It lasted just 67 days. But now Sam Allardyce has to confront the reality that his "dream job" has come to an end.
The just departed England manager left the role by mutual consent on Tuesday evening after he was caught as part of an undercover sting by newspaper The Telegraph offering advice on how to get around player transfer payments and the newspaper claims a deal was struck with the England manager worth £400,000.
But what does the future now hold for the former Premier League manager and also for an England setup that had been aiming for a new era of renewal after the embarrassment suffered at Euro 2016?
As the dust settles from a day of drama, Luke Edwards of The Telegraph joined Off The Ball to discuss the legacy today's events leave.
"He's going to be punch line to jokes. He's going to be a countless pub quiz question, isn't he? And whatever he does now in the rest of his career, the most memorable thing about it, the thing he's achieved the most notoriety for, it was this - the man who got his dream job in charge for one game and then by his own stupidity, managed to talk himself out of it," said Edwards.
"It's a personal tragedy for him. I really do think that. I think he'd be absolutely devastated. It is a farce for English football. To have a new England manager but it lasts one game is just comical really and it'll be interesting to see where they turn now."
One name that was linked with the job previously was Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger who decided to stick with his current contract which runs out next summer.
"They wanted Wenger last time which is kind of intriguing. He was their first choice and those initial overtures were rebuffed and it was said he wouldn't break the last year of his contract. I just wonder whether that little bit closer to the end of his contract, I wonder if they will try and sound him out again and see if he wants to come in the summer and in the meantime leave Gareth Southgate in charge until June or July," said Edwards.
As for Big Sam, Edwards added: "He's only got himself to blame. I hope he doesn't take it too hard but I suspect he will be and I suspect we haven't seen the last of him either because he will pop up again as a Premier League manager, I'm sure."
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