Steve Bruce

english football player and coach

Stephen Roger Bruce ( bear 31 December 1960 ) is an english professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. Born in Corbridge, Northumberland, he was a promising schoolboy football player but was rejected by respective master clubs. He was on the scepter of quitting the game wholly when he was offered a trial with Gillingham. Bruce was offered an apprenticeship and went on to play more than 200 games for the golf club before joining Norwich City in 1984, winning the League Cup in 1985. In 1987, he moved to Manchester United, with whom he achieved capital success, winning twelve trophies including three Premier League titles, three FA Cups, one League Cup and the european Cup Winners ‘ Cup. He besides became the first base English player of the twentieth century to captain a team to the Double. Despite his achiever on the discipline, he was never selected to play for the England national team. Commentators and contemporaries have described him as one of the best english players of the 1980s and 1990s never to play for his nation at wide international degree.

Reading: Steve Bruce

Bruce began his managerial career with Sheffield United, and spent short periods of time managing Huddersfield Town, Wigan Athletic and Crystal Palace before joining Birmingham City in 2001. He twice led Birmingham to promotion to the Premier League during his tenure of closely six years, but resigned in 2007 to begin a second spell as director of Wigan. At the end of the 2008–09 season he resigned to take over as director of Sunderland, a post he held until he was dismissed in November 2011. Seven months subsequently, he was appointed coach of Hull City and led the club to two promotions to the Premier League, american samoa well as the 2014 FA Cup Final, before leaving in July 2016. He took over at Aston Villa four months late but was dismissed in October 2018. He took over as coach of Sheffield Wednesday in February 2019, and left in July that year to take over at Newcastle United. He managed the club through the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping them in the Premier League, and left in November 2021 following the club ‘s takeover by the Public Investment Fund. His final couple in charge was his 1,000th in club management .

early on life

Bruce was born in Corbridge in Northumberland, the elder of two sons of Joe and Sheenagh Bruce. [ 3 ] His father was local anesthetic, and his mother had been born in Bangor in Northern Ireland. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] The family lived in Daisy Hill near Wallsend, [ 6 ] and Bruce attended Benfield School. [ 7 ] Bruce, a boyhood fan of Newcastle United, said that he sneaked into St James ‘ Park without paying to watch the team play, saying “ I have always been a Newcastle chap and when I was a kyd, I crawled under the turnstiles to get in to try and save a dock or whatever it was. They were my team, I went to support them as a male child and being a Geordie it ‘s in-bred, you follow the golf club still the same today. ” [ 8 ] Like several other future professionals from the area, [ 9 ] he played football for Wallsend Boys Club. [ 8 ] He was besides selected for the Newcastle Schools representative team, and at the age of 13 was among a group of players from that team who were selected to serve as ball boys at the 1974 League Cup Final at Wembley Stadium. [ 10 ] Having been turned down by respective master clubs, including Newcastle United, Sunderland, Derby County and Southport, Bruce was about to start work as an apprentice plumber at the Swan Hunter dockyard when he was offered a trial by Third Division club Gillingham, whose coach Gerry Summers had seen him playing for Wallsend in an international youth tournament. [ 11 ] He travelled down to Kent with another actor from the Wallsend baseball club, Peter Beardsley, but although Gillingham signed Bruce as an apprentice, they turned Beardsley away. [ 12 ] At the prison term Bruce was playing as a midfielder, but he was switched to the center of defense by the headway of Gillingham ‘s youth schema, Bill Collins, whom Bruce cites as the single biggest influence on his career. [ 12 ] [ 13 ]

