Allen Bula
.jpg) Bula in March 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Allen Bula | ||
| Date of birth | 4 January 1965[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Gibraltar | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Gibraltar United | |||
| St Joseph's | 3 | (?) | |
| Glacis United | |||
| National team | |||
| ? | Gibraltar U21 | ||
| Teams managed | |||
| 2006–2010 | MFK Košice (academy) | ||
| 2009–2015 | Gibraltar | ||
| 2015– | Lynx (sporting director) | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Allen Bula (born 4 January 1965) is a former Gibraltarian football player and former head coach/manager of the Gibraltar national football team, and current sporting director at Lynx FC. He was in charge of the national team when the Gibraltar Football Association was admitted to UEFA in May 2013. The Gibraltar FA parted company with Bula on Monday 2 March 2015 "after a thorough and careful investigation into internal matters". This was due to comments Bula made in the press, regarding the development of Gibraltar national teams, also for comments he made referencing the GFA, in a Sky documentary, which aired in November 2014. Bula contemplated taking the association to court, for unfair dismissal. On 1 April 2015 the Gibraltar Football Association agreed an out of court settlement with Allen Bula.
Playing career
As a player, he played for Gibraltar United, St Joseph's and Glacis United.[1]
Coaching career
Between 2006 and 2010, he was the head of football development and academy manager at Slovakian first division club MFK Košice.[1] While in that role he discovered several talented players, most notably Nemanja Matić, who subsequently played for Chelsea.
Bula was appointed as the manager of the Gibraltar national team in November 2009.
Between 2009 and 2013 Bula managed the national team in 47 matches, against professional teams from Spain's 2b & 2a leagues, and English Championship & League One teams. Bula's success rate was 78%, with victories over teams such as Portsmouth, Notts County, England C, Bury and Real Balompédica Linense. Most notable was the 3–0 win over the Faroe Islands in 2013 prior to Uefa membership.
Bula managed the national team in their debut as a Uefa member against Slovakia, and earned a draw which sent shock waves around Europe. That was followed by a 1–1 draw away to Estonia and Gibraltar's first win as Uefa member, against Malta.
Bula's tactical approach to the Euro 2016 qualifier against World Cup holders Germany resulted in a 4–0 win for Germany, a creditable result for Gibraltar as many people were expecting Germany to come away with a much heavier victory. Only one goal was scored in second half and that was an own goal by Gibraltar.
On 18 January 2015, Bula arrived in England to partake in the UEFA Pro-Licence course at the St George's Park National Football Centre, alongside coaches such as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Phil Neville and Scott Parker.[2]
Personal life
His nephew is former footballer Danny Higginbotham.[3]
Managerial statistics
- As of 25 October 2014
Includes accredited UEFA fixture(s) only:
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Gibraltar | November 2010 | March 2014 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 11.11 |
References
- 1 2 3 "Gibraltar given full Uefa membership at London Congress". BBC. 24 May 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
- ↑ Hasselbaink and Sampson start Pro-Licence journey TheFA.com
- ↑ "Danny Higginbotham: Gibraltar availability confirmed by defender". BBC Sport. BBC. 19 September 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
- ↑ http://www.gbc.gi/news/5780/gfa-and-allen-bula-reach-out-of-court-settlement-following-dismissal
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Allen Bula. |
