Bruce was transferred to [[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich City]] in [[1984]]. He suffered the misfortune of scoring an own goal on his debut, but soon settled in to become a rock in the Canaries' defence. In 1985 Norwich were relegated from the top flight just weeks after a win over [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]] in the [[League Cup]] final. Bruce was voted [[Norwich City player of the year]] at the end of his first season with the club. Norwich won promotion at the first time of asking but Bruce was transferred to [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] for £825,000 in December 1987, just before his 27th birthday.
Steve Bruce made his Manchester United debut in a game against [[Portsmouth F.C.|Portsmouth]] on [[19th December]] [[1987]] and went on to score 51 goals in more than 300 appearances for the club in eight and a half years, including a memorable double against Sheffield Wednesday in 1993 which has prompted the term "BRUUUUCE!!!", as commentated by Barry Davies, to become an internationally used catchphrase for when something goes in one's favour. HeBruce helped themUnited win three [[FA Premier League|Premiership]] titles ([[1993]], [[1994]] and [[1996]]), two [[FA Cup]]s ([[1990]] and [[1994]]), one League Cup and one [[Cup Winners' Cup]] ([[1991]]). He took over from [[Bryan Robson]] as club captain in 1991 and got the position full time when Robson left three years later. As captain he helped United to the league title in [[1993]] - scoring two late goals against [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|Sheffield Wednesday]] at [[Old Trafford (football)|Old Trafford]] - and again in [[1994]], forming a formidable partnership with [[Gary Pallister]] at the heart of a defence that lost only four league matches all season. That same year he led United to [[FA Cup]] glory against [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]] and to the [[League Cup]] final against [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]]. The following season he was once again ever present at the heart of the United back line, but was unable to add any medals to his collection as United were pipped to the [[FA Premier League|Premiership]] title by [[Blackburn Rovers F.C.|Blackburn Rovers]] and defeated in the FA Cup final by [[Everton F.C.|Everton]]. The following season, which was to be his last at Old Trafford, more than compensated for a barren previous campaign. Bruce once again was a lynch-pin at the heart of a United defence that managed to overhaul a 12 point deficit to Newcastle United at Christmas to lift the Premiership trophy on the last day of the season. However, a week later Bruce was left out of Manchester United's squad for the 1996 FA Cup final against Liverpool. Despite the fact that Bruce was club captain, he insisted that match winner Eric Cantona lifted the trophy at Wembley in an almost unprecedented show of professionalism. Within two weeks however he had joined Birmingham City on a free transfer.
In two seasons at Birmingham, Bruce was a regular first team player and continued to perform excellently but was unable to get them promoted to the Premiership.
