Mark Hughes

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Mark Hughes

Personal information
Full name	Leslie Mark Hughes
Date of birth	1 November 1963 (1963-11-01) (age 45)
Place of birth	Ruabon, Wrexham, Wales
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Manchester City (manager)
Senior career1
Years	Club	Apps (Gls)2
1980–1986	Manchester United	089 0(37)
1986–1988	Barcelona	028 00(4)
1987–1988	→ Bayern Munich (loan)	018 00(6)
1988–1995	Manchester United	256 0(82)
1995–1998	Chelsea	095 0(25)
1998–2000	Southampton	052 00(2)
2000	Everton	018 00(1)
2000–2002	Blackburn Rovers	050 00(6)
Total		606 (163)
National team
1984–1999	Wales	072 0(16)[1]
Teams managed
1999–2004	Wales
2004–2008	Blackburn Rovers
2008–	Manchester City
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. 2 Appearances (Goals)

Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963 in Ruabon, Wrexham, Wales), nicknamed Sparky, is a former Welsh international football player and currently manager of Manchester City. As an international footballer, he made 72 appearances and scored 16 goals.

During his playing career, he was most notable for his two spells at Manchester United, but he also turned out for Barcelona of Spain, Bayern Munich of West Germany, as well as the English clubs Chelsea, Southampton, Everton and finally Blackburn Rovers, before retiring in 2002.

He won a host of medals during his playing career, including two Premier League title medals, four FA Cups, three League Cups and two European Cup Winners' Cups. He also collected an FA Cup runners-up medal and a League Cup runners-up medal.

His reign as Wales manager was his first managerial post; he was appointed in 1999 and remained in the role until 2004, though failing to qualify for a World Cup or European Championship during his five years in charge, although he came close to securing European Championship qualification in 2004.

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Manchester United (1980–1986)

Hughes joined Manchester United on leaving school in the summer of 1980 but did not make his first team debut for three years - in a 1–1 draw away to Oxford United in the FA Cup, in the 1983–84 season. Like many other United legends, "Sparky" quickly became a favourite by scoring on his debut and establishing himself as a regular first team player. He was a key player in United's run to the 1985 FA Cup final which resulted in a 1–0 win over Everton. He was also their top scorer in the 1985-86 season, where they led until February having won their first 10 league games of the season, before a dismal second half of the season saw them slip into fourth place in the final table.

[edit] Barcelona and Bayern Munich (1986–1988)

In the summer of 1986, Hughes was surprisingly sold to Barcelona for £2 million. Manager Terry Venables was hoping for him to be a successful strike partner for Gary Lineker but Hughes was a disappointment in his only season at Barcelona and was subsequently loaned out to German club Bayern Munich for the 1987–88 season, where he regained his form.

Hughes was one of many British players who departed to the continent during the mid to late 1980s, as higher wages - coupled with the opportunity of playing in European competitions after English clubs were barred as a result of the Heysel disaster in 1985 - tempted them abroad.

[edit] Back to Manchester United (1988–1995)

In May 1988, Hughes returned to Manchester United, now managed by Alex Ferguson, for a then club record of £1.8 million. As he had done in his first spell at Old Trafford, Hughes proved to be a dynamic goalscorer and was a key player for the club over the next seven years.

He was voted PFA Player of the Year in 1988-89, his first season back in England, though United disappointed in the league and finished 11th. A year later, he scored twice as United drew 3-3 with Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final, before a Lee Martin goal in the replay gave United their first major trophy in five years. A year later, Hughes scored both goals against old club Barcelona as United lifted the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. They also reached the Football League Cup final that year, but United suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to a Sheffield Wednesday side managed by Ron Atkinson, who had been Hughes's manager in his first spell at Old Trafford. He was also voted PFA Player of the Year again this season.

A year later, Hughes suffered the disappointment of missing out on a league title medal as United were pipped to the title by Leeds United, but had some compensation in the form of a League Cup winner's medal. A year after that, he finally collected an English league title medal as United won the first-ever Premier League title. Hughes collected yet more silverware in 1994 as United won the league title as well as the FA Cup, with Hughes scoring in the final. He also scored Manchester United's consolation goal in their 3-1 defeat in the 1994 League Cup Final at the hands of Aston Villa at Wembley in that season. In doing this, he became only the second player (after Norman Whiteside in 1983) to score in the finals of both the domestic cups in the same season. This has since been achieved a third time by Didier Drogba in 2007. Hughes came close to winning both the Premiership and FA Cup again in 1995, but a failure to beat West Ham on the final day of the season and the inability to score an equaliser against Everton in the FA Cup final a year later condemned United to their first trophyless season in six years.

