35 Facts About Tony Pulis

1. On 1 June 2015, Tony Pulis completed a 450-mile rowing challenge from Tower Bridge in London to the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

2. On 31 May 2012, Tony Pulis was an Olympic Torch bearer for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

3. 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.

4. Tony Pulis completed the marathon in 4 hours 31 minutes 57 seconds.

5. Tony Pulis was awarded the award at the University of Wales, Newport, on 15 April 2013.

6. Tony Pulis was awarded an honorary degree at the University of Staffordshire on 10 July 2009.

7. Tony Pulis was brought up there, with his father, Angelo, a steelworker, and his mother, Jean, as well as his brothers and sisters.

8. Tony Pulis was born in the Pill area of Newport, in Wales.

9. Tony Pulis has a reputation for securing safety for struggling clubs, giving him a "Red Adair" type image which he finds frustrating.

10. 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.

11. Tony Pulis left with West Brom occupying 17th place in the table.

12. On 11 August 2017, Tony Pulis signed a further contract extension which committed him to the club until 2019.

13. Tony Pulis had tried to sign Rodriguez in the two previous transfer windows but Southampton were reluctant to do business.

14. Tony Pulis was used for his knowledge and previous punditry experience to commentate live on the Welsh national team.

15. On 1 January 2015, Tony Pulis was appointed head coach at West Bromwich Albion.

16. On 23 November 2013, Tony Pulis was appointed manager of Crystal Palace on a two-and-half-year contract, taking over from Ian Holloway.

17. Tony Pulis was replaced by another Welsh manager, Mark Hughes.

18. Tony Pulis reached 400 matches as Stoke manager in January 2012.

19. Tony Pulis described the achievement as a "milestone" in the club's history.

20. Tony Pulis took charge of his 800th competitive match in August 2011.

21. 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.

22. Tony Pulis was prepared to move players on, including his son Anthony Pulis and striker Jon Parkin.

23. 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.

24. Tony Pulis was named Manager of the Month for April 2007 after Stoke picked up 11 points from 5 league games.

25. 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.

26. In January 2000, Tony Pulis left Bristol to become manager of Portsmouth.

27. Tony Pulis moved on to Portsmouth shortly, where Milan Mandaric had recently taken over as chairman.

28. 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.

29. Tony Pulis made 16 appearances, scoring one goal, while in this role.

30. Tony Pulis made 85 league appearances for the Pirates before leaving to join Hong Kong club Happy Valley AA in 1981.

31. Tony Pulis began his career at Bristol Rovers where he joined their school of football excellence in Eastville from Newport YMCA.

32. Tony Pulis joined West Bromwich Albion in January 2015, a post he held until November 2017.

33. Tony Pulis spent two more seasons with Stoke before being sacked by Stoke's Icelandic board for "failing to exploit the foreign market".

34. Tony Pulis had a short spell in Hong Kong with Happy Valley.

35. Tony Pulis had a 17-year career as a defender where he played for Bristol Rovers, Newport County, Bournemouth and Gillingham.