THE smile on Sam Allardyce's face said it all. No, the successful Wanderers manager had not just won the league or even the Carling Cup - but he still had reason to celebrate.

More than 800 people turned out to pay tribute to him at a Variety Club charity dinner.

The huge crowd arrived at the Reebok Stadium on Thursday night in honour of Big Sam.

And as well as raising thousands of pounds for children's charities, the Whites boss heard a host of star names paying tribute to him.

Allardyce has taken the Wanderers from a side struggling to stay in the Premiership to one that is well established and challenging the top sides.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, whose side beat the Wanderers 2-1 on Wednesday, was full of praise.

Speaking to the Bolton Evening News, he said: "I have had a great relationship with Sam since he became manager of Bolton.

"He has done fantastic work at Bolton who have had a lot of debt and he should be shown a lot of gratitude for what he has done.

"The result on Wednesday was forgotten as soon as it was over and we had a good time tonight."

Former Wanderers team-mate and Manchester City, Sunderland and Leeds United manager Peter Reid, who has been friends with Sam since 1969, said: "I have known Sam for a long time and I'm not sure that the people of Bolton realise how great he really is."

Both Sir Alex and Reid gave speeches to rapturous applause from the audience. They were joined in their tributes by sponsor Peter Cowgill, PFA boss Gordon Taylor, Bob Cass, a Mail on Sunday sports reporter, Bolton Wanderers chairman Phil Gartside and organiser Paul Wild.

Mr Wild, chairman of the Bolton branch of the Variety Club of Great Britain and operations director of the Bolton Evening News, said: "We were trying to think of more fund-raising ideas and this is just one of many events that will be taking place over the coming year to raise money for children's charities.

"We did a tribute dinner to Sir Henry Cooper three years ago and it was very successful so we thought we'd do another one and Sam seemed to be the natural choice.

"The response for tickets has been unbelievable, but that has been down to Sam and how popular he is. The response has not just been from the people of Bolton but from fellow professionals."

The evening raised thousands of pounds for children's charities across the North-west and an auction added to the final amount.

A signed Manchester United painting, featuring Sir Alex, fetched £1,100 and was bought by David Farrah, aged 49, from Bolton.

He said: "My wife is a big Bolton supporter but I have supported Manchester United since I was a boy. I didn't know this was coming up tonight but once I started bidding, I wasn't going to stop."

A signed Kylie Minogue framed photograph fetched £500 and was bought by Barry Kilroe. Although he made the bid because it was for charity, on seeing the photograph, he decided to give it to his 15-year-old son as a present.