Anthony Richard Pulis is a Welsh football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday.
75 Facts About Tony Pulis
2.
Tony Pulis's son, Anthony, was a professional footballer and played at Stoke.
3.
Tony Pulis had a 17-year career as a defender where he played for Bristol Rovers, Newport County, AFC Bournemouth and Gillingham.
4.
Tony Pulis had a short spell in Hong Kong with Happy Valley.
5.
Tony Pulis then took control when Redknapp left the club.
6.
Tony Pulis then went on to Gillingham before leaving in 1999 after a dispute with chairman Paul Scally.
7.
Tony Pulis then had unsuccessful spells at Bristol City and Portsmouth before being appointed manager of Stoke City in 2002.
8.
Tony Pulis spent two more seasons with Stoke before being sacked by Stoke's Icelandic board for "failing to exploit the foreign market".
9.
Tony Pulis returned to management on 23 November 2013 joining Crystal Palace on a two-and-a-half-year contract.
10.
Tony Pulis left the club shortly before the start of the subsequent season.
11.
Tony Pulis joined West Bromwich Albion in January 2015, a post he held until November 2017.
12.
On Boxing Day 2017, Tony Pulis was appointed manager of Middlesbrough, a post he held until May 2019.
13.
On 13 November 2020, Tony Pulis returned to management when he was named manager of Sheffield Wednesday; however, on 28 December, he was sacked after 10 games in charge.
14.
Tony Pulis began his career at Bristol Rovers where he joined their school of football excellence in Eastville from Newport YMCA.
15.
Tony Pulis cites his time at Eastville as an excellent grounding with his Rovers teammate and friend Ian Holloway making it in football management.
16.
Tony Pulis made 85 league appearances for the Pirates before leaving to join Hong Kong club Happy Valley AA in 1982.
17.
Tony Pulis then returned to Rovers the following year and made a further 45 league appearances before moving to his home town club Newport County in 1984.
18.
At Newport, Tony Pulis became a popular member of the squad and his former County teammate David Giles believes Tony Pulis was always destined for top-level management.
19.
Tony Pulis made 16 appearances, scoring one goal, while in this role.
20.
Tony Pulis was promoted to the position of manager in 1992, following Harry Redknapp's decision to leave the club for Premier League side West Ham United.
21.
Tony Pulis spent two seasons at Bournemouth, both seasons saw the "Cherries" finish in 17th position before moving on.
22.
Tony Pulis then joined Gillingham in the summer of 1995, whom he managed for a further four seasons, turning a team that had struggled at the very bottom of the Football League into a promotion winning one in his first season, and laying the foundations for the club's eventual elevation to the First Division for the first time in their history.
23.
Tony Pulis made several reasonably big purchases including Steve Jones and former Rovers player Peter Beadle, but his popularity hit an all-time low only six months into his term as manager and when rumours surfaced of a switch to Portsmouth, home fans chanted for him to leave.
24.
Tony Pulis moved on to Portsmouth shortly, where Milan Mandaric had recently taken over as chairman.
25.
In January 2000, Tony Pulis left Bristol City to become manager of Portsmouth.
26.
Tony Pulis took Portsmouth from the bottom three to mid-table but lasted only ten months in the job before being sacked and being replaced by Steve Claridge in October 2000.
27.
Tony Pulis immediately found himself in a relegation battle and it looked likely that the club would be relegated back to the Second Division only a year after being promoted.
28.
Tony Pulis completed the signings of striker Ade Akinbiyi and goalkeeper Mark Crossley, on loan from Crystal Palace and Middlesbrough respectively, who helped turn around the club's bad run.
29.
Tony Pulis was frustrated with his lack of transfer funds which led to Dave Brammer and Steve Simonsen, both of whom were free agents, being his only significant signings prior to the start of the season.
30.
Tony Pulis did add Anthony Tony Pulis, his son, and Lewis Buxton to his squad in January 2005.
31.
Tony Pulis was sacked for "failing to exploit the foreign transfer market" by then chairman Gislason.
32.
In May 2006, Tony Pulis was the subject of an approach from former club Stoke, who had recently parted company with manager Johan Boskamp, following Peter Coates' takeover of the club.
33.
On 14 June 2006 it was announced that Tony Pulis would be returning as manager of Stoke.
34.
Tony Pulis was named Manager of the Month for April 2007 after Stoke picked up 11 points from 5 league games.
35.
Tony Pulis guided Stoke City to promotion to the Premier League on the final matchday of the season, to be Stoke's first top flight campaign in 23 years.
36.
