Mark Hughes was born 1 November 1963 in Ruabon, Wrexham, Wales. He joined Manchester United at the age of 14 and made his debut for the Old Trafford club as a substitute in a 2-0 home win against Port Vale in October 1983. In 1985, he finished as top scorer with 25 goals in 55 appearances as well as helping United to win the FA Cup with a narrow 1-0 win over Everton.

After spending six years with Manchester United, Mark Hughes decided to move on to the continent signing for Catalan club Barcelona for £2 million. However, he was a disappointment in his only season at Barcelona and was subsequently loaned out to Bayern Munich for the 1987-88 season. In May 1988, the Wales international returned to Man Utd for a fee of £1.8 million and once again he proved to be a reliable marksman. He found the back of the net on two occasions as the Reds drew 3-3 with Crystal Palace in the 1990 FA Cup final, before a brilliant goal from Lee Martin in the replay gave Alex Ferguson his first major trophy since he was appointed manager at Manchester United in 1986.

The following season Mark Hughes got his own back as he scored both goals against former club Barcelona when United won the 1991 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. Having netted 119 times in 345 appearances for United, Hughes eventually joined Chelsea in a £1.5 million deal in 1995. He also starred for Southampton, Everton and Blackburn Rovers before he finally announced his retirement in 2002. A natural entertainer, he made 72 appearances and scored 16 goals for his native country. While remaining a full time player, Mark Hughes was appointed as Wales manager in 1999 and carried out his duties until 2004 when he took charge of Blackburn Rovers.

«It can be difficult to pinpoint who would make it as a manager. For instance, nobody here thought Mark Hughes would become a manager, never in a million years, and we all thought Bryan Robson was a certainty to be a top manager.»

Manchester United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson