Malcolm Allison will always be known to be one of English football's more flamboyant characters - he was aged 83 at the time of his passing.

Malcolm managed 11 clubs at home and abroad. He worked alongside Joe Mercer at Manchester City and notable achievements included winning the league title in 1968, The FA Cup in 1969 and the League Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup in 1970. He managed Crystal Palace on two separate occasions.

Allison is particularly known for his fedora hat and love of cigars. Known as "Big Mal" he spent most of his playing career at West Ham United.

He entered management with Bath City in 1963 and in the subsequent 30 years he took charge of Plymouth Argyle, Middlesbrough, Bristol Rovers, Toronto City, Galatasaray and Sporting Lisbon, amongst others. It was with Lisbon that he won the Portuguese championship and domestic cup.

LMA Chairman, Howard Wilkinson paid tribute to the career and life of Allison by saying;

“An innovator who was ahead of his time and in his time Malcolm was a legend. He was generous, humorous and a fantastic coach who lived life to the full. Malcolm was inspirational to all would be coaches including myself and the likes of Terry Venables. A forward thinker with a big personality who always had a smile on his face – I do not know anyone who did not like Malcolm. He will be truly missed.”