Wayne Rooney and Sam Allardyce on management, unsung heroes and trailblazers

Something both Allardyce and Rooney agree on is that in order to be successful there must be unity and a collective buy-in from both players and staff.

It is those on the football pitch who get the recognition but Allardyce and Rooney were both keen to ensure that those working behind the scenes were recognised for the work they did as well.

“When I was captain of England, at the end of one year I sent all the England staff to Las Vegas, I paid for them all to go out there,” Rooney said.

“I paid for two pool parties for them all and stuff. Players doing things for the staff makes a massive difference.”

Allardyce added: “We called it the team behind the team, the staff.

“We’re all one team, but the team behind the team were the ones that supported them.

“It was a matter of generosity that the players would give to the staff at Christmas, because they weren’t on great money.”

For Allardyce, a role that was particularly important – and appreciated – was that of the player liaison officers.

“We had two player liaison officers, one male, one female,” Allardyce said. “You can’t imagine the part they played.

“They were the ones that sorted out the houses, the mortgages, the bank accounts. They were the ones that got the phone call, picked me up at the airport at midnight.

“They played a massive part. They sorted out Christmas parties for all the kids to come to and all that.”