Mark Hughes carried his son’s coffin into church yesterday. He was joined by other family members including Alex’s brother Curtis and his father-in-law David Pollock, who delivered an emotional eulogy. The funeral at St Peter’s Church in Prestbury drew a crowd of football figures who came to support the Hughes family after a devastating loss.
Alex Hughes died suddenly and unexpectedly on June 19th at age 38. He was working as player recruitment lead for Grimsby Town at the time. Before that, he played for Stockport County and Wrexham before moving into analysis and recruitment roles at Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City and Fulham. Most recently he ran a private academy in Portugal.
His father released a statement through the League Managers’ Association after the death. Mark Hughes called Alex “a wonderful son, brother to Curtis and Xenna, devoted husband and father to Jessica and their two beautiful children Sebastian and Leonardo.”
Sir Alex Ferguson made the trip to attend. So did Mike Phelan, Martin Edwards, Bryan Robson and Ryan Giggs. The Manchester Evening News reported that Grimsby Town boss David Artell led a delegation from the club as well. Martin Keown and Jon Walters were also there.
Mark Hughes is one of Manchester United’s all-time great strikers. He had two spells at Old Trafford, first from 1983 to 1986 before moving to Barcelona and Bayern Munich. He returned in 1988 and spent seven more seasons with the club, scoring 116 goals. Later he played for Chelsea, Southampton and Blackburn Rovers before going into management.
The funeral drew a mix of people from different eras of the club. Ferguson and Hughes go back decades, from the manager’s early years at United through Hughes’ playing career and later management gigs. Robson was a teammate. Giggs played alongside Hughes too. These are connections that last long after the final whistle.
Alex’s death at 38 is a reminder that the football world is small. The same people who celebrated goals together showed up to carry a coffin. That’s how it works sometimes. No neat ending here, just a family burying their son with old teammates and former bosses standing in the back of the church.
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