In April 1994, he scored a spectacular equaliser in the final minute of extra time in the FA Cup semi-final against Oldham Athletic, a goal which has been described by many as one of the finest ever scored by any Manchester United player. [1]

1994–95 was Hughes's last season at United as he agreed to join Chelsea in a surprise £1.5 million deal. There had been speculation about his future at United since January that year, as the arrival of Andy Cole had put his future in the first team under doubt, though he was given a lifeline in the first team after Eric Cantona received an 8-month ban for assaulting a spectator against Crystal Palace. There was also talk that Cantona would be on his way out of Old Trafford, as Internazionale were interested in signing him, but when Cantona signed a new three-year contract Hughes knew that Cantona was likely to be straight back in the side after his suspension finished on 30 September 1995, and knew that his best chance of first-team football would be away from Old Trafford.

[edit] Chelsea (1995–1998)

He left Old Trafford for the second and final time in June 1995 when he was sold to Chelsea for £1.5 million, in a summer that also saw the departures of players such as Paul Ince (to Internazionale) and Andrei Kanchelskis (to Everton). However, United still managed to achieve more success without Hughes, with the team winning the double for the second time in the subsequent season. Ironically, Hughes scored for Chelsea in both of their Premier League fixtures against Manchester United in 1995-96; a 4-1 win for United at Stamford Bridge in October and a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in early December. He was on the losing side as United beat Chelsea 2-1 in the FA Cup semi-final that season, less than two years after he had scored one of United's goals in their FA Cup final triumph over Chelsea.

Hughes was one of the key players in Chelsea's resurgence as a top club in the late 1990s, forming an unlikely strike partnership with Gianfranco Zola and helping to freeze out Gianluca Vialli (who became the club's player-manager in February 1998). He put in match-winning performances against Liverpool and Wimbledon in the FA Cup in 1997, and Vicenza in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup a year later en route to Chelsea winning both trophies. In winning the FA Cup, he became the only player in the 20th century to win the trophy four times. He ended his Chelsea career with 39 goals from 123 games and was transferred to Southampton for £650,000 in July 1998.

[edit] Southampton (1998–2000)

He was signed for Southampton for £650,000 by manager Dave Jones as a replacement for David Hirst. Unfortunately, the goals failed to flow and Hughes was pushed back into midfield where his experience helped Southampton maintain their Premiership status. His 2 goals for the Saints came against Blackburn Rovers, who he was later to join, and a memorable volley at home to Newcastle United on 15 August 1999. Hughes suffered with disciplinary problems throughout his career, and in his first season at The Dell he received 14 yellow cards, a total which has never been exceeded in the Premier league.[2]

[edit] Everton and Blackburn Rovers (2000–2002)

When Glenn Hoddle arrived as Southampton's manager, Hughes did not fit in to his plans and he left for Everton. By now, Hughes was winding down his career as a player and in August 1999 he was appointed national coach of the Welsh football team, although he moved outside of the top division for the first time in his playing career in 2000–01.

He played a key role in getting Blackburn Rovers promoted from Division One in 2001. He also lifted the League Cup with Blackburn in February 2002^[2], before finally hanging up his boots in July 2002 a few months short of his 39th birthday.^[3]

[edit] Managerial career

[edit] Wales (1999–2004)

Mark Hughes was appointed Welsh national coach in 1999.^[4] Initially appointed on a temporary basis alongside Neville Southall to replace Bobby Gould, Hughes had soon done enough to earn himself a long-term contract, with Southall soon leaving the set-up.^[5] When he had taken over Wales were going through a bad patch, but in the five years with Hughes in charge Wales came close to qualifying for Euro 2004.

In their qualifying group Wales beat Italy—only to be denied a place in the final tournament after losing to Russia in the playoffs.

