Full name Allen Bula 2009–2015 Gibraltar Place of birth Gibraltar Name Allen Bula | Years Team Role Football player 2006–2010 MFK Kosice (academy) | |
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Date of birth (1965-01-04) 4 January 1965 (age 50) Similar People Scott Wiseman, Danny Higginbotham, David Artell | ||
Allen Bula Uefa Pro Licence coach (born 4 January 1965) is a former Gibraltarian football player and former head coach/manager of the Gibraltar national football team,. He was in charge of the national team when the Gibraltar Football Association was admitted to UEFA in May 2013.Bula was in charge of Gibraltar in their debut as a UEFA member, with a Historic draw Gibraltar 0 v 0 Slovakia, which sent shock waves around the world.Bula did with Gibraltar what no other smaller UEFA nation had done, 2 draws and 1 win in their first year of UEFA membership.Bula turned a squad of amateur players into a squad that trained and played like professionals.The tip of the Ice berg was when Nov 2014 they met the World Champions Germany in Nuremberg and lost a merely 4-0,they received a standing ovation from the 54,000 spectators, and were hailed as heroes by the world media. The Gibraltar FA parted company with Bula on Monday 2 March 2015. This was due to comments Bula made in the press, regarding the development of Gibraltar national teams,that all national teams of Gibraltar were not sailing in the same direction.Also for comments he made referencing the GFA, in a Sky documentary, which aired in November 2014, were Bula said there were a few GFA council members that didn't want him. Bula contemplated taking the association to court, for unfair dismissal. On 1 April 2015 the New Gibraltar Football Association board agreed an out of court settlement with Allen Bula.The dismissal was changed to left by mutual consent.
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Playing career
As a player, he played for Gibraltar United, St Joseph's and Glacis United.
Coaching career
Between 2006 and 2010, he was the head of football development and academy manager at Slovakian first division club MFK Košice. 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. However, after a poor start to Gibraltar's Euro 2016 qualification campaign, combined with Bula's defensive approach, he was sacked in March 2015. After a short spell as Director of Football at Lynx in 2016, he took over management of the club in June 2017 after chairman/manager Albert Parody decided to step back from on-the-pitch activities.
Personal life
His nephew is former footballer Danny Higginbotham.
Managerial statistics
As of 25 October 2014Includes accredited UEFA fixture(s) only:
47 Matches as Non Uefa Members WDL/34/7/6 Win% 78%