Steve Bruce - Manchester United Legend
Although Steve Bruce, would go on to become a Manchester United and Premier First Division / Premier League legend, life on the road to this destination was not a smooth one. As a youngster Bruce looked to have a promising career in store, but he found it extremely difficult to get himself signed up to a professional club. In his younger days the defender was rejected by many clubs, and at the age of 17 was ready to walk away from the football for good. Luckily for Bruce and many football fans around the world, Kent outfit Gillingham came to his rescue and offered him an apprenticeship. The young defender went on to make 237 appearances for the club between 1979 and 1984, netting a impressive 38 goals, an average of a goal every six games. By the time the player had reached the tender age of 21 he was begenning to attract the attention of larger clubs and most notably Arthur Cox, manager of Bruce's boyhood heroes Newcastle United, but unfortunately for the young defender Cox resigned from his post before any deal could be struck. Eventually, on 11 August 1984, Bruce opted to sign for Norwich City, in a deal reportedly to be worth around £130,000. Unfortunatley for Steve Bruce, life at Norwich City didn't get off to the greatest of starts, when on 25 August 1984, with only one minute on the clock of his debut against Liverpool, he put through his own goal. Thankfully for the defender he more and made up for that blunder when later that season, he scored the winning goal against Norwich City's arch rivals, Ipswich Town to put his side through to the League Cup final. On League Cup final day Norwich City took on Sunderland in front of a Wembley crowd in the region of 110,000 and after an evenly contested game, the Canaries ran out 1-0 winners, with Bruce being named man-of-the-match. This first piece of silverware for the tough tackling defender would in know way be his last in a glittering career. Although Bruce had won the League Cup with Norwich City and was rewarded with the club's player of the year accolade by the Carrow Road faithful, he suffered the heartache of relegation for the first time in his career, when Norwich went down, ironically with fellow League Cup finalists Sunderland. In the 1985-86 season on their way back to promotion to the top flight of English football Steve Bruce played in every game for the club, as the Canaries finished a massive seven points ahead of second place Charlton Athletic. The following season, in which the club finished 5th, its highest ever League position, Bruce was rewarded for his services, by being handed the skipper's armband, after club captain, Dave Watson joined Merseysiders, Everton. Later that season Steve Bruce was chosen to captain Engalnd B against Malta, but quite amazingly it was the last time, he would be seen in an England shirt. More recently and even during his playing career, Bruce has been described by many commentators, to be the best player never to have played for the full England team. By the time 1987 was preparing to say goodbye, Bruce was begenning to attract the attention of larger clubs, with Chelsea, Manchester United and Scottish giants, Glasgow Rangers leading the way to sign him. Nevertheless, as the days passed by Manchester United became firm favourites to 'get their man', after agreeing a deal of £800,000 with Norwich City. But after The Canaries, upped the price to £900,000, the deal seemed to be dead in the water. Luckily for Manchester United, Bruce had other ideas, and refused to play for the club on the grounds that they were jeopardising, his move of a life-time. After this stubborn stance Norwich backtracked and reached an agreement with United, who eventually paid £825,000 for Steve Bruce's services.
