He managed Birmingham City and Aston Villa, but his crime-writing past takes some explaining | OneFootball

Steve Bruce has had an intriguing life away from his successful playing and managerial career

Steve Bruce is one of the most well-respected figures in English football, having enjoyed an extremely successful career as both a player and manager.

The former centre-back won the Premier League and FA Cup with Manchester United under the management of the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson, before later gritting his own teeth into the managerial scene at a whole host of clubs.

Indeed, the 65-year-old began his managerial career at Sheffield United in 1998, but in recent times, has taken a lengthy hiatus from such work.

Over the past three decades, Bruce hasn't been afraid to cross several rivalry divides when specific vacancies have become available to him, with one of those being the Second City derby contested between Birmingham City and Aston Villa.

Yet whilst the Newcastle United supporter and Corbridge-born man is known for being at the front and centre of some recent iconic moments at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park and Villa Park respectively, the two sets of rival supporters may not know about this particular intriguing side-hustle of Bruce's, which he developed during his playing days.

Steve Bruce tried his hand at novel writing during successful Manchester United spell

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Bruce's lengthy playing career saw him turn out for Gillingham, Norwich City, the Red Devils and two of his managerial sides - Birmingham and Sheffield United.

The 6"0 figure, who developed a knack for scoring crucial goals at Old Trafford with 52 in 417 appearances, won the Premier League four times under Ferguson between 1992 and 1996, which coincided with the off-pitch decision of trying his hand at novel writing.

Three novels were written and then published under the titles of 'Sweeper', 'Defender' and Striker, with Bruce later quizzed on this pastime during his spell as Hull City manager, when the city was voted as the 2017 UK City of Culture.

"Just because I got a GCSE in English, I thought I was going to be the next Dick Francis. It didn't make any contribution at all to anyone's income," admitted Bruce.

"It became a laughing stock, to be honest. I think they're probably still on the shelves somewhere, and I bet you could probably pick one up for 99p."

Steve Bruce has become one of the EFL Championship's most successful managers

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Since his first managerial stint at Bramall Lane nearly 30 years ago, Bruce has become one of the most successful managers in the Championship era, even if his first promotion at St. Andrew's came three years before the division's rebrand.

After Birmingham defeated Norwich in the 2002 play-off final in Cardiff on penalties, he was able to provide a first-time promotion at St. Andrew's five years later after being relegated from the Premier League.

Six years on from those exploits, he finished second with Hull in the 2012/13 campaign after a dramatic final-day in which the Tigers were battling it out against Watford for an automatic promotion place, with his last game at the MKM Stadium also ending in promotion as they defeated Sheffield Wednesday in the 2016 play-off final at Wembley Stadium.

Indeed, since the second tier was rebranded in 2004, Bruce has won 130 of his 278 matches in charge, which also included spells at Villa, Sheffield Wednesday and West Bromwich Albion.

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Blues and Villa fans, of course, are no stranger to Bruce's management, and the experienced boss certainly experienced some dramatic moments in the grudge match between the two clubs on either side of the divide.

Indeed, his first derby is now famous for Peter Enckelman's mishap in front of the Tilton at St. Andrew's in a game in which Birmingham ran out 3-0 winners, before the reverse fixture in March 2003 is also remembered for Dion Dublin's clash with Robbie Savage.

Bruce was also in charge of Birmingham for a thrilling 2-2 draw at Villa Park in 2004 where the visitors salvaged a last-gasp draw as Stern John was in the right place at the right time.

During his stint as Villa boss, Bruce was also unbeaten in this particular fixture, with the B6 side winning both home fixtures in April 2017 and March 2018 whilst both clashes at St. Andrew's ended level.