Tony Pulis was prepared to move players on, including his son Anthony Tony Pulis and striker Jon Parkin.
37.
Tony Pulis has received much praise for his work with Stoke on a limited budget, in particular his achievement of keeping them in the Premier League.
38.
Tony Pulis became only the third manager in Stoke's history to guide the club to the semi-finals of the FA Cup after a quarter-final victory over West Ham.
39.
Club chairman Peter Coates said in May 2011 that Tony Pulis is Stoke's greatest ever manager.
40.
Tony Pulis signed former England internationals Jonathan Woodgate and Matthew Upson on free transfers to strengthen his centre backs following the departure of Abdoulaye Faye.
41.
Tony Pulis took charge of his 800th competitive match in August 2011.
42.
Tony Pulis described the achievement as a "milestone" in the club's history.
43.
Tony Pulis reached 400 matches as Stoke manager in January 2012.
44.
Tony Pulis has stated that he would like to see out the remainder of his managerial career at Stoke and that he is starting to change his side's style of play.
45.
Tony Pulis was replaced by another Welsh manager, Mark Hughes.
46.
On 23 November 2013, Tony Pulis was appointed manager of Crystal Palace on a two-and-half-year contract, taking over from Ian Holloway.
47.
On 1 January 2015, Tony Pulis was appointed head coach at West Bromwich Albion.
48.
West Brom secured victories over Chelsea and Manchester United, and Tony Pulis duly led the team to a 13th-place finish in the Premier League.
49.
Tony Pulis was used for his knowledge and previous punditry experience to commentate live on the Wales national football team.
50.
On 11 August 2017, Tony Pulis signed a further contract extension which committed him to the club until 2019.
51.
Tony Pulis left with West Brom occupying 17th place in the table.
52.
On 26 December 2017, Tony Pulis was appointed as manager of Championship club Middlesbrough, replacing the sacked Garry Monk, who left the club ninth in the Championship table, after an indifferent first half to their season.
53.
On 13 November 2020, Tony Pulis returned to management after over a year out of football, joining Championship club Sheffield Wednesday, the second consecutive appointment for which he had replaced Garry Monk.
54.
Tony Pulis brought in Mike Trusson as his assistant manager and Craig Gardner as first-team coach during his first week.
55.
On 28 December 2020, Tony Pulis was sacked as Wednesday manager after having secured just one victory from ten league games.
56.
Tony Pulis never managed a club that wants to be champions.
57.
Tony Pulis never managed a club that wants a top four place.
58.
Tony Pulis's teams are exactly what he wants, exactly what he prepares a team to be.
59.
Tony Pulis has a reputation within the game for achieving solid results on small budgets and maintains the proud record of never being relegated as a player, coach or manager.
60.
Tony Pulis has a reputation for securing safety for struggling clubs, giving him a "Red Adair" type image which he finds frustrating.
61.
Tony Pulis was born in the Pill area of Newport, in Wales.
62.
Tony Pulis was brought up there, with his father, Angelo, a steelworker, and his mother, Jean, as well as his brothers and sisters.
63.
Tony Pulis's son Anthony is a retired professional footballer who currently serves as an assistant coach for the Major League Soccer side Inter Miami CF.
64.
Tony Pulis has a daughter, Stephanie whose partner, Jack Swann is an amateur footballer who played for Bournemouth Poppies.
65.
Tony Pulis was awarded an honorary degree at the University of Staffordshire on 10 July 2009.
66.
Tony Pulis received the reward for his contribution in helping sports journalism students at the university.
67.
Tony Pulis was awarded the award at the University of Wales, Newport, on 15 April 2013.
68.
Tony Pulis participated in the 2009 London Marathon to raise money for the Donna Louise Trust which assists a children hospice.
69.
Tony Pulis completed the marathon in 4 hours 31 minutes 57 seconds.
70.
In May 2010, Tony Pulis climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro with Nick Hancock to raise money for the Stoke-on-Trent based charity the Donna Louise Trust.
71.
On 31 May 2012, Tony Pulis was an Olympic Torch bearer for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
72.
On 1 June 2015, Tony Pulis completed a 450-mile rowing challenge from Tower Bridge in London to the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
73.
Tony Pulis teamed up with Nick Hancock and other team members for the Donna Louise Hospice in Stoke.
74.
Tony Pulis's mother died on 13 September 2010, the same day that Stoke had a Monday night fixture against Aston Villa.
75.
Tony Pulis made an unexpected return to the dug-out after the half-time break, having missed the first half, amidst huge applause from the home crowd.