Although Steve Bruce inspired his new Manchester United team mates into a second place League finish, behind bitter rivals Liverpool, the club's highest League finish in some eight years, the following season The Reds didn't fair as well and finished in a poor 11th. This poor showing forced manager Alex Ferguson to spalsh the cash and bring in a number of new players, including Neil Webb, and Gary Pallister from Middlesborough for British transfer record (between two British clubs) of £2.3m. This signing proved particularly inspirational by the United boss, as Bruce and Pallister built up a formidable partnership at the heart of the defence, which would prove to be the cornerstone of Manchester United's huge sucess over the next decade. Despite Manchester United hammering Arsenal 4-1 on the opening day of the 1989-90 League season, and then finishing in a lowly 13th, the campaign was indeed considered a huge success as, Steve Bruce and co went on to lift the F.A. Cup, after The Reds defeated second division Crystal Palace in the final 1-0 after a replay. After Manchester United's successful cup winning run in the previous campaign, along with the lifting of the European ban imposed on English clubs by UEFA following the Heysal Stadium disaster; The Reds were eligible to play in Europe, for the first time in six seasons, as England's sole representitives in the now defunct UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (since been merged with UEFA Cup, then UEFA Europa League), a trophy United went on to lift. This period in the history of Manchester United was pretty much the time that Steve Bruce began to sow the seeds, that would see him blossom in to one of the club's all time great players. During The Reds run to the final at Rotterdam's Van Der Kaip Stadium, Bruce played a pivitol role in the club's success by appearing in almost every game and scoring three importnat goals. And it was Bruce's goalbound header in the final, bundled in by Mark Hughes that gave United a 1-0 lead in the Netherlands, with the Red Devils eventually running out 2-1 victors over Catalan giants, Barcelona, thanks to a second goal by Hughes. The 1990-91 season was particularly great for Steve Bruce, as he managed to net an incredible 13 League goals for United and 19 in all competitions. However, despite the rugged defender's and The Reds' great season they did lose out in the League Cup final to Sheffield Wednesday, courtesy of Manchester born, John Sheriden's long range strike. The 1991-92 season was pretty much a bitter sweet one for Bruce, as he missed a large chunk of the campaign with a niggling hernia injury and sufferring the heartache of the club losing the League title to fierce rivals Leeds. However, United did reach their third consecutive Wembley final when they took on Nottingham Forest in the League Cup. This time a United side captained by Bruce - due to an injury to regular skipper Bryan Robson - were not going to be denied, the club's first League Cup. The Steve Bruce inspired Reds triumphed in a 1-0 victory given to them by Brian McClair. The following season (1992-93), Steve Bruce captained Manchester United in most of the club's games, with the mercurial Robson spending most of the inaugural Premier League's campaign on the sidelines, with a catalogue of injuries. Although many commentators at the time were suggesting that the abscence of Bryan Robson's great influence on the side would have a detrimental effect on the team winning any silverware that season,Alex Ferguson - buoyed by the club's second place League finish a year or so earlier - pulled off a masterstroke that would change the history of Manchester United forever. After a chance phone call in November 1992 he some how managed to snatch enigmatic Frenchman Eric Cantona from bitter rivals Leeds United. This purchase along with Bruce's emergence as a leader of men was the catalyst for this great club's first Championship in 26 years. Not only was Bruce emerging as a great captain, he popped up with his fair share of goals too, most notebly in that very Championship winning season. In a League game on 10 April 1993 against Sheffield Wednesday, with The Reds trailing 1-0 at Old Trafford and the game heading deep into second half injury time, Bruce popped up with to superb headers, which helped United a 2-1 victory and keep the pressure on title challengers Aston Villa. More success came for Steve Bruce in the following season as United won the F.A. Cup and League double, which meant the defender had become the first English born player to capatain to do this in nearly 100 years. However the 1994-95 campaign was not so good for Bruce as The Reds were beaten to the League title by Blackburn Rovers on the final day of the season and six days later beaten in the F.A. Cup final against Merseysiders, Everton. During various parts of the 1995-96 season a few clubs had inquired about Steve Bruce becoming their manager, but on each occassion Alex Ferguson reubuffed those approaches, as he felt that Bruce still had a major role at the club. Although the defender didn't make as many appearances as he had done in previous campaigns, he did manage to clock up 39 matches, in helping United in becoming the first English club to win the double, double (two doubles consiting of the F.A. Cup and League title). However, Bruce knew his Manchester United career was over, when he was left out of the F.A. Cup final squad by ,Alex Ferguson because of a niggling, but managable injury. Eric Cantona was made captain in his abscence; scored the winning goal, against Liverpool and the rest they say is history. Steve Bruce left Old Trafford at the end of that season to join Birmingham City. Steve Bruce left Manchester United with a fantastic record of 424 appearances with 51 goals, which averaged out as roughly a goal every eight games, a superb record for a center back. As well as Birmingham City, Bruce went on to play for Sheffield United, before hanging up his boots in 1999. Steve Bruce Honours Norwich City Manchester United Personal Honours From Steve Bruce, to Manchester United football legends Manchester United Fans Site home |
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