4. Steve Bruce

Signed from: Norwich City (£825,000), December 1987
Debut: 2-1 win vs Portsmouth, December 19th 1987
League Record: 309 games, 36 goals
Sold to: Birmingham City (free transfer), summer of 1996

Signed in part, I suspect, to replace Kevin Moran as the resident mental case at the back, Steve Bruce was, like the Irishman, not scared of throwing his body on the line. Tellingly, he broke his nose on his debut for United.

One of several Geordies who managed to avoid his local club’s scouts (see also: Bryan Robson and, at first, Peter Beardsley), Bruce learned his trade at Gillingham before a move to the top flight with Norwich. A League Cup medal was swiftly followed by relegation but by 1987, he was back in Division One and it needed the best part of a million quid to bring him to United. He’d prove to be one of Fergie's best signings.

Perhaps lacking the technical qualities of the very best centre-backs, Bruce made it up with more bravery, aggression and leadership qualities than just about anyone. He was essentially the team captain for most of the first half of the 90s as injuries and age caught up with Bryan Robson.

What he also brought to the table was goals. Though Gordon McQueen was a handful and indeed scored nine goals in one season, Brucie topped that with 19 in season 1990/91: surely a record in one season for a centre-half in top flight English football. A fair few were penalties, but plenty of others were testament to his skill at timing runs from corners/free kicks, including in the final of the European Cup Winners Cup, though his glory was stolen by Mark Hughes running in to smash it over the line.

His record seen above shows an average of around one in ten, which we've not had since from any of his successors at the back, though his record slowed down when he stopped taking penalties. The last of these, I believe, was a miss in a cup tie at Sheffield United that saw the score remain 2-1 to the Blades. From then on, responsibilities were handed to some French guy.

This was seen most memorably against Sheffield Wednesday towards the end of the 1992/93 season. With the team 1-0 down and time running out, he put away two headers (the first amazing in it's range) that sent the crowd, Alex Ferguson and Brian Kidd into ecstasies. My cousin happened to be in the crowd that day - a fact of which I remain jealous.

Towards the end, yes, he looked slow and the 4-0 drubbing in Barcelona showed he was struggling to hold his own against the more tricky opponents. Left on the bench in the 1996 FA Cup final, he probably knew it was time to move on. Eventually, he set on a career in management that's so far proven only mildly successful, his failure to help Sunderland step up in class seeing him earn the old Tin Tack. Shame, as whenever we beat Sunderland we always used to go on about our "Brucie Bonus".

Brucie is often held up as “The Best Uncapped England Player”, which is fair shout, but it’s worth remembering that his peak years weren't until his late 20s/early 30s, in which period England had Terry Butcher and Tony Adams to cover the “blood and guts” type defender to play alongside the cultured Des Walker. All the same, not getting a call-up when you've put away double figures as a defender may explain why Graham Taylor was not a successful England manager.

We may see more technically accomplished defenders on this blog, but few will have the affection from the fans that Brucie had.