Former Manchester United defender and Newcastle manager Steve Bruce has spoken about receiving death threats online while managing his beloved Magpies.
Steve Bruce faced online threats during his final months at Newcastle (Image: Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Steve Bruce has opened up about the sickening death threats he received towards the end of his time at Newcastle, and revealed he had to be protected by police and conscripted.
Bruce, 65, has spent more than two years as manager of his boyhood club after being chosen to replace Rafa Benitez in the summer of 2019. He will leave his role by mutual consent in October 2021, less than two weeks after the Magpies were acquired in a deal backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Despite his background as a Newcastle supporter, Bruce was not always popular with the fanbase and revealed in February 2021 that he had received “vile” death threats online.
And Bruce, whose most recent managerial role was at Blackpool, spoke about how the incident led to precautions being taken at home.
read more: Arsenal could play Man City five times in a month due to an unusual quirk in the gameread more: VAR decision called for changes after Man City vs. Liverpool farce
In an interview with SACKED!, Bruce said, “It got a little bit toxic towards the end. By the way, when you’re threatened and you have to involve the police, this is just the minority. And we had to do it. We had to do it in the end, knowing this was going to be ridiculous.”
“I’m one of them. I’m a Newcastle fan and I could understand the frustration. They didn’t want to be a team whose goal was to stay in the Premier League and that was my job. That was my mission. I’m not going to change that. I’ve been managing Newcastle, my hometown club, and I thought we were OK in this situation.”
“But it was definitely difficult. But so was Villa, so was Sunderland, so were they.”
Bruce went on to explain the extent of the abuse and its consequences. He added that his wife would later return to Cheshire when the coronavirus pandemic took hold.
Bruce talks about the ordeal of being fired! Podcast (Image: YouTube: Sacked!TheShow)
“We needed a bit of protection at home and I don’t really judge it to be in the Newcastle support. Newcastle supporters are great people. We’re seeing it now and we’ve seen it for years. I think it’s all the hate that’s come from social media and you’ve had to call the police. If they’re threatening to kill you and the rest of them, it’s ridiculous and at times verged on ridiculous.”
“I also survived Covid so in the end my wife went back to Cheshire and we were able to breathe a little bit. Football continued during Covid so it was pretty normal for everyone so we coped that way but it was never easy for anyone in the family. Thankfully my mum and dad weren’t alive to see it but it was certainly a difficult and difficult time.”
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive Mirror Football content every day. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
Sky Sports Premier League and EFL package discounts
£49
£35
sky
Get the deal here
Sky has reduced the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 on their bill and offering more than 1,400 live matches from Premier League, EFL and more.
Sky will broadcast at least 215 live Premier League matches next season, with an increase of up to 100 more.
