LIFELONG Wanderer Roy Greaves - second only to Eddie Hopkinson on the all-time appearance list - has hailed Sam Allardyce's team as the greatest Bolton side he has ever seen writes Andrew Collomosse

But the Farnworth-born legend, whose Wanderers career spanned 16 years, never imagined his old team-mate becoming one of football's top bosses.

They shared a dressing room for seven years, and became business partners, but Greaves - one of the most knowledgeable midfield players of his era - admits he failed to spot Big Sam's management potential.

"In fact, I'd go as far as to say Sam was just about the last member of that side I thought would go into management," said Greaves. "He only seemed interested in playing.

"We were a close squad and most weeks a few of us would go and watch a midweek game in Manchester or nearby. But Sam never really bothered.

"Nor did Peter Reid, for that matter. Yet they are the two members of the side who went on to make an impact in management."

Greaves was a starry-eyed kid on the Burnden Park terraces when England legend Nat Lofthouse led Wanderers to FA Cup glory in 1958. A generation later, he was a major player in the Bolton side which surged into the top flight as Division Two champions in 1978.

And he is still a happy Wanderer today, a keen and knowledgable observer of the club's fortunes and a familiar figure among the fans who pack the Reebok to watch a team he believes eclipses the lot.

"I was lucky to grow up watching Lofthouse and the great side of the 50s," said Greaves, whose Bolton career kicked off in 1965.

"They were real heroes and a wonderful team. I couldn't have wanted a better side to watch as I was growing up and learning the game.

"And the team that won promotion and had a couple of seasons in the old First Division in the late 70s was pretty useful, too. We could beat anyone on our day.

"But until now, most Bolton fans have been happy to settle for a side that could hold its own in the top flight and maybe have a bit of a run in one of the cup competitions.

"Sam has changed all that. He has used the transfer market brilliantly to put together easily the strongest squad in the club's history.

"In my day, if you were fit, you played. And sometimes you went out there without being 100 per cent. There was no question of rotating the squad.

"But Sam has so many good players that he can reshuffle the starting line-up every week and still come up with a side that can do well in the Premiership and in Europe."

Greaves, now 58, went into the licensing trade when he retired in 1982 and now runs a wholesale beer, wines and spirits company, based in Bolton. As a proud member of the Reebok Hall of Fame - his total of 565 games for the club is bettered only by Eddie Hopkinson's 578 - he is not alone in crediting Allardyce as the main character in the success story. But he also regards the move from Burnden Park to the Reebok in 1997 as a springboard to Premiership prominence.

"Burnden was a wonderful old stadium with great traditions and a marvellous atmosphere," he said. "We loved playing there and it was like home for the fans.

"Like most people, I didn't really want the club to move. But once work started on the Reebok, we all knew it was the only way forward."