Mark Hudson

Mark Alexander Hudson (born 30 March 1982) is an English football manager and former professional footballer who was most recently manager at Cardiff City.

A centre-back, he began his professional career with Fulham after progressing through the club's youth academy.

He made his senior debut in a League Cup match in 2000 but made just two further first team appearances for Fulham.

After progressing through the ranks at the Fulham Academy, Hudson was involved in the Fulham first team and made his senior debut, being named in the starting line-up for a 1–0 defeat against Chesterfield in the first leg of a League Cup tie on 19 September 2000.

Hudson also made another League Cup appearance for Fulham in the return leg on 27 September 2000, in a 4–0 win.

In December 2001, Hudson spent two days on trial with Grimsby Town in preparation for a possible loan move, however, the transfer was not completed.

At the end of the 2001–02 season, Hudson signed a one-year contract with Fulham.

He did not make another senior appearance for the side until 6 November 2002, when he played in a 3–1 win over Bury in the League Cup.

In total, Hudson made three appearances for Fulham, all in the League Cup.

He spent two spells on loan with Oldham Athletic in 2003 before joining Crystal Palace on loan after Oldham manager Iain Dowie moved between the two clubs.

He joined Palace on a permanent basis soon after as they spent one season in the Premier League before establishing himself in the first team following their return to the Championship.

Ahead of the 2003–04 season, Hudson was promoted to the first team by manager Chris Coleman, but was later loaned out to Second Division side Oldham Athletic in August 2003 on an initial one-month loan deal.

He made his debut for Oldham in a 2–1 loss against Brentford on 25 August 2003.

His loan spell with Oldham was later extended for another month.

After his initial loan spell ended in late–October, Hudson re–joined them on loan the following month.

He went on to make four more appearances for the side before returning to his parent club in December.

In January 2004, Hudson was loaned out again, joining Crystal Palace on a three-month loan deal where he was reunited with former Oldham manager Iain Dowie, who had moved to Selhurst Park one month before.

He was signed by the club as a replacement for the injured Curtis Fleming who had suffered a broken bone in his leg.

He made his debut for Palace in a 5–1 win over Watford on 17 January 2004.

He quickly established himself in the first team and impressed manager Dowie once again.

As a result, his loan spell with the club was extended for a further two months.

Hudson started in six consecutive matches following his debut until he was sent–off in a 1–0 win over Gillingham for committing a professional foul in the penalty area, although Nicky Southall was unable to convert the resulting penalty.

After serving a one match suspension, he returned to his parent club following his last appearance in a 1–1 draw against Wigan Athletic on 17 April 2004.

He made 14 appearances for the side during his loan spell as Palace went on to defeat West Ham United in the play-off final to win promotion to the Premiership.

After his loan spell at Palace came to an end, local newspaper News Shopper compared Hudson to former loan signing Ashley Cole, writing that, like Cole, he would be seen "as a big star of the future who came of age at Palace."

Following their promotion, Dowie returned to sign Hudson on a permanent basis for the start of the 2004–05 season.

His first game after his signing came in the opening game of the season, a 1–1 draw against Norwich City.

In their following match, a 3–1 loss against Everton, Hudson scored his first goal for the club when he converted a Wayne Routledge cross in the opening ten minutes of the match.

However, he suffered ankle injury soon after and, after featuring for the reserve side, he was further sidelined by a hernia problem.

His next appearance came seven months later on 2 April 2005 in a 1–0 loss against Middlesbrough.

In 2008, he joined Charlton Athletic following the expiration of his contract where he was later appointed captain of the side but suffered relegation to League One during his only season at the club.

He instead joined Cardiff City and was appointed captain on his arrival.

He helped the side reach the play-offs in his first three seasons, suffering defeat each time, before they won promotion to the Premier League by winning the Championship in 2013.

However, Hudson was dropped following promotion in favour of new signings and made only nine further appearances in over a year before departing for Huddersfield Town.

He again took over the captaincy soon after his arrival and made over 100 appearances for the club during a three-year spell, helping them win promotion to the Premier League in his final season.

He announced his retirement from playing at the end of the 2016–17 season and was appointed manager of the club's under-23 squad before becoming Huddersfield's caretaker manager on two occasions, in addition to working as a first-team coach.

Hudson was most recently manager of Cardiff City in what was first permanent managerial position having been promoted from first-team coach following an impressive interim period.

Hudson joined Sheffield United on the 4th of July 2023 as defensive coach to the first team.

Born in Guildford, Hudson played for Farncombe Youth as a child.

As a teenager, he briefly played for Swindon Town before joining Fulham when he was 14, which he later reflected on, stating, "I was at Swindon when I was about 13; I played a game against Fulham and they asked me to come down for some training. I came to the club at about 14 but took a year out because I wasn't really enjoying it. When I came back I wasn't offered a YTS because I didn't progress quick enough. I took the knock-back and stayed at college because it's always useful to have an academic side to fall back on. I was then told that I was going to be given a professional contract and it's gone from there."