Why Sam Allardyce returned to the dugout to manage a local grassroots team

Ex-Rovers boss Sam Allardyce made a surprise return to the dugout to manage a local grassroots team.

Big Sam was supporting the Every Minute Matters campaign, which aims to raise awareness for vital CPR training.

He is calling on football fans to do a free 15-minute online course, called RevivR, which could help save lives.

Allardyce was managing Talking Football, a Bolton-based team which was set up to support men’s mental health and wellbeing.

“I’ve come out of retirement to do this very important game, which is the end of the year I've been involved in the CPR campaign through Sky Bet, Every Minute Matters we've called it, in support with the British Heart Foundation,” he told The Lancashire Telegraph.

“Sky Bet have donated £6million to help make everybody aware of how to do CPR and raise awareness all over the country.

“There are about 500,000 people who have gone on to RevivR. That takes 15 minutes, as we’ve seen in the demonstration while I’ve been here.

“I think that it's very important to know that if you're out and about and somebody collapses, and we're not near a hospital or the doctors, only one in 10 survive so if you've done this tool, you could be responsible for maybe saving somebody's life.

“I think too many people are scared of it, that's why we're raising the awareness and trying to get more people to feel more comfortable doing CPR. If somebody comes along with a defibrillator, that’s pretty easy to use as well.”

A study carried out by Leeds Beckett University found that in the North West, 46 per cent of people surveyed would not feel confident recognising when someone is having a cardiac arrest.

Furthermore, 35 per cent would not feel confident to perform hands-only CPR and 62 per cent would not feel confident using a defibrillator.

Steve Bell from Talking Football was delighted to have Allardyce in attendance and has seen first-hand how powerful the game can be for improving physical and mental health.

“It's fantastic having Big Sam down here and doing such a big campaign like Every Minute Matters,” he added. “It's going to save lives.

“Talking Football was predominantly set up for men's mental health and wellbeing, and we've got a fantastic bunch of lads. This is a great occasion for them as well.

“It links well with football because there have been footballers who have suffered cardiac arrests. That links well with us because we improve our fitness and cardiovascular system.

“And obviously, being from the area and having a legend like Sam Allardyce, it's just mega. Whoever you support, it's just a fantastic occasion as a football fan to have someone like that involved with us.”