67 Facts About Steve Bruce

1.

Steve Bruce was on the verge of quitting the game altogether when he was offered a trial with Gillingham.

2.

Steve Bruce became the first English player of the 20th century to captain a team to the Double.

3.

Steve 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.

4.

Steve Bruce twice led Birmingham to promotion to the Premier League during his tenure of nearly six years, but resigned in 2007 to begin a second spell as manager of Wigan.

5.

Steve Bruce took over at Aston Villa four months later but was dismissed in October 2018.

6.

Steve Bruce took over as manager of Sheffield Wednesday in February 2019, and left in July that year to take over at Newcastle United.

7.

Steve Bruce 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.

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8.

Steve Bruce was born in Corbridge in Northumberland, the elder of two sons of Joe and Sheenagh Steve Bruce.

9.

Steve Bruce's father was local, and his mother had been born in Bangor in Northern Ireland.

10.

The family lived in Daisy Hill near Wallsend, and Steve Bruce attended Benfield School.

11.

Steve Bruce was 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.

12.

Steve Bruce travelled down to Kent with another player from the Wallsend club, Peter Beardsley, but although Gillingham signed Bruce as an apprentice, they turned Beardsley away.

13.

At the time Steve Bruce was playing as a midfielder, but he was switched to the centre of defence by the head of Gillingham's youth scheme, Bill Collins, whom Steve Bruce cites as the single biggest influence on his career.

14.

Steve Bruce came close to making his debut for the club's senior team in May 1979, but Summers decided at the last minute that, as Gillingham were chasing promotion from the Third Division, Bruce was not yet ready to handle the pressure of the occasion.

15.

Steve Bruce returned in time to play a key role in Gillingham achieving two draws against Everton in the FA Cup in 1984, attracting the attention of scouts from First Division clubs.

16.

Arthur Cox, manager of Steve Bruce's beloved Newcastle United, expressed an interest in signing the player, but resigned from his job before any further action could be taken.

17.

Steve Bruce was voted Norwich City Player of the Season, but the team was relegated to the Second Division.

18.

Steve Bruce came up to me and said 'I should have capped you'.

19.

Steve Bruce began to attract the attention of big-name clubs in late 1987, with Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Rangers all reported to be interested in signing him.

20.

Manchester United quickly emerged as the front runners for his signature, and Steve Bruce publicly expressed his desire to sign for the club.

21.

Steve Bruce played regularly, and scored three goals, in the team's progress to the final against FC Barcelona.

22.

Steve Bruce played again at Wembley, in the League Cup final, in which United were defeated by Sheffield Wednesday of the Second Division.

23.

Steve Bruce helped United win their first-ever League Cup in April 1992, captaining the team in the final in place of the injured Bryan Robson.

24.

Steve Bruce scored two late goals in a win over Sheffield Wednesday which proved decisive in United winning the inaugural Premier League title, the first time the club had won the championship of English football since 1967, and he and Robson received the trophy jointly after the home victory over Blackburn Rovers on 3 May.

25.

At the height of his success with United, Steve Bruce was contacted by Jack Charlton, manager of the Republic of Ireland national team, who had discovered that, due to his mother's place of birth, Steve Bruce was eligible to play for Ireland.

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26.

Steve Bruce has subsequently claimed that he chose not to play for Ireland as it would have caused problems for his club at a time when UEFA restricted the number of foreign players that a club could have in their squad in its competitions.

27.

Steve Bruce was among five former Premier League players signed by Birmingham manager Trevor Francis to add experience to a squad expected to challenge for promotion.

28.

Steve Bruce was made captain of the team, but his Birmingham career was dogged by a series of disagreements with Francis.

29.

Director David Sullivan felt the need to publicly deny rumours that Steve Bruce was lined up to replace Francis as manager after the club's stock market flotation.

30.

Steve Bruce played 11 matches for the club before retiring as a player, his final appearance being in a home match against Sunderland on 28 November 1998.

31.

Steve Bruce later developed into a solid and dependable all-round player, characterised as "an honest trier who made the absolute most of limited natural ability".

32.

Steve Bruce was known for his unusually high goalscoring rate for a centre-back, resulting from a combination of his ability to powerfully head the ball and his effectiveness in taking penalty kicks.

33.

Steve Bruce was well known for continuing to play even when injured, including returning to the United team at short notice in 1992 even though he was awaiting an operation on a hernia.

34.

Steve Bruce caused controversy when he attempted to take his team off the pitch during an FA Cup match against Arsenal.

35.

Steve Bruce felt that the Gunners had broken an unwritten rule of sportsmanship by scoring the winning goal from a throw-in instead of returning the ball to United, who had intentionally kicked it out of play to allow an injured player to be attended to.

