Football manager Steve Bruce delays new job at Sheffield Wednesday to watch England in the Caribbean

Bruce's return to football as new manager of Sheffield Wednesday was formerly confirmed this week but he will not take charge until February 1 just a week after the first Test between West Indies and England in Barbados has started.

Steve Bruce appears to have delayed his return to football management in order to fulfil a lifetime ambition of watching England play cricket in the West Indies.

The former Manchester United defender is an avid fan of cricket and has regularly picked the Caribbean as a holiday destination.

His return to football as new manager of Sheffield Wednesday was formerly confirmed this week but he will not take charge until February 1 just a week after the first Test between West Indies and England in Barbados has started.

Bruce lost both parents in 2018 and is keen to ensure he reflects on all other aspects of life rather than just football.

^{Steve Bruce is the new manager of Sheffield Wednesday}

“He's obviously had a difficult year with both his parents passing away and he might need some time for reflection,” Kevin MacDonald, who was Aston Villa’s caretaker manager following Bruce’s departure, said in October.

“He told me he might go and watch some cricket in the Caribbean over the winter - he can afford it!”

Bruce could well be with the Barmy Army again after also spending time watching England play Pakistan in Dubai in 2012 following his sacking by Sunderland.

“I wanted to travel, watch some cricket and be normal, because this job is not normal,” he said at the time. “It invades everything you do.”

Bruce would not be the only former manager to take comfort in watching bat and ball abroad, Nigel Pearson watched the Centurion Test during England’s 2015-16 tour of South Africa six months after his departure from Leicester City.