Sam Allardyce played just 11 matches for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the summer of 1983 but he has described his brief time there as "life-changing".

On the field, the experience of playing in the North American Soccer League did not yield any success for the burly centre-back as he struggled to cope with the blazing-hot Florida sunshine in a Rowdies team long since past their best.

However, the Rowdies' access to the high-tech facilities used by the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers completely transformed his outlook on the game.

It was at Bolton Wanderers where Allardyce became well known for embracing statistical tools such as ProZone - and his appreciation of sports science can be traced back to his spell at the Rowdies.

Or, in other words, Uncle Sam gave Big Sam a big helping hand on his long journey to the England job.

“We had access to all the Bucs’ backroom staff and their training facilities. The way they prepared during the week opened my eyes and was... one of those life-changing experiences," Allardyce recalled in his autobiography Big Sam.

“I learned there was so much more to conditioning than what we did in England where you had a run around in training, a game of five-a-side, steak for a pre-match meal, a shot of whisky from the skip on the way out on to the pitch and a couple of pints in the bar afterwards.