Playing career

Gillingham

Bruce spent the 1978–79 season in Gillingham ‘s military reserve team and, despite playing in defense, scored 18 goals to finish the season as top scorer. [ 14 ] In January 1979, he was selected to represent the England youth team, and he went on to gain eight caps, participating in the 1980 UEFA european Under-18 Championship. [ 15 ] He came close to making his debut for the baseball club ‘s senior team in May 1979, but Summers decided at the last infinitesimal that, as Gillingham were chasing promotion from the Third Division, Bruce was not yet ready to handle the pressure of the occasion. [ 16 ] He finally made his aged debut in a League Cup tie against Luton Town on 11 August 1979, [ 17 ] and made an immediate impact in the team, winning the club ‘s Player of the Year prize at the end of the 1979–80 season. [ 18 ] He went on to make more than 200 appearances for the club, [ 14 ] and was doubly voted into the Professional Footballers ‘ Association ‘s Third Division Team of the Year. [ 19 ] confident that he was being targeted by clubs from higher divisions, Bruce resolved not to sign a new shrink with Gillingham when his existing consider expired at the goal of the 1983–84 season. [ 20 ] In an April 1983 meet against Newport County, he attempted, in a moment of anger, to measuredly injure enemy player Tommy Tynan, but connected awkwardly and succeeded alone in breaking his own stage, leaving him unable to play again for six months. [ 21 ] He returned in fourth dimension to play a key function in Gillingham achieving two draws against Everton in the FA Cup in 1984, attracting the attention once again of scouts from First Division clubs. [ 12 ] Arthur Cox, coach of Bruce ‘s beloved Newcastle United, expressed an matter to in signing the player, but resigned from his job before any further natural process could be taken. [ 22 ] Bruce finally opted to sign for Norwich City in August 1984 for a fee variously reported as £125,000 [ 23 ] or £135,000. [ 14 ] In 2009, he was voted into Gillingham ‘s Hall of Fame. [ 24 ]

Norwich City

Bruce pictured circa 1986, during his time with Norwich City Bruce began the 1984–85 season by scoring an own goal in the first infinitesimal of his introduction for Norwich against Liverpool, [ 25 ] but went on to score the team ‘s winning goal in the semi-final of the League Cup against local rivals Ipswich Town, [ 26 ] and was named world of the match in Norwich ‘s victory in the final. [ 27 ] Bruce was voted Norwich City Player of the Season, but the team was relegated to the Second Division. [ 28 ] [ 29 ] Bruce played in every match as Norwich won promotion back to the exceed division at the first clock time of asking in the 1985–86 season, [ 28 ] [ 30 ] after which he was chosen to replace the deviate Dave Watson as club captain. [ 31 ] The pursuit season he helped the club to its highest ever league finish of fifth position. [ 32 ] In 1987, he was chosen to captain the England B team in a couple against the full national team of Malta, [ 33 ] but it was to be his alone appearance in an England shirt, and he has subsequently been described as one of the best defenders of his era never to be selected for the full England team. [ 34 ] [ 35 ] [ 36 ] Bruce later stated, “ I bumped into former England director Bobby Robson in Benfica (sic). He came up to me and said ‘I should have capped you ‘. It was dainty to hear but it still did n’t get me one …. I ‘ll constantly be a little disappoint I did n’t get one. ” [ 37 ] Bruce began to attract the care of big-name clubs in belated 1987, with Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Rangers wholly reported to be interested in signing him. [ 38 ] Manchester United quickly emerged as the front runners for his signature, and Bruce publicly expressed his desire to sign for the club. [ 39 ] The cope came close to collapsing when Norwich asked for a transfer fee of £900,000 after initially agreeing to accept £800,000, [ 40 ] leading to Bruce refusing to play any far matches for the club, which he felt was jeopardising his dream move. [ 41 ] On 17 December 1987, soon before his twenty-seventh birthday, the deal was concluded and Bruce officially left Carrow Road, [ 40 ] [ 42 ] for a fee reported as £800,000 [ 23 ] or £825,000. [ 9 ] Norwich fans remembered his contribution, and in 2002 voted him into the Norwich City Hall of Fame. [ 43 ]

