ANDREW "Chubby" Chandler has no regrets about keeping well away from football.

The Bolton-born sports agent has an illustrious list of clients in his charge, but has steered clear of "the beautiful game," a decision he is more than happy with in the wake of Sven-Goran Eriksson and Mike Newell's recent revelations of a growing bung culture within the sport.

Not that Chandler needs footballers, as the former golf professional has a growing list of the country's top golfers and cricketers under his wing and is held in such high esteem that former Open champion Ernie Els last year became the latest high-profile sportsman to put his affairs into the hands of the International Sports Management team.

Chandler, aged 52, a keen Bolton Wanderers fan, began his playing days at Regent Park and Bolton Old Links, but when he finished playing on the European Tour set up a sports management company that dealt solely with golfers, but now has leading England cricketers on their books including Andy Flintoff and skipper Michael Vaughan.

He is affectionately known as 'Chubby,' nothing to do with his weight he insists, but down to a nickname first coined when he was five stones lighter by Old Links member John Woods, who christened him Chubbychops Chandler' - and it stuck!

He now lives and works in Cheshire but he hails from Horwich where he lived for 25 years.

A distinguished amateur career saw him win the British Youths' title in 1972 and the English County Championship.

In 1973 he won the Lancashire Championship and the Bolton Golf Association title.

He first caught the eye at the age of 14 when he won the Bolton Junior Championship before becoming the youngest golfer to be selected for a Lancashire Colts team. He also captained the English youth team.

He was a Tour professional from 1974-89 when disenchantment set in and he failed to win his Tour card.

It was a far cry from previous campaigns when he harvested rich pickings on the lucrative Tour.

Chandler, a six foot gentle giant, shot to fame and fortune at the end of 1985 when he won the Sao Paulo International Classic in Brazil and lived up to his promise by finishing third in the Italian Open the following year.

But success did not last long and when he failed to collect enough merit points to keep his full card, decided to turn his attention to golf management.

With just four clients - Carl Mason, Phil Harrison, Dennis Durnian, who he played regularly with during their formative years at Regent Park, and Bolton born Derrick Cooper - Chandler put into formal practice what he had been doing unofficially while playing on Tour when he looked into the best travel deals for players on the Tour. He persuaded Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood to join his International Sports Management team, and from there the only way has been up.

Many of the world's leading golfers have now signed and Els is the most high profile to come on board.

Chandler's successful formula is for his client to put everything in his firm's hands from paying household bills, to sorting out income tax, leaving the sports stars to do what they do best.

His success in helping Flintoff finally achieve his true potential which culminated in his performance against the Aussies last summer, convinced half of the England team to follow suit and former Lancashire batsman Neil Fairbrother has been assigned to look after them.

Chandler, who is unique in that he is a mentor for the galaxy of stars under his wing as well as agent believes the personal touch has been one of the reasons for his success.

"When I started the firm we were a small family with four players," he said. "We have obviously grown considerably in a relatively short period of time, but I never want to lose that feeling of being a family. It's working nicely."