed up with the Every Minute Matters campaign to offer his services to Sunday League teams for a day. Big Sam has coached over 1000 games in his career and will be back for one more in a special Mirror Sports competition.
The former Bolton, Newcastle, West Ham, Sunderland and Everton manager will oversee the selection, tactics and give pre-match, half-time and full-time talks for the lucky amateur team.
Allardyce is one of several prominent figures in football to support Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) initiative to raise awareness of lifesaving cardiopulmonary resuscitation among all involved in grassroots football.
This is a unique partnership between Sky Bet and the BHF and is part of the pioneering Every Minute Matters campaign, supported by the English Football League, which has already successfully inspired over 350,000 people to start learning CPR since the campaign launched in May 2024.
For your chance to sign with Big Sam that day, submit your name, contact details, team name and league name in the form below. If you can’t see the form, please click here.
The winner will be drawn on December 1st and Sam will be in charge of the match from January 1st to April 30th, 2026. All participants must be 18 years of age or older and part of an adult men’s or women’s 11-a-side team. Teams from Woking Soccer can also enter.
Mr Allardyce was inspired to support the Every Minute Matters campaign after the shocking experience of Fabrice Muamba, who suffered cardiac arrest during an FA Cup match at White Hart Lane in 2012 and his heart stopped beating for a total of 78 minutes.
“I still vividly remember what happened to Fabrice a few years after he left Bolton. Thanks to immediate CPR and defibrillation, Fabrice made a full recovery. However, most grassroots football teams do not have a medical team on site, so it is important that anyone playing amateur football, at any level, knows how to perform CPR and use a defibrillator.”
“Many people still think that only medical professionals can intervene, but that’s simply not the case. Anyone can learn these life-saving skills, and if someone falls down, you need to have the confidence to act.” And that confidence comes with training. That’s why I encourage everyone involved in grassroots football to take 15 minutes to learn CPR and defibrillation using the BHF’s fantastic free online tool, RevivR. ”
This contest ends on December 1, 2025 at 12:00 PM.