manchester United

Bruce made his Manchester United debut in a 2–1 winnings over Portsmouth on 19 December 1987, [ 44 ] and played in 21 of United ‘s remaining 22 league fixtures, [ 45 ] helping the cabaret to a top-two place in the First Division for the first time since 1980. [ 46 ] The team only finished in mid-table in the play along season, [ 47 ] prompt director Alex Ferguson to bring in several new players, including Gary Pallister, who joined the baseball club in August 1989 from Middlesbrough. [ 48 ] His partnership with Bruce in the concentrate of defense mechanism was described in 2006 by the then-United captain, Gary Neville, as the best in the club ‘s history. [ 49 ] “ Dolly and Daisy ”, as the pair were dearly known, are described as “ arguably the best ” on the official Manchester United web site. [ 50 ] Bruce and Pallister were separate of the team that won the 1990 FA Cup Final against Crystal Palace in a play back. [ 51 ] Following the lift of the five-year prohibition on english clubs from european competitions, which had been imposed after the Heysel Stadium disaster, United became England ‘s first entrants into the european Cup Winners ‘ Cup in the 1990–91 season. [ 52 ] Bruce played regularly, and scored three goals, in the team ‘s advancement to the final against FC Barcelona. [ 53 ] He came close to scoring the first finish, merely for Mark Hughes to deflect the ball over the line and claim the goal, [ 54 ] and United went on to win the game 2–1. This was a peculiarly high-scoring season for Bruce, who found the final 13 times in the First Division and 19 times in total in all competitions. [ 53 ] He besides played again at Wembley, in the League Cup final examination, in which United were defeated by Sheffield Wednesday of the Second Division. [ 55 ]
Bruce pictured in 1992, during his time at Manchester United Bruce missed several weeks of the 1991–92 season when he underwent an operation on a longstanding hernia trouble, [ 56 ] in which Leeds United, after a season-long muss, beat Manchester United to the backing by four points. [ 57 ] Bruce helped United win their first-ever League Cup in April 1992, [ 58 ] captaining the team in the final examination in place of the injure Bryan Robson. [ 59 ] Injuries continued to take their price upon Robson during the 1992–93 season, leading to Bruce captaining the team in the majority of United ‘s matches during the beginning season of the raw Premier League. [ 37 ] Bruce scored two belated goals in a acquire over Sheffield Wednesday which proved decisive in United winning the inaugural Premier League title, [ 60 ] the first time the clubhouse had won the backing of English football since 1967, and he and Robson received the trophy jointly after the home victory over Blackburn Rovers on 3 May. [ 61 ] At the acme of his success with United, Bruce was contacted by Jack Charlton, coach of the Republic of Ireland home team, who had discovered that, ascribable to his mother ‘s place of parturition, Bruce was eligible to play for Ireland. Bruce states in his autobiography that further investigation revealed that, while his earlier appearance for England B in a friendly was not an exit, his appearances for the England Youth team in a UEFA -sanctioned tournament prohibited him from playing for the senior team of another country. [ 62 ] He has subsequently claimed that he chose not to play for Ireland as it would have caused problems for his golf club at a meter when UEFA restricted the number of extraneous players that a club could have in their squad in its competitions. [ 4 ] United dominated English football in the 1993–94 season, winning a second consecutive Premier League title and then defeating Chelsea in the FA Cup final to become only the fourth team, and Bruce the beginning English master, to win the Double in the twentieth hundred, [ 63 ] [ 64 ] [ 65 ] The 1994–95 season was a disappoint one for Bruce and United, as the club failed in its invite to win a third consecutive Premier League title and lost to Everton in the FA Cup final. [ 66 ] During the be season Bruce was offered the job of director by three clubs, but Ferguson refused to allow him to pursue the opportunities as he felt the player calm had a role to play in the United team. [ 67 ] Bruce made a promote 30 Premier League appearances, [ 44 ] as United managed to overcome a 12-point deficit to Newcastle United to win the championship once again. [ 68 ] A week later he was left out of United ‘s team for the FA Cup final due to a flimsy injury. [ 69 ] At the end of the meet Eric Cantona, who had captained the team and scored the alone goal in a 1–0 succeed over Liverpool, attempted to persuade Bruce to be the one to receive the trophy, but Bruce declined. [ 70 ] Ferguson denied that Bruce ‘s omission was a sign that his time at the golf club was nearing an end, [ 71 ] but Bruce opted to join First Division club Birmingham City on a release transfer, having signed a contract valued at about £2 million over two years, which made him one of the highest-paid players in the country. [ 71 ]

