Tony Pulis, born on January 16, 1958 in Newport, is a former Welsh footballer who is currently the manager of Stoke City. Tony Pulis is known to achieve commendable results within small budgets. He received the Football Association (FA) coaching badge at the age of 19, and when he was barely 21, he became the youngest player ever to obtain the United European Football Association (UEFA) ‘A’ license.
Tony Pulis started his football career in 1975 with Bristol Rovers, and during his six-year tenure with the club; he played in eighty-five games and scored three goals. He then moved on to Happy Valley, a Hong Kong-based football club, for the 1981-82 season before returning to Bristol Rovers in 1982. After participating in forty-five matches during his stint with the Rovers, Tony Pulis moved to Newport County in 1984. He signed with AFC Bournemouth in 1986 and scored three goals in seventy-two appearances for the club. He switched to Gillingham during the 1989-90 season and appeared in sixteen matches, however, he soon returned to Bournemouth in 1990 and appeared in sixteen matches, but scored only a single goal. In 1992, Tony Pulis retired as a player to succeed Harry Redknapp, who moved to West Ham United, to take over the full management at Bournemouth. After spending 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons at Bournemouth, Tony Pulis went on to manage Gillingham, a club that was at the bottom of the Football League. During 1995-96, his first season with the club, the team won a promotion, and the club eventually got elevated to the First Division for the first time in its history.
In July 1999, Tony Pulis was appointed the manager of Bristol City, but after a short stint of six months with the club, he proceeded to join Portsmouth in January 2000 and served the club for ten months. In November 2002, he signed with Stoke City and brought in Ade Akinbiyi (Crystal Palace’s striker) and Mark Crossley (Middlesbrough’s goalkeeper) into his team. On the final day of the 2002-03 season, Stoke City had a 2-1 win over Reading and escaped relegation. Under the management of Tony Pulis, the club finished eleventh in the 2003-04 English League Championship. He signed good players like Dave Brammer (Crew Alexandra’s midfielder) and Steve Simonson (Everton’s goalkeeper) for the 2004-05 season.
On September 23, 2005, Tony Pulis took over as the manager of Plymouth Argyle and brought in Elliott Ward, the central defender from West Ham United, on loan and signed Lilian Nalis from Sheffield United for his club. With these inclusions, the club positioned itself at the fourteenth place in the Championship during the 2005-06 season. Tony Pulis was once again approached by Stoke City, and he took over the reins of the club on June 15, 2006, added players like Danny Higginbotham, Ricardo Fuller and Vincent Pericard to the team. Stoke City scored eleven points in five league games and finished eighth in the 2006-07 Championship, and for this performance of the team, Tony Pulis was named the Manager of the Month in April 2007. His wise moves like loaning Ryan Shawcross from Manchester United in the 2007-08 season, helped Stoke City gain a promotion to the Premier League for the first time in 23 years by finishing as runners-up in the Football League Championship.
