Tony Pulis

Who is Tony Pulis?

Anthony Richard "Tony" Pulis is a Welsh football manager and former footballer, who is the current manager of Crystal Palace. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at the age of 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 21 – making him one of the youngest professional players ever to have obtained the qualification. His son, Anthony, is a professional footballer and played at Stoke. Pulis had a seventeen-year career as a defender where he played for Bristol Rovers, Newport County, Bournemouth and Gillingham. He also had a short spell in Hong Kong with Happy Valley.

Pulis took his first steps into management at Bournemouth, where he was a player/coach and then Harry Redknapp's assistant. He then took control when Redknapp left the club. He then went on to Gillingham before leaving in 1999 after a dispute with chairman Paul Scally. Pulis then had unsuccessful spells at Bristol City and Portsmouth before being appointed manager of Stoke City in 2002. He guided Stoke through a tough 2002–03 season avoiding relegation to the Second Division on the final day of the season. He spent two more seasons with Stoke before being sacked by Stoke's Icelandic board for 'failing to exploit the foreign market'. He spent the 2005–06 season at Plymouth Argyle before returning to Stoke along with Peter Coates. After narrowly missing out on a play-off spot in the 2006–07 season he guided Stoke City to the Premier League in the 2007–08 season by finishing runners-up in the Football League Championship.