Tony Pulis brings former Sheffield Wednesday defender into backroom staff

A former Sheffield Wednesday defender who made over 150 league appearances for the club has made a return to the fold at Hillsborough after Tony Pulis added him to his extended backroom team.
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The new Owls boss confirmed that Sam Ellis, who played for Wednesday for eight years and earned three England youth caps along the way, is “working for us and doing some scouting.”

Ellis is a long-time friend of Pulis’ and last worked with the Welshman at Middlesbrough, where he acted as assistant manager following the departure of David Kemp in the summer of 2018.

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The uncompromising centre-half, now 74, made his debut in the 1966 FA Cup final and played 155 times in the league for the Owls before moving on to play for Mansfield, Lincoln and Watford, making over 500 career appearances along the way.

Sam Ellis is back in football at his first club, Sheffield Wednesday, as a scout.Sam Ellis is back in football at his first club, Sheffield Wednesday, as a scout.
Sam Ellis is back in football at his first club, Sheffield Wednesday, as a scout.

He managed at Blackpool Bury and Lincoln and has been an assistant at Manchester City, Burnley, Leeds United, Luton Town and at Wednesday’s city rivals Sheffield United, working beside the likes of Peter Reid, Sten Ternant and Kevin Blackwell.

After one season as Pulis’ right-hand man at The Riverside, he left the club in May 2019.

The extent of Ellis’ work with the Owls is unknown at current, as is whether he is working on identifying potential new players or whether he is doing opposition analysis.

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Pulis said in his first Owls press conference that Wednesdayite Ellis was one of the first people he spoke to when considering whether to take the Owls job.

Ellis joins Craig Gardner and Mike Trusson in being added to the club’s support staff since the new manager’s arrival last month.

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