Stelios Giannakopoulos: ‘I want to win the Premier League as a coach’

Diversity was one of the great strengths of Sam Allardyce’s Bolton Wanderers side. Players from around the world, each with different attributes and experiences, combined to glorious effect, enabling an unfashionable club to take the Premier League by storm.

In May 2005, Bolton beat Everton 3-2 in the last game of the season to finish sixth and qualify for the UEFA Cup. The win kept them level on points with Liverpool, who would beat AC Milan in the Champions League final later that month.

The Trotters’ starting line-up that day was as eclectic as they come, with 11 different countries represented – Finland, Israel, France, Tunisia, Jamaica, Spain, Wales, Nigeria, Senegal, England and Greece. Stelios Giannakopoulos, scorer of the winning goal, loved being part of that group.

“It was brilliant. It was a multinational squad. European Cup winners. World Cup winners. Every player was a big name in the national team of his country,” he says, reflecting on their strengths.

“We had a mix of talented players – foreign and English – that gelled perfectly together. We managed to build a very, very strong team and we qualified for Europe twice. I think that achievement speaks for itself.”

Stelios was an important cog in the strongest Bolton team of the modern era. An industrious and versatile attacker, typically used on the right wing, he made 177 appearances in all competitions during his five years at the club. Allardyce was in charge for the first four and they never finished lower than eighth.

“We still speak,” he says when asked about Allardyce. “We’re still in contact. I think he’s maybe the best manager I worked with, alongside Otto Rehhagel with the national team, of course. He was way ahead of his time.

“He had