Now Tony Pulis takes on rowing challenge

And there won't be a football in sight.

After the Premier League season draws to a close in May, he will be taking to water to row 450 miles from Tower Bridge in London to the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

He will be part of a team of fundraisers taking on the mammoth Tower to Tower mission in aid of the Donna Louise Children's Hospice Trust.

The Baggies boss isn't a stranger to fundraising having run the London Marathon in 2009 and successfully climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro with comedian Nick Hancock in 2010.

Two years later the pair, along with Pulis' daughter Stephanie, cycled 960 miles from John O'Groats to Land's End.

Pulis, who is a long-time supporter of the hospice from his spells managing Stoke City, admitted he couldn't say no to the charity when they asked for his help with their latest fundraising bid.

"Every year for the last six or seven years I have always done something for the Donna Louise.

"I didn't do anything last year when I was at Palace but this year they rang me up and said 'listen we've got a big one coming up'.

"I have got an enormous association with Stoke-on-Trent and with that hospice and I couldn't say no.

"This year it's rowing from Tower Bridge to the Eiffel Tower. With all the stuff I have just jumped into, it's going to be pretty tough.

"You have to go out of the Thames, go down the coast because the smallest part of the channel they won't let small boats or gigs across because it's so busy.

"I have never done anything like this. I have done two marathons, Kilimanjaro, John O'Groats to Lands End cycle but I have never done anything on the sea. It's a challenge.

"Do I get seasick? I'll let you know," he said.

The journey will take rowers from Tower Bridge to the mouth of the River Thames at Canvey Island and out into the wash.

The crews will then follow the coast of Essex, Kent and Sussex, stopping at Ramsgate, before embarking on a 36-hour day and night crossing of the Channel to the mouth of the Seine at Le Havre.

From there they will row against the tide, completing the final leg of the journey to the French capital

Four to six people will row at any one time, guided by a coxswain, while their teammates rest, sleep and eat on a support vessel. They will switch every few hours.

Describing the challenge that awaits him, the 57-year-old said: "There are two teams which take it in turns. Row for two hours, rest for two hours. We continuously go for seven days.

"I find rowing very difficult. Rowing down the river is different to rowing down the channel. There are going to be tides to contest with. The sleep deprivation is what worries me. I am quite a good sleeper so to not get that, that's my biggest concern.

"It is going to be interesting. I am looking forward to it because it's a fresh challenge, something I have never done in my life. I think as you get older, I think fitness-wise it's always good to set yourself a target or an aim to go for.

"I'm trying to get myself physically fit by doing other things as well like cycling for 40 minutes, weights, core stuff.

"The most important thing for the challenge is the children - that we raise enough money to keep the place going. It is such a humbling place."