Sam Allardyce Reveals 'Lucky Coin' Given by Fan Ahead of Slovakia vs. England

For anyone looking to succeed as the England manager, a fair degree of fortune is required. And new Three Lions boss Sam Allardyce believes he’s found his lucky charm in the form of a coin a supporter gave to him.

Allardyce’s first game in charge of the national side ended in dramatic fashion, as Adam Lallana scored a 95th-minute winner against Slovakia in their opening 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier on Sunday. Afterward, the former Sunderland manager revealed a fan handed him a totem ahead of the game, and after the late winner, he said he will be keeping it close by.

“A father of a son in a wheelchair came to the hotel in the morning and asked if it was OK to have a picture with his son,” he said, per Jeremy Cross of the Daily Star. “When we finished he said, ‘let me give you a lucky coin.’ Here it is. I had it with me in my pocket, we won, so it’ll stay with me.”

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There was a degree of good fortune about England’s win, as they toiled for long spells against the hosts. 

It wasn’t until Slovakia captain Martin Skrtel was dismissed early in the second half that Allardyce’s men upped the ante, Lallana striking the post with a vicious left-footed shot shortly before his scrambled injury-time winner.

As Bleacher Report UK noted, had England not bagged late on, the new boss would have been the first manager since Sir Bobby Robson in 1982 not to get off to a winning start:

And while the patient, probing play of his team when pursuing the breakthrough should be admired, it’s clear Allardyce is placing plenty of stock in this charmed currency.

“I'm not really superstitious but I'm going to keep it,” he said, per the Press Association (h/t ESPN FC). “It's got us a last minute winner. I wonder how far it will take us.”

For England, arguably the hardest fixture of their qualifying campaign is out of the way, with matches against Scotland, Lithuania, Slovenia and Malta to come.

While making it to the finals in Russia shouldn’t be a problem, given the recent failings of England bosses at major tournaments, you sense Allardyce will need more than a lucky penny to steer this group of players to glory.