Sam Allardyce will be hoping history doesn’t repeat itself when his new side Everton FC side take on Huddersfield Town at Goodison Park tomorrow afternoon (kick-off 3pm).
That’s because the last time he faced Town as a newly-appointed manager his then-Blackpool side lost 4-1 at Bloomfield Road on the opening day of the 1994/1995 campaign.
It was a season which would see the Terriers promoted from Division Two via the Play-Offs while Allardyce, in his first season as an English Football League manager, guided the Tangerines to a more than respectable 12th in the table.
The corresponding fixture ended in a 1-1 draw in West Yorkshire on December 17 while, during his 23 years in management, Allardyce has faced the Terriers on a further five occassions.
After Blackpool, his Notts County side faced Town in a two-legged League Cup second-round clash in 1999 - Town claiming a 2-1 win at the McAlpine Stadium before confirming passage to the next round with a 2-2 draw at Meadow Lane in the second leg.
Allardyce next faced Huddersfield after taking the reigns at Bolton Wanderers following Colin Todd's departure during the 1999/2000 campaign.
The first of these Division One encounters occurred on April 22nd 1999 with the Trotters running out 3-0 winners before the following season saw a win and a draw for his Bolton side.
Overall, Allardyce has had an indifferent record in his first matches in charge of new clubs – winning two, drawing two and losing four.
In fact, it was during his spell at Newcastle United that Allardyce first tasted victory in the opening match of his tenure at a new club – a 3-1 win over former side Bolton Wanderers in August 2007.
A former Town player, who spent the 1984/85 season at the club, Allardyce is now 63 and was appointed by Everton on an 18-month contract in succession to Ronald Koeman yesterday.
