Bets have been suspended on the former Reading, West Ham, Charlton and Southampton boss.
Pardew, 49, has been out of work since being sacked by Southampton in August.
BBC Sport understands that Pardew was in talks with Newcastle about taking over at St James' Park as long as 10 days ago.
His highest achievements in the sport include reaching the FA Cup Final twice, as a player with Crystal Palace in 1990 and as a manager with West Ham United in 2006, though he ended up on the losing side both times.
He has also achieved promotion three times in his career, as a player with Crystal Palace and as a manager with Reading and West Ham.
Pardew was born 18 July 1961 in Wimbledon, London.
Pardew started his career as a part-time player in non-league football at Whyteleafe and Epsom & Ewell, whilst working as a glazier and a cab driver.
He grew up as a Fulham fan and at one stage he gave up football for six months whilst working in the Middle East, but he returned to football at Corinthian Casuals before later having spells at Dulwich Hamlet and Yeovil Town. Pardew was also in the England Semi-Professional squad during this time.
Pardew moved to Football League Second Division side Crystal Palace in 1987 for a fee of £7,500. In 1989, he helped Palace win promotion to the First Division after beating Blackburn Rovers in the play-offs.
The following year, he scored the winning goal as Palace beat Liverpool 4–3 in the semi-finals of the FA Cup at Villa Park, and then played in both the final and the final replay as Palace lost to Manchester United.
Pardew moved to Charlton Athletic in November 1991, and was Charlton's top scorer in the 1992–93 season with ten goals.
In 1995, Pardew appeared four times on loan at Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Intertoto Cup. After rejecting an opportunity to play in Hong Kong, Pardew then moved to Barnet, and became a player-coach under manager Terry Bullivant.
When Bullivant moved to Reading in 1997, he took Pardew with him as reserve-team manager.
Pardew's first experience as manager came in March 1998 when he was appointed as caretaker after the departure of Bullivant. After the appointment of Tommy Burns he remained as reserve team manager until the end of the 1998–99 season, when Reading disbanded their reserve team.
Nevertheless, he was promoted to manager of the club after a successful spell as caretaker in 1999. He turned the club around from relegation fighters to promotion candidates through players, such as Jamie Cureton, and his régime to increase the fitness of the squad.
Pardew also coined his motto "Tenacity, Spirit and Flair" to give his side a psychological edge. This resulted in a 3–2 Division Two playoff final defeat to Walsall at the end of the 2000–01 season, but was redeemed the next season by achieving automatic promotion to Division One.
Pardew's first season in the higher division was outstanding, as the club finished 4th and lost in the play-offs once again, this time to Wolves. Pardew was on the map as one of the game's best up and coming young managers.
Early into the 2003–04 season, West Ham United asked Reading permission to appoint Pardew as their new manager. Although Reading refused permission, Pardew resigned from his position forcing the issue. Eventually, a compromise agreement was reached allowing Pardew to become manager at West Ham.
Pardew's first season at West Ham resulted in a play-off final defeat to his former club Crystal Palace. In the 2004–05 season West Ham struggled to find promotion form, with Pardew coming under pressure from the club's supporters.
West Ham eventually succeeded in gaining promotion to the Premier League after defeating Preston North End in the play-off final.
Pardew guided the Hammers to a respectable start to the 2005–06 season, which culminated in an appearance in the final of the FA Cup. After drawing 3–3 with Liverpool at the end of extra-time, West Ham lost on penalties, resulting in the second FA Cup Final defeat of Pardew's career.
In the 2006–07 season Pardew was criticised after seeing West Ham through their worst run of defeats in over 70 years which included a League Cup defeat to Chesterfield.
Although West Ham's new owners stated their support for Pardew, on 11 December 2006, following a 4–0 defeat away at Bolton Wanderers the previous weekend, it was announced that Pardew had been sacked by West Ham.
The club statement read "The chairman Mr Eggert Magnússon and the board have been concerned by the performances of recent weeks and feel that it is the right time to make a change in the best interests of the club."
Pardew's absence from management lasted less than two weeks when he was appointed manager of Charlton Athletic on Christmas Eve 2006, signing a three-and-a-half year contract.
He took over with Charlton in 19th place in the Premier League, with just 12 points and a –20 goal difference, the lowest in the league. Although Charlton's form improved under Pardew, he was unable to keep Charlton up, resulting in the first relegation of his career, both as a player and manager.
Many expected Charlton to bounce back from relegation into the Premier League with signings such as Chris Iwelumo and Luke Varney in the 2007/08 season. But Charlton failed to mount a serious promotion challenge and finished the season in 11th.
This put Pardew under pressure going into the 08/09 season but Charlton started the season off well with victories over Reading and Swansea. However, Charlton's form very quickly deteriorated and they were near the foot of the table and after 8 games without a win and a 5-2 home defeat to Sheffield United on 22 November 2008, Pardew parted company with Charlton by mutual consent.
Pardew was named the new manager of Southampton in the early hours of 17 July 2009, after the new owner Markus Liebherr had taken over the club and sacked Mark Wotte a day after completing the deal to save The Saints.
Pardew's first signing for the club was Dan Harding who signed on a free transfer after being released by Ipswich Town. His first league match in charge was against Millwall on 8 August, which ended in a 1–1 draw.
He brought many new signings to the club including notable League One strikers Rickie Lambert and Lee Barnard, the first of which cost more than £1 million.
Pardew led his side up the League One table and despite their 10 point deduction, their challenge for a playoff place was kept alive until there were just two league games remaining.
Pardew led Southampton to the Football League Trophy final glory on 28 March 2010 at Wembley, the club's first trophy since 1976.
On 30 August 2010 he was dismissed by Southampton. The club's official statement stated:
"Following a review of the current status in and around the First Team, the Club has decided that, to achieve its well known targets, it is essential to make changes to the First Team management and coaching.
"These targets for sustained and significant progress embrace both the First Team and the Football Development & Support Centre as integrated, co-operative units.
"Consequently, the First Team Manager, Alan Pardew; First Team Coach, Wally Downes; and Goalkeeping Coach, Stuart Murdoch have been relieved of their duties with immediate effect. The Club wishes them well for the future."