SAM Allardyce has admitted that flyIng boots of the Fergie variety are not exclusive to Manchester United.

As David Beckham waits for the wound above his left eye to heal, he can console himself in the knowledge that he is not the first - and is unlikely to be the last - to find himself on the receiving end in a dressing room spat.

Dismissing the Old Trafford boot row as a storm in a size nine, Allardyce reveals how, on a Saturday afternoon at Millwall in the late Seventies, he used his own mud-caked studs to vent his anger.

"I threw a boot at George Mulhall," the Bolton manager recalled of the emotion-charged minutes after a 3-0 defeat in February 1977 which cost Ian Greaves' promotion-chasing Wanderers three precious Second Division points and sparked a volley of criticism from the no-nonsense, straight-talking Scottish coach.

"He (Mulhall) ducked out of the way, fortunately for him. At the time he questioned my commitment which was a rather dangerous thing to do right after a game when I played. The boot was just coming off and it went across the dressing room!"

Backroom bust-ups were, and still are, regular occurrences but are traditionally kept "in-house" with the public none the wiser and differences quickly sorted out by the combatants.

"We were staying at the Royal Garden (Kensington) that night because we were flying out to Marbella the following day," Allardyce recalls of his spat with Mulhall at the old Den in Cold Blow Lane. "We had a drink together, had a discussion and just got on with it, which is how it should be."

He laughed as he reacted to the furore over the publicity following the Old Trafford incident when Sir Alex Ferguson, furious after United's FA Cup defeat by Arsenal, angrily kicked a boot which hit David Beckham, grazing the England captain over his left eye. "I suppose it's never happened before!" he said, sarcastically.

"The only problem is that it's such a high profile football club. But to hear people talking about his (Beckham's) image rights being affected is just a load of rubbish.

"I just hope the people who know about football understand how passionate people are. The sad thing is that, as always, it's sneaked out in the press.

"Most of the time all the scuffles, rows, fights and stuff that happen in the dressing room on a regular basis are never publicised. It even happened down in the tunnel.

"But you sorted it out, got on with it and went into the bar for a pint together. You had your disagreements with your manager and came in the next day and got on with your job. You didn't let it linger.

"It's a volatile game, a passionate game and there's so much at stake. Tempers are going to get frayed among yourselves. You try to keep it 'in house' but these days it will always come out. Unfortunately, it's very good news for some."