Steve Bruce Reveals Battle With Cancer

By Max Wise

Former Manchester United captain and current Sheffield Wednesday manager, Steve Bruce, has revealed that he battled with cancer last year, describing 2018 as the worst year of his life.

In an interview with the Telegraph, the 58-year-old made it known that he endured a very difficult year that left him with some regrets.

In addition to being diagnosed with cancer, Steve Bruce was also sacked as manager of Aston Villa last year after the club drifted towards the bottom half of the Championship table and also lost both of his parents in a short space of time.

“When I heard the word ‘cancer’, I was in bits. I panicked, I think everyone does, it was very scary, horrible,” Bruce told the Telegraph.

“Thankfully, the melanoma does not appear to have spread. They’ll continue to monitor me, I’ve got scars on my face, on my back. Good thing I was never worried about my good looks.”

The former Sunderland and Wigan Athletic manager expressed his regrets for not spending more time with his parents when they were alive after allowing his job to take most of his time.

“Every time I took another job, my dad would ask, ‘Why are you putting yourself through it again, haven’t you got enough money?’

“I wish I’d spent more time with them, I think anyone who loses their parents will understand that, but I also know what he would have said. ‘You crack on Steve, get on with it, son’."

Bruce joined Sheffield Wednesday in January 2019 following his Aston Villa exit and he’s looking to guide the Owls into the Premier League for the first time in 19 years with the club 14th on the Championship table, seven points adrift of the play-off places.

“I want to get Wednesday back into the Premier League. I’ve taken this job because I believe I can get them back there. It excites me. I like the owner. It felt right and I know exactly what my dad would have said if I told him that.”