Blackburn apologise to West Ham boss Sam Allardyce

Blackburn have issued an apology to former manager Sam Allardyce over false allegations made against the West Ham boss by his Ewood Park predecessor Steve Kean.

During Rovers' 2011 pre-season tour of the Far East, Kean was filmed talking to fans and making allegations about Allardyce. The video was posted on YouTube. Kean served under Allardyce as first-team coach before the taking over in the wake of the 58-year-old's surprise sacking in December 2010.

Allardyce initiated legal proceedings against Kean and Blackburn over the remarks and reached an out-of-court settlement last week. On Tuesday, Rovers issued a statement on their official website under the headline "Sam Allardyce: An apology".

It read: "During the summer of 2011, Mr Steve Kean was this club's manager and accompanied the players of Blackburn Rovers on a pre-season tour of the Far East."

The statement went on to say that Kean was filmed in a bar making false allegations about Allardyce, adding: "We apologise to Mr Allardyce for the embarrassment and distress caused to him by Mr Kean."