36.

In May 1999, Steve Bruce resigned from his post after just one season in charge, citing turmoil in the club's boardroom and a shortage of funds for transfers.

37.

Steve Bruce contemplated leaving football for a job in television, but was persuaded by Huddersfield Town owner Barry Rubery to become the club's manager.

38.

Steve Bruce stated that "as far as I'm concerned, I've got a job to do [at Birmingham City] and I'm determined to get on with it", but it was reported that Newcastle would have been required to pay a much larger compensation fee or face legal action had he been persuaded to switch clubs.

39.

Some supporters of the club began to call for his resignation, but Steve Bruce insisted that he would fight on as manager.

40.

Steve Bruce has rebuilt the team and now we are all back where we want to be.

41.

Steve Bruce later claimed that Birmingham's managing director Karren Brady had "shafted" him on a new contract with the club, and when Wigan Athletic requested permission to speak to Steve Bruce about their managerial vacancy, he was receptive to their approach.

42.

On 23 November 2007 Wigan announced that Steve Bruce had now signed his contract and would officially rejoin the Latics.

43.

In September 2008, Steve Bruce was linked with the manager's job at Newcastle United following the departure of Kevin Keegan.

44.

On 27 May 2009, Steve Bruce was reported to have been given permission to talk to Sunderland about succeeding Ricky Sbragia, who resigned as manager after the last match of the season.

45.

Steve Bruce was joined at Sunderland by three of his former Wigan Athletic coaching staff, assistant Eric Black, goalkeeping coach Nigel Spink, and reserve team coach Keith Bertschin.

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46.

Steve Bruce made wholesale changes to Sunderland's squad, signing 13 players and selling 15 in his first 18 months at the club.

47.

Steve Bruce later linked his dismissal from the managerial post with the fact that he is a fan of Newcastle United, Sunderland's bitter rivals.

48.

On 8 June 2012, Steve Bruce was appointed as manager at Championship club Hull City on a three-year contract.

49.

The poor performances of a number of players signed by Steve Bruce, including club record signing Abel Hernandez, were identified as key factors in the club's failure to remain in the Premier League.

50.

In January 2016, Steve Bruce won the Championship Manager of the Month after leading Hull to four victories; Hernandez, who scored six times, got the players' equivalent.

51.

Steve Bruce said after the game that he had considered resignation following the team's relegation, and would hold talks with the prospective new owners to be assured of his future.

52.

Three days later, Steve Bruce met with Hull City officials and announced his resignation later that day amid claims he became frustrated by a lack of transfer activity at the club.

53.

On 12 October 2016, Steve Bruce was appointed manager of Championship club Aston Villa.

54.

In January 2019, Steve Bruce was appointed manager of Championship club Sheffield Wednesday with effect from the start of the following month.

55.

Steve Bruce subsequently defended his decision, as he had had two operations since leaving Aston Villa and needed time to recuperate, as well as the need to recover from the death of both his parents in 2018.

56.

BBC Sport reported in July 2019 that Steve Bruce had resigned from his position at Wednesday, after he earlier admitted that he had held talks with Premier League Newcastle United over their managerial vacancy.

57.

Sheffield Wednesday soon filed a report to the Premier League alleging misconduct in his appointment, stating that there were still outstanding legal issues with Steve Bruce having resigned just 48 hours earlier, whilst suspecting that confidential details of Steve Bruce's contract were leaked making it impossible for him to remain at the club.

58.

Steve Bruce acknowledged Benitez's popularity, and stated he hoped the fans would not rush to judgement and give him time to prove himself.

59.

On 3 February 2022, Steve Bruce was appointed manager of EFL Championship club West Bromwich Albion, replacing Valerien Ismael.

60.

Steve Bruce signed an 18-month contract with West Brom who, at the time, were in sixth place in the Championship.

61.

Steve Bruce left the role eight months later with the team 22nd in the division, their lowest league position for more than two decades.

62.

Steve Bruce has been married since February 1983 to Janet, who is from the Hexham area, and went to the same school as Steve Bruce.

63.

Steve Bruce had previously played under his father's management at Birmingham City, but left the club in 2006, in part due to accusations of nepotism levelled at his father.

64.

In September 2004, Steve Bruce was involved in an altercation outside his home with two men who were attempting to steal his daughter's car.

65.

The books centred on fictional football manager Steve Barnes, based on Bruce, who solved murder mysteries and thwarted terrorists.

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66.

Steve Bruce later expressed his embarrassment at the books, which have become sought-after collectables.

67.

Steve Bruce intended to publish a new autobiography in late 2019 but the book was postponed indefinitely due to the deaths of his parents and his desire to concentrate on his job at Newcastle.