[edit] Blackburn Rovers (2004–2008)

Hughes quit the Welsh national side in September 2004 to take charge of Blackburn Rovers in the FA Premier League, the last club he had played for.^[6] His key aim was to keep Blackburn clear of relegation which he succeeded in doing, whilst also taking the club to an FA Cup semi-final for the first time in over 40 years.^[7]

In his second season, Blackburn surprised even the most optimistic supporters by finishing inside the top six of the Premiership and qualifying for the UEFA Cup, beating teams such as Chelsea, Manchester United (twice) and Arsenal along the way. After just missing out on the League Cup final, his team sealed their spot in Europe by defeating champions Chelsea 1–0 at home.^[8]

On 4 May 2006, Hughes and assistant Mark Bowen signed new three-year contracts to remain at Blackburn until the summer of 2009.^[9]

Hughes then set about creating a formidable side at Ewood Park. He entered the transfer market, bringing in players such as Benni McCarthy (£2 million), David Bentley (£500,000), Ryan Nelsen (free), Stephen Warnock (£1.5 million), Roque Santa Cruz (£3.5 million), and Christopher Samba (£400,000). Rovers finished 10th in the Premier League in 2006–07, and reached the UEFA Cup round of 32, where they were knocked out by Bayer Leverkusen 3–2 on aggregate.^[10] Rovers faced Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final, their third consecutive semi-final since Hughes took charge. The match ended in defeat 2–1.^[11]

He won the October 2007 Award for the English Premier league manager of the month,^[12] and eventually led Blackburn to a league finish of 7th in 2007-08, Hughes' final season in charge at Ewood Park.

[edit] Manchester City (2008–)

On 2 June 2008, Manchester City sacked manager Sven-Göran Eriksson.^[13] Hughes was reported to be the first choice of City owner Thaksin Shinawatra to replace Eriksson.^[14] However, interest was also reported from Chelsea, who had recently sacked their manager, Avram Grant.^[15] Blackburn Rovers confirmed on 2 June that they had agreed to allow Hughes to talk to Manchester City.^[16]

The following day, Blackburn agreed a compensation package for Hughes to take over as manager of Manchester City, and he was appointed as head coach on 4 June 2008 on a three year contract.^[17] Following the appointment, Manchester City's executive chairman Garry Cook stated that "The Club intends to invest in new players as well as securing the long term services of key members of the current first team squad. Mark has already identified some of the players and backroom staff that he wants to see here at City, and we will begin the process of recruiting them immediately."^[18]

On 1 September 2008 Man City were taken over by the Abu Dhabi United investment group^[19], who made large amounts of transfer funds available to Hughes, allowing City to break the British transfer record and sign Robinho from Real Madrid for £32.4m.^[20] Hughes was very active in the January 2009 transfer window, signing Wayne Bridge from Chelsea, Craig Bellamy from West Ham United and Shay Given from Newcastle United as well as pursuing a number of other targets including a potential world record bid of £100 million for Kaká of Milan (which eventually was unsuccessful).

[edit] Honours

[edit] As a player

• Inducted into English Football Hall of Fame ^[21]

Manchester United

• Premier League winner: 1992–93 and 1993–94
• Premier League runner-up: 1994–95
• FA Cup winner: 1984–85,1989–90 and 1993–94
• FA Cup runner-up: 1994–95
• League Cup winner: 1991–92
• League Cup runner-up: 1990–91 and 1993–94
• F.A. Charity Shield: 1993, 1994
• European Cup Winners Cup winner: 1990–91
• UEFA Super Cup winner: 1991

Chelsea

• FA Cup winner: 1996–97
• League Cup winner: 1997–98
• European Cup Winners' Cup winner: 1997–98

Blackburn Rovers

• Football League First Division runner-up: 2000–01
• League Cup winner: 2001–02

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Player

^{[22] [23]}

[edit] Manager

Team	Country	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	Win %
Wales		September 1999	September 2004	&0000000000000041.00000041	&0000000000000012.00000012	&0000000000000015.00000015	&0000000000000014.00000014	&0000000000000029.27000029.27
Blackburn Rovers		15 September 2004	3 June 2008	&0000000000000188.000000188	&0000000000000082.00000082	&0000000000000047.00000047	&0000000000000059.00000059	&0000000000000043.62000043.62
Manchester City		4 June 2008	Present	&0000000000000056.00000056	&0000000000000024.00000024	&0000000000000008.0000008	&0000000000000024.00000024	&0000000000000042.86000042.86
Total				&0000000000000285.000000285	&0000000000000118.000000118	&0000000000000070.00000070	&0000000000000095.00000095	&0000000000000041.40000041.40

As of 18 May 2009.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Mark Hughes career stats at Soccerbase
• Mark Hughes management career stats at Soccerbase
• Article on Manchester United Legends

Awards
Preceded by Joe Calzaghe	BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year 2002	Succeeded by Nicole Cooke