later playing career

Bruce was among five early Premier League players signed by Birmingham director Trevor Francis to add experience to a police squad expected to challenge for promotion. [ 72 ] He was made captain of the team, [ 73 ] but his Birmingham career was dogged by a series of disagreements with Francis. [ 74 ] Director David Sullivan felt the necessitate to publicly deny rumours that Bruce was lined up to replace Francis as coach after the club ‘s banal market flotation. [ 75 ] [ 76 ] While playing for Birmingham, Bruce was the subject of several bids from his previous Manchester United colleague Bryan Robson to sign for Middlesbrough, but the transfer never happened. [ 77 ] The 1997–98 season saw Bruce being left out more frequently, and his omission against Nottingham Forest provoked a public war of words, which fuelled rumours that the coach was to be dismissed and that Bruce would take over as caretaker until the end of the season. [ 78 ] [ 79 ] At the end of the temper he accepted the mail of player-manager of Sheffield United. Though the deal was delayed while Birmingham attempted to negotiate a transfer tip for his toy abridge, [ 80 ] he took up his new position on 2 July 1998. [ 81 ] He played 11 matches for the golf club earlier retiring as a player, his final appearance being in a home couple against Sunderland on 28 November 1998. [ 82 ]

style of play

During the early character of his career, Bruce ‘s sometimes over-enthusiastic act style, which he late described as “ rampaging ”, [ 12 ] caused him disciplinary problems. He late developed into a solid and reliable all-around player, characterised as “ an honest trier who made the absolute most of limit natural ability ”. [ 83 ] In his prime, he was peculiarly noted for his calm and deliberate passing of the ball, and his ability to control it under coerce, frequently with his thorax. At the time, Mark Wright of Liverpool was said to be the lone other centre-back able to match Bruce ‘s degree of skill in these areas. [ 56 ] Bruce was besides known for his unusually high gear goalscoring pace for a centre-back, resulting from a combination of his ability to potently head the ball and his potency in taking penalty kicks. [ 84 ] Although lacking poise and deck, [ 83 ] and much criticised for his miss of yard, [ 83 ] [ 85 ] his fearlessness and willingness to take knocks from enemy players made him the “ heart ” of the defense during his meter with Manchester United. [ 86 ] He was well known for continuing to play even when injured, [ 83 ] [ 87 ] including returning to the United team at short notice in 1992 evening though he was awaiting an operation on a hernia. [ 56 ] His indomitable spirit and motivational abilities were deemed full of life to the United team, [ 83 ] and Alex Ferguson has commented on his “ determination and heart ”. [ 88 ]

