Where is Mark Hughes now?
Former Manchester United striker Mark Hughes finally retired from playing in 2002 at the age of 39 after a couple of years at Blackburn Rovers where he helped them win promotion back to the Premier League.
Starting his professional career at Old Trafford in 1980, he went onto make 799 first-team appearances over a 22-year period for seven teams including United where he won two Premier League titles, three FA Cups, three League Cups and two Cup Winner’s Cups, and Chelsea where he won the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup Winner’s Cup.
On the international stage he was an important member of the Wales national side between 1984 and 1999, winning 72 caps and scoring 16 goals.
In 1999 and whilst still playing at the top-level, he was appointed manager of a struggling Wales national team on a temporary basis alongside former international team mate Neville Southall.
Hanging up his boots and concentrating solely on management, he managed to turn around their fortunes on the pitch and came close to qualifying for Euro 2004, only losing in the play-offs to Russia.
He left the national team in 2004 after five years in charge to join former side Blackburn Rovers who were struggling in the Premier League at the time.
Keeping them from relegation, Hughes formed a formidable team over the next four years which reached a semi-final for the first time in 40 years and finished sixth, tenth and seventh during his reign.
In 2008 he left Blackburn to take over as manager at Manchester City where he had access to a huge transfer bounty after the club was bought by the Abu Dhabu Investment Group. However, after two years at City he was sacked after a run of just two victories in eleven games.
He made a return to football just six months later when he was appointed manager of Fulham but resigned in June 2011 after just eleven months in charge expressing his desire to further his ambitions with another club.
In January 2012, he replaced outgoing manager Neil Warnock at Queens Park Rangers and managed to keep them in the Premier League by staving off relegation on the last day of the season. Unfortunately he was sacked ten months later after a terrible start to the season where the team failed to register a win despite huge investment in players.
In May 2013, he was back in football when he replaced Tony Pulis as Stoke City manager and enjoyed a successful first season finishing in ninth position which was The Potter’s highest league placement since the 1974-75 season. He repeated ninth-placed finishes for the next two seasons before dropping to a 13th place finish in 2016/17 after an underwhelming second half to the season.
This poor form continued into the new season and he was subsequently sacked in January 2018 after five defeats in seven Premier League games left his side in the relegation places.
Once again he made a quick return to management and was appointed as manager of his former side Southampton with an immediate remit of keeping the side up. With only 10 games remaining of the season, he ensured safety in the penultimate game of the season and kept the Saints in the Premier League for another year.
Unfortunately the 2018-19 season proved to be a struggle again for the team and they won just one game and drew six before the board relinquished Hughes of his managerial duties in December 2018.
He returned to the game in February 2022 when he was appointed manager of League Two side Bradford City leading them to a sixth-placed finish in his first full season only to lose in the play-off semi-finals.
Unfortunately his side couldn’t maintain the momentum for his second season and he was sacked in October 2023 with Bradford in 18th place in the league having only registered three victories in their first 11 games.
Away from his coaching duties he has worked as a Premier League pundit for the BBC as well as beIN Sports in Qatar.
Back to Chelsea / Southampton / Manchester United
Mark Hughes: Premier League Statistics
| Nationality | Welsh |
| Position | Forward |
| Appearances | 297 |
| Goals | 64 |
| Yellow Cards | 70 |
| Red Cards | 2 |
| Premier League Teams Played for | Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Everton, Manchester United, Southampton |
Statistics courtesy of www.premierleague.com
Last Updated on 6 October 2023 by Admin