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Mark Hughes

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:''For other people with the same name, see Mark Hughes (disambiguation).'' '''Leslie Mark Hughes''' (born November 1, 1963 in Ruabon, Wrexham, Wales), nicknamed ''Sparky'', is a legendary former Wales Welsh Football (soccer) football player and currently a manager. As a Wales national football team Welsh international footballer, he made 72 appearances and scored 16 goals. He was a talented forward, who was without peer at holding up the ball for himself and fellow strikers to profit.

Career
*Manchester United F.C. Manchester United 1980-1986 *FC Barcelona Barcelona 1986-1988 *Bayern Munich (1987-1988, loan) *Manchester United F.C. Manchester United 1988-1995 *Chelsea F.C. Chelsea 1995-1998 *Southampton F.C. Southampton 1998-1999 *Everton F.C. Everton 1999-2000 *Blackburn Rovers F.C. Blackburn Rovers 2000-2002

Playing career
Hughes joined Manchester United F.C. Manchester United on leaving school in the summer of 1980 but did not make his first team debut for three years - in a 1-1 draw away to Oxford United F.C. Oxford United in the FA Cup, in the 1983-84 season. Like many other United legends, Sparky quickly became a favourite by scoring on his debut and he quickly established himself as a regular first team player. He was a key player in their run to the 1985 FA Cup final which resulted in a 1-0 win over Everton buy the following summer, Hughes was surprisingly sold to FC Barcelona Barcelona for £2million. Manager Terry Venables was hoping for him to be a successful striker partner for Gary Lineker but Hughes was a disappointment in his only season at Barcelona and was subsequently loaned out to Bayern Munich of West Germany for the 1987-88 season where he regained his form. In May 1988, Hughes returned to Manchester United, now managed by Alex Ferguson, for a then club record of £1.8million. As he had done in his first spell at Old Trafford, Hughes proved to be a dynamic goalscorer and was a key player for the club in winning two League championships, two FA Cups, one League Cup and one Cup Winners' Cup. He left Old Trafford (football) Old Trafford for the second and final time in June 1995 when he was controversially sold to Chelsea F.C. Chelsea for £1.5million, in a summer that also saw the departures of players such as Paul Ince (to Inter Milan) and Andrei Kanchelskis (to Everton F.C. Everton). Many United supporters were upset at the sale of Hughes because they felt he had at least a couple of years left at the highest level and that Andy Cole would not be suitable as his replacement. Hpwever, United still managed to achieve more success without Hughes, with the team winning the double for the second time in the subsequent season. Meanwhile, Hughes was a key player in Chelsea's resurgence as a top club helping them win the FA Cup and Cup Winners' Cup before being transferred to Southampton F.C. Southampton in July 1998 and then later on to Everton F.C. Everton. By now, Hughes was winding down his career as a player and in August 1999 was appointed national coach of the Welsh football team, although he moved outside of the top division for the first time in his playing career in 2000-01 to play a key role in getting Blackburn Rovers F.C. Blackburn Rovers promoted from Division One. He also lifted the League Cup with Blackburn in February 2002 before finally hanging up his boots a few months short of his 39th birthday.

Managerial career
When Mark Hughes was appointed national coach, Wales were one of the weaker national sides in the world. But in the five years with Hughes in charge, Wales came close to qualifying for {{Ec2|2004}} and in their qualifying group beat Italy national football team Italy - they were only denied a place in the competition after losing to Russia national football team Russia in the playoffs. Hughes quit the Welsh national side in September 2004 to take charge of Blackburn Rovers, the last club he had ever played for. His key aim was to keep Blackburn clear of relegation and he succeeded, also taking the club to an FA Cup semi final appearance for the first time in over 40 years. In his second season Hughes really made a big impact. After just missing out on the League Cup final, he produced wins against opposition such as Manchester United twice, Arsenal and Newcastle. Hughes established Rovers in the top half with a European place on the horizon. {{start box}} {{succession box|title=PFA Young Player of the Year.html">Paul Walsh after=Tony Cottee|years=1985}} {{succession box|title=PFA Players' Player of the Year.html">John Barnes (footballer) John Barnes |after=David Platt|years=1989}} {{succession box|title=PFA Players' Player of the Year.html">David Platt after=Gary Pallister|years=1991}} {{succession box| before=Graeme Souness| title=Blackburn Rovers F.C. Manager| years=2004-present| after=N/A }} {{end box}} Category:1963 births Hughes, Mark Category:Living people Hughes, Mark Category:Bayern Munich players Hughes, Mark Category:Blackburn Rovers F.C. managers Hughes, Mark Category:Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Hughes, Mark Category:Chelsea F.C. players Hughes, Mark Category:English Premiership players Hughes, Mark Category:Everton F.C. players Hughes, Mark Category:Manchester United F.C. players Hughes, Mark Category:Southampton F.C. players Hughes, Mark Category:Welsh football managers Hughes, Mark Category:Welsh footballers Hughes, Mark Category:Welsh national football team managers cy:Mark Hughes de:Mark Hughes (Fußballspieler) fr:Mark Hughes no:Mark Hughes fi:Mark Hughes (jalkapalloilija)

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