Managerial career

early managerial career

In his first gear season as a director, Bruce guided Sheffield United to eighth place in the First Division, nine points away from a place in the play-offs. [ 89 ] He caused controversy when he attempted to take his team off the peddle during an FA Cup match against Arsenal. Bruce felt that the Gunners had broken an unwritten rule of sportsmanship by scoring the winning goal from a throw-in alternatively of returning the ball to United, who had intentionally kicked it out of bid to allow an hurt musician to be attended to. Although the game finally continued to a finish, following a gesture by Arsenal the match was declared nothingness and replay. [ 90 ] [ 91 ] In May 1999, Bruce resigned from his position after barely one season in charge, citing tumult in the club ‘s boardroom and a dearth of funds for transfers. [ 92 ] He contemplated leaving football for a job in television, but was persuaded by Huddersfield Town owner Barry Rubery to become the baseball club ‘s coach. [ 93 ] Huddersfield were early promotion contenders in the 1999–2000 season, winning six consecutive matches to rise to third place in the First Division table by former November, [ 94 ] but lost imprint and failed to reach the play-offs. [ 95 ] The team continued to struggle at the begin of the 2000–01 season, gaining just six points from 11 matches, and Bruce was sacked in October 2000. [ 96 ] He then became involved in a dispute with Rubery, who accused him of “ wasting ” £3m on players and having “ an ego to feed ”. [ 97 ] Although he was linked with the coach ‘s speculate at Queens Park Rangers, [ 98 ] Bruce remained out of the game until he was appointed director of Wigan Athletic in April 2001. [ 99 ] The team reached the second Division play-offs but lost in the semi-finals, [ 100 ] and Bruce about immediately left the club, where he had been in charge for less than two months, to take over as coach of Crystal Palace. [ 101 ] Although his newfangled baseball club began the 2001–02 season powerfully, topping the First Division mesa and looking well placed for regaining the Premier League position that it had concluding held in the 1997–98 season, [ 102 ] Bruce tendered his resignation less than three months into the season in ordain to return to Birmingham City as coach. Although he was initially prevented from doing so by an injunction taken out by Crystal Palace, he was finally allowed to join the Midlands-based cabaret after a recompense box was agreed. [ 103 ] [ 104 ] By nowadays he had acquired a reputation as a director who rarely held down a occupation for a meaning duration of time. [ 102 ]

Birmingham City

Upon his arrival, the Blues were in a mid-table situation in the First Division, [ 105 ] but a drawn-out unbeaten run saw the team qualify for the play-offs. [ 106 ] The team went on to beat Bruce ‘s early club Norwich City in the final after a punishment shoot-out to gain forwarding to the Premier League, ending a 16-year absence from the top level of English football. [ 107 ] Birmingham spent the early part of the 2002–03 season struggling near the foot of the Premier League board, but Bruce ‘s sign of Christophe Dugarry revitalised the team, who ended the season in 13th position and finished higher than local rivals Aston Villa for the foremost time since the 1970s. [ 108 ] The following season began well for Birmingham, who climbed adenine high as one-fourth in the table, but the team ‘s fortunes declined and they could only finish in tenth place at the end of the season. [ 109 ] Despite this disappointment, Bruce signed a modern contract in June 2004 designed to keep him at St Andrew ‘s for a far five years, [ 110 ] but fair two months late Freddy Shepherd, president of Newcastle United, was reported to have made Bruce his main target in the search for a new director to replace Bobby Robson. The golf club was reportedly fix to pay Birmingham more than £3 million in compensation, and Bruce himself was said to be lament to take over at St James ‘ Park, [ 111 ] but he ultimately remained at Birmingham. He stated that “ equally far as I ‘m concern, I ‘ve got a job to do [ at Birmingham City ] and I ‘m determined to get on with it ”, but it was besides reported that Newcastle would have been required to pay a much larger compensation fee or face legal military action had he been persuaded to switch clubs. [ 112 ] Initial expectations were high for the 2004–05 temper, but the cabaret once again finished in a mid-table position, ending the season in 12th place. [ 113 ] Following the sacking of Graeme Souness as Newcastle director in February 2006, Bruce was again linked with the caper, [ 114 ] which ultimately went to Glenn Roeder. [ 115 ] By this phase of the 2005–06 season, Birmingham were struggling in the league, and on 21 March 2006 were beaten 7–0 at home plate by Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals. [ 116 ] Some supporters of the club began to call for his resignation, but Bruce insisted that he would fight on as coach. [ 117 ] The team managed to climb out of the delegating partition for the first clock time in closely six months after a win over Bolton Wanderers in early April 2006. [ 118 ] however, they were soon overtaken by Portsmouth, whose victory over Wigan Athletic on 29 April left Birmingham mathematically ineffective to match their points full and consequently relegated. [ 119 ] Although Bruce had the largest transfer budget in the division made available to him, [ 120 ] Birmingham made a boring start to the 2006–07 season in the Championship and, after a 1–0 frustration at home to Norwich City, the team ‘s fifth consecutive match without a winnings, there were calls from fans and local journalists for the coach to be sacked. [ 121 ] [ 122 ] Bruce publicly accepted province for the team ‘s poor function and admitted that he feared for his subcontract, [ 123 ] but the team responded with a 1–0 victory over Derby County, [ 124 ] and then recorded a far five consecutive league victories to be roast leaders of the league table by late November. [ 125 ] [ 126 ] On 29 April 2007, Birmingham secured promotion to the Premier League, with one meet to play, by virtue of Derby County ‘s 2–0 frustration at Crystal Palace. Chairman David Gold told the press “ There have been some dark days but Steve has been outstanding. He was determined to bounce back. He has rebuilt the team and immediately we are all back where we want to be. ” [ 127 ]

Wigan Athletic

In May 2007, Birmingham ‘s board agreed a newly condense for Bruce, but the unwillingness of the clubhouse ‘s prospective buyer Carson Yeung to ratify it left his future unsealed. [ 128 ] In October 2007, Bolton Wanderers were refused permission to speak to him about their managerial vacancy. [ 129 ] Later that calendar month, Bruce and Yeung held a meet which reportedly had cocksure results. [ 130 ] Bruce late claimed that Birmingham ‘s managing director Karren Brady had “ shafted ” him on a newly contract with the clubhouse, [ 131 ] and when Wigan Athletic requested license to speak to Bruce about their managerial vacancy, he was receptive to their approach. [ 132 ] As required under the terms of his contract, Wigan agreed to pay Birmingham a then- global record recompense for the loss of his services of around £3m, [ 133 ] and they were then allowed to speak to him. On 19 November, Wigan announced the sign of Bruce for a second time. [ 134 ] On 21 November, during a press conference which was intended to formally present Bruce as the new coach of Wigan, the clubhouse ‘s head administrator Brenda Spencer informed the media that the deal had been put on harbor by “ stranger issues ” between Bruce and Birmingham City, reported to centre on the advance payment of the double rights component of Bruce ‘s contract at St Andrew ‘s. [ 135 ] [ 136 ] On 23 November 2007 Wigan announced that Bruce had now signed his condense and would officially rejoin the Latics. [ 137 ] His beginning game in charge was a 1–1 home string with Manchester City on 1 December 2007. [ 138 ] Wigan spent the remainder of the season struggling against delegating, but the clubhouse secured Premier League survival with victory over Aston Villa in the penult game of the temper. [ 139 ] [ 140 ] In September 2008, Bruce was once again linked with the coach ‘s job at Newcastle United following the departure of Kevin Keegan. [ 141 ] Bruce led Wigan to an 11th-place finish in the 2008–09 season, [ 142 ] despite the passing of midfielder Wilson Palacios to Tottenham Hotspur in the January transfer window. [ 143 ]

sunderland

Bruce managing Sunderland in 2011 On 27 May 2009, Bruce was reported to have been given license to talk to Sunderland about succeeding Ricky Sbragia, who resigned as coach after the final match of the season. [ 144 ] Bruce was confirmed as the raw coach of Sunderland on 3 June after signing a three-year contract. [ 145 ] He was joined at Sunderland by three of his former Wigan Athletic coaching staff, adjunct Eric Black, goalkeeping coach Nigel Spink, and reserve team passenger car Keith Bertschin. [ 146 ] In his inaugural season at Sunderland, despite a run of 14 games without a win, Bruce led the Black Cats to a 13th-place stopping point in the Premier League. [ 147 ] Bruce made sweeping changes to Sunderland ‘s squad, signing 13 players and selling 15 in his first 18 months at the club. [ 148 ] On 25 February 2011, Bruce signed an extension to his sign, keeping him at Sunderland until 2014, with president Niall Quinn stating that “ In entirely 18 months he has reshaped our police squad beyond recognition, bringing in some fabulously talented players. He embodies the ethos of teamwork and the importance of chumminess in creating a fantastic spirit of togetherness amongst the players and staff ”. [ 148 ] Bruce was dismissed as director on 30 November 2011, with Sunderland in 16th position following a poor run of form which culminated with a 2–1 home kill to bottom clubhouse Wigan four days earlier. [ 149 ] He late linked his dismissal from the managerial mail with the fact that he is a fan of Newcastle United, Sunderland ‘s acrimonious rivals. [ 150 ]

