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Leslie Mark Hughes (born November 1, 1963 in
Ruabon, Wrexham, Wales), nicknamed Sparky, is a
Welsh Football (soccer)|football player and
manager. As a Wales national football team|Welsh
international footballer, he made 72 appearances
and scored 16 goals.  He was a hugely talented
forward who was without peer at holding up the
ball for himself and fellow strikers to profit.

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 the 1983-84 season. He quickly established
himself as a regular first team player and was a
key player in their run to the 1985 FA Cup final
which resulted in a 1-0 win over Everton. The
following summer, Hughes was surprisingly sold to
FC Barcelona|Barcelona for £2million as 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. Like 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 F.A
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. 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. But United still managed to achieve
more success even without Hughes.

Meanwhile, Hughes was a key player in Chelsea's
resurgence as a top club. He helped them win the
F.A Cup and Cup Winners' Cup before he was
transferred to Southampton F.C.|Southampton in
July 1998 and then later on to 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.

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 F.A Cup semi
final appearance for the first time in over 40
years.

start box
succession box|title=PFA Players' Player of the
Year|before=John Barnes (footballer)|John Barnes
|after=David Platt|years=1989
succession box|title=PFA Players' Player of the
Year|before=David Platt |after=Gary
Pallister|years=1991
succession box|title=PFA Young Player of the
Year|before=Paul Walsh |after=Tony
Cottee|years=1985
succession box|
 before=Graeme Souness|
 title=Blackburn Rovers F.C. Manager|
 years=2004-present|
 after=N/A

end box