Mark Hughes

This article is about the Welsh international footballer. For other people, see Mark Hughes (disambiguation).

Mark Hughes
OBE
Hughes as manager of Stoke City in 2015
Personal information
Full name Leslie Mark Hughes[1]
Date of birth (1963-11-01) 1 November 1963 (age 61)[1]
Place of birth Ruabon, Wales
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.74 m)[2]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1978–1980 Manchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1980–1986 Manchester United 89 (37)
1986–1988 Barcelona 28 (4)
1987–1988 → Bayern Munich (loan) 18 (6)
1988–1995 Manchester United 256 (83)
1995–1998 Chelsea 95 (25)
1998–2000 Southampton 52 (2)
2000 Everton 18 (1)
2000–2002 Blackburn Rovers 50 (6)
Total 606 (164)
International career
1984–1999 Wales 72 (16)
Managerial career
1999–2004 Wales
2004–2008 Blackburn Rovers
2008–2009 Manchester City
2010–2011 Fulham
2012 Queens Park Rangers
2013–2018 Stoke City
2018 Southampton
2022–2023 Bradford City
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Leslie Mark Hughes OBE[3] (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former player who was most recently the head coach of Bradford City.

During his playing career he usually operated as a forward or midfielder. He had two spells at Manchester United, and also played for Barcelona and Bayern Munich, as well as the English clubs Chelsea, Southampton, Everton and finally Blackburn Rovers. He made 72 appearances for Wales scoring 16 goals. He won a host of winners' medals during his playing career, including two Premier League titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups and two UEFA Cup Winners' Cups. He also collected an FA Cup runners-up medal and a League Cup runners-up medal. Hughes was the first player to win the PFA Players' Player of the Year award twice, in 1989 and 1991, as well as having been the only person to have scored in the FA Community Shield, League Cup final, and FA Cup final in the same season (1993–94). He retired from playing in 2002.

Hughes was appointed manager of Wales in 1999 and remained in the role until 2004. He failed to qualify for a World Cup or European Championship during his five years in charge, although his reign coincided with a marked improvement in results. Wales came particularly close to securing 2004 European Championship qualification. Hughes then spent four years in charge of Blackburn, guiding them to sixth place in 2005–06. He took charge of Manchester City in June 2008 for a year and a half before spending the 2010–11 season at Fulham. He joined Queens Park Rangers in January 2012, helping them retain their Premier League status in 2011–12. Despite some high-profile signings in the summer of 2012, QPR began the 2012–13 season in very poor form, and Hughes was dismissed on 23 November 2012.[4]

Hughes was appointed manager of Stoke City on 30 May 2013. He guided the club to three consecutive ninth-place Premier League finishes in 2013–14, 2014–15 and 2015–16. Progress at Stoke stalled in the 2016–17 season, with the club finishing 13th in the table. Following a poor start to the 2017–18 season, with the club in the relegation zone heading into the new year, he was dismissed by Stoke on 6 January 2018, hours after an FA Cup third round exit to League Two side Coventry City.[5] He was appointed manager of Southampton on 14 March 2018, signing a contract until the end of the season, with Southampton one point above his former club Stoke in 17th place at the time of his appointment.[6] He guided the club to safety at the end of the 2017–18 season, but was dismissed in December 2018 with the club at 18th in the table.[7]

  1. ^ a b "Mark Hughes". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  2. ^ "Mark Hughes: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  3. ^ "No. 57315". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 June 2004. p. 10.
  4. ^ "Mark Hughes sacked by QPR". The Guardian. 23 November 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  5. ^ "Mark Hughes: Stoke City sack manager after poor run". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  6. ^ "Mark Hughes: Southampton appoint former Stoke manager until end of season". BBC Sport. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC46091577 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).