Hull City

On 8 June 2012, Bruce was appointed as coach at Championship club Hull City on a three-year narrow. [ 151 ] In his first season with the club, he led them to promotion to the Premier League, clinching second space in the backing on the final day of the season. [ 152 ] The take after season, the “ Tigers ” came 16th with a golf club commemorate reckoning of 37 points, [ 153 ] and reached the final examination of the FA Cup for the beginning time. [ 154 ] They took a two-goal lead in the first base ten minutes of the final, but opponents Arsenal scored a goal in each half to take the game into extra-time and then scored a third base to win the trophy. [ 155 ] Reaching the final qualify Hull for the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League, their first european political campaign. [ 156 ] In March 2015, Bruce signed a three-year contract annex. [ 157 ] A run of poor form left Hull near the bottom of the mesa going into the final game of the 2014–15 season and needing to defeat Bruce ‘s erstwhile cabaret Manchester United to stand any luck of avoiding relegation. [ 158 ] They could only manage a 0–0 draw and were relegated to the Championship. The inadequate performances of a number of players signed by Bruce, including club commemorate sign Abel Hernández, were identified as key factors in the golf club ‘s failure to remain in the Premier League. [ 159 ] In January 2016, Bruce won the Championship Manager of the Month after leading Hull to four victories ; Hernández, who scored six times, got the players ‘ equivalent. [ 160 ] Hull finished the season in one-fourth, qualifying for the play-offs, where they defeated Derby County in the semi-finals. In the final on 28 May, a 25-yard goal from Mohamed Diamé against Sheffield Wednesday won Hull promotion to the Premier League for the second clock during Bruce ‘s go in charge. Bruce said after the game that he had considered resignation following the team ‘s relegation, and would hold talks with the prospective fresh owners to be assured of his future. [ 161 ] In July 2016, with his future at Hull apparently hush uncertain, he was interviewed by officials of The Football Association concerning the vacant position of coach of England. [ 162 ] Three days subsequently, Bruce met with Hull City officials and announced his resignation late that day [ 163 ] amid claims he became frustrated by a miss of transfer action at the cabaret. [ 164 ]

Aston Villa

On 12 October 2016, Bruce was appointed director of Championship club Aston Villa. [ 165 ] In his second gear match in charge, Villa defeated Reading, the baseball club ‘s inaugural succeed in 11 games and the beginning away win for 14 months. [ 166 ] He brought in Colin Calderwood as adjunct director from Brighton & Hove Albion and Stephen Clemence from old baseball club Hull City as first-team bus. [ 167 ] [ 168 ] In the 2017–18 temper, Villa secured a play-off topographic point and defeated Middlesbrough to reach the final, [ 169 ] but lost 1–0 to Fulham in the final and thus missed out on promotion to the Premier League. [ 170 ] On 2 October 2018, Villa surrendered a two-goal precede, drawing 3–3 at home to bottom club Preston North End. One spectator threw a pilfer at Bruce and there were calls from home fans on the Holte End for Bruce to go. [ 171 ] The follow day, he was sacked by Villa after a hapless run of form. [ 172 ]

Sheffield Wednesday

In January 2019, Bruce was appointed coach of Championship baseball club Sheffield Wednesday with effect from the beginning of the following month. [ 173 ] On 27 January, his check in taking up this appointment was criticised by Match of the Day pundits Danny Murphy and Ruud Gullit during a 3–0 FA Cup defeat away to Chelsea. [ 174 ] Bruce subsequently defended his decisiveness, as he had had two operations since leaving Aston Villa and needed time to recuperate, adenine well as the motivation to recover from the death of both his parents in 2018. [ 175 ]

newcastle United

BBC Sport reported in July 2019 that Bruce had resigned from his situation at Wednesday, [ 176 ] after he early admitted that he had held talks with Premier League Newcastle United over their managerial void. [ 177 ] His appointment at Newcastle was confirmed on 17 July. [ 178 ] Sheffield Wednesday, however, soon filed a report to the Premier League alleging misbehave in his appointment, [ 179 ] [ 180 ] stating that there were distillery outstanding legal issues with Bruce having resigned just 48 hours earlier, whilst besides suspecting that confidential details of Bruce ‘s shrink were leaked making it impossible for him to remain at the club. [ 181 ] Newcastle United denied any error and stated that they were convinced no case could be escalated. [ 182 ] reaction from the fans was mix, with some feel Bruce would not achieve the standard set by his predecessor Rafael Benítez, whilst his holocene miss of Premier League football and management of rival club Sunderland proved controversial. [ 183 ] [ 184 ] Bruce acknowledged Benítez ‘s popularity, and stated he hoped the fans would not rush to judgement and give him clock time to prove himself. [ 185 ] Bruce soon made six signings, [ 186 ] notably securing Joelinton from 1899 Hoffenheim for £40 million, breaking the cabaret ‘s transfer fee record previously set by the purchase of Miguel Almirón for £21 million six months sooner. [ 187 ] [ 188 ] In his beginning season in load, Newcastle were tipped for delegating by some pundits but finished 13th, as the campaign was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. [ 189 ] The trace temper, about entirely played buttocks close doors due to the ongoing pandemic, saw Bruce guide the club to 12th. [ 190 ] In October 2021, the baseball club was bought for £300 million by a consortium led by the Saudi Arabian government ‘s autonomous wealth fund. [ 191 ] With the team close to the buttocks of the Premier League, Bruce was widely expected to be dismissed from his job by the new owners, but remained in charge and was recognised by the League Managers Association as only the 34th director in the advanced era of English football to have taken charge for 1000 competitive matches. [ 192 ] Newcastle lost that pit 3–2 to Tottenham Hotspur at St James ‘ Park on 17 October 2021, and some Newcastle supporters called for Bruce to be removed from his post during and after the game. [ 193 ] Bruce left Newcastle by common accept three days late on 20 October 2021. He had a 27.4 % succeed share from 84 league games at Newcastle, the ninth best compared to former Newcastle managers who had been in charge of at least 20 matches in the Premier League era. [ 194 ]

personal life

Bruce has been married since February 1983 to Janet ( née Smith ), [ 195 ] [ 196 ] [ 197 ] who is besides from the Hexham area, and went to the same educate as Bruce. [ 7 ] The couple have two children, Alex ( hold 1984 ) and Amy ( born 1987 ). [ 195 ] Alex is besides a football player, and was signed by his father for Hull City in July 2012. [ 198 ] He had previously played under his forefather ‘s management at Birmingham City, but left the club in 2006, in region ascribable to accusations of nepotism levelled at his beget. [ 199 ] Amy was linked romantically with Aston Villa player Lee Hendrie in tabloid newspaper stories in 2004, which provoked an angry reception from her father, who described the reports as “ lies ”, and claimed that journalists had gone then far as to contact his repair and examine his family waste in an attack to uncover chew the fat. [ 200 ] In September 2004, Bruce was involved in an affray outside his home with two men who were attempting to steal his daughter ‘s car. The affray left him with facial injuries but did not prevent him from travelling to a Premier League match the lapp day. [ 201 ] After the incident one newspaper attempted to connect it with the allegations concerning Hendrie, leading Bruce to contemplate legal action. [ 200 ]

other activities

Bruce ‘s autobiography, Heading for Victory, was published in 1994. In 1999, while director of Huddersfield, he wrote a trio of novels : Striker!, Sweeper! and Defender!. The books centred on fabricated football director Steve Barnes, based on Bruce, who solved murder mysteries and thwart terrorists. Bruce later expressed his embarrassment at the books, which have become sought collectables. [ 202 ] [ 203 ] He intended to publish a fresh autobiography in recently 2019 but the bible was postponed indefinitely due to the deaths of his parents and his desire to concentrate on his problem at Newcastle. [ 204 ]