Former Manchester United striker Mark Hughes has been left ‘totally heartbroken’ by the sudden death of his son Alex Hughes, who worked as Player Recruitment Lead at Grimsby Town FC and has died at the age of 38

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Former Manchester United forward Mark Hughes has been left ‘totally heartbroken’ following the death of his son, Alex, at the age of 38.

A statement issued by the League Managers Association on behalf of Hughes, who has managed Blackburn, Manchester City and Stoke, reads: “Jill and I are totally heartbroken by the sudden and unexpected loss of our beloved son Alex.

“Alex was a wonderful son, brother to Curtis and Xenna, devoted husband and father to Jessica and their two beautiful children Sebastian and Leonardo.

“Alex was Player Recruitment Lead at Grimsby Town FC, and had many good friends and colleagues. He will be so deeply missed by us all. We ask for privacy during this sad time as we come to terms with our family’s loss.”

At the time of his passing, Alex Hughes had been employed within Grimsby Town’s player recruitment team, reports the Mirror.

Born in 1987 while his father Mark was playing for Barcelona, Alex had a short-lived football career in Wales before transitioning into football administration.

His career began as a match analyst at Blackburn before progressing to a scouting position at Manchester City.

Subsequently, he held positions with Fulham, 1860 Munich and Reading. Hughes later assumed the role of director of football at AFC Fylde before moving to Morecambe and Grimsby.

Meanwhile, his father has enjoyed a distinguished career in football, initially breaking through at Man United before spells with Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Southampton, Everton and Blackburn Rovers. Hughes senior subsequently transitioned into management and has held managerial positions with Wales, Blackburn, Man City, Fulham, QPR, Stoke, Southampton and Bradford.

His latest appointment was with Carlisle United, though he departed the club earlier this year after slightly more than a year in charge.

Carlisle chairman Tom Piatak said at the time: “Mark has conducted himself with real professionalism throughout his time at Carlisle United.

“We are grateful for the work he has done, the standards he brought, and the progress made during the season. Following open and respectful discussions, both parties agreed this was the right time for the club to move in a different direction.

“Mark leaves with our thanks and best wishes, and he will always be welcome at Brunton Park.”

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LONDON (AP) — Ten years ago, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in a referendum that forges political identities to this day and that shattered a half-century project to get closer to the continent.

Brexit, short for British exit, became a reality on June 23, 2016, when 52% — or more than 17 million people — voted to leave the EU. Though the margin was narrow, the vote led to the most dramatic shake-up of the U.K. economy and society since World War II.

But like any divorce, the paperwork and process of completing the breakup was not swift: It took nearly five years.

Brexit was born out of a growing sense of frustration not only with the EU but over the global financial crisis of 2008. Supporters were able to tap into that frustration, and argued that the U.K. on its own, would be revitalized and able to focus just on domestic priorities.

Opponents warned that Brexit would lead to an economic disruption and that it risked the country’s standing in the world.

A decade on, here is where Brexit stands.

Brexit ushered in a harsh economic reality

Backers of Brexit — commonly known as Brexiters — held out a vision that the British economy could thrive outside the EU by harnessing the buccaneering spirit that had once made it the world’s biggest.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic and the wars in Ukraine and more recently, the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran have not helped, it’s clear that the British economy has not been revitalized.

Merchants have complained about the hurdles that they now have to clear when trading with their European neighbors — the 27-nation EU remains by far the U.K.’s biggest trading partner.

And though there are no tariffs imposed on British goods entering the EU, there is a raft of non-tariff barriers, such as cumbersome customs paperwork, border certifications, and visa restrictions. Many of the trade deals that the Brexiters touted, most notably one with the United States, have not materialized.

Experts say the British economy is between 4% and 8% smaller than it would have been had the country voted to remain in the EU. That would translate to much higher living standards and billions more pumped into public services, including the cherished National Health Service, which was promised an extra 350 million pounds ($468 million) a week by Brexit campaigners. That pledge was emblazoned on their big red campaigning bus.

The uproar over the number of small boat crossings, which peaked at 46,000 in 2022 and reached 41,000 last year, has become one of the main top political issues despite being a fraction of overall migration. Anger has focused on asylum seekers, often housed at public cost. Unruly mobs have protested outside and even tried to set fire to some hotels housing asylum seekers.

Voters have expressed remorse

In the years since Brexit, Britain’s political landscape has fractured, with declining support for the two long-dominant parties, Conservatives and Labour. The Conservatives were ejected in 2024 after 14 years in power, much of it dominated by wrangling over U.K.-European relations.

The Labour government hasn’t impressed either and Prime Minister Keir Starmer looks like he will be announcing his resignation very soon.

Millions of voters are being tempted by Reform U.K., led by Nigel Farage, who perhaps more than any other politician campaigned for Brexit. His party has led in almost every opinion poll for more than a year.

At the same, there’s a growing feeling in the country that Brexit has failed.

According to two polls from Ipsos, 52% of people in the U.K. would like to rejoin the EU while 33% are against it. The pollster also found that 48% think Brexit is going worse than expected against just 9% who think it’s going better. Also, Ipsos found that 48% would back another referendum today on the U.K.’s membership of the EU against 27% who oppose one.

A reset would be complicated

Against this backdrop, the Labour Party has walked a tightrope since being elected in 2024. Having explicitly ruled out reversing Brexit — or even rejoining the EU’s frictionless single market — it hasn’t got a huge amount of political space to maneouver.

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Starmer has sought a “reset” of ties following the distrust built over the years of the Brexit negotiations, largely centered around making trading easier. He is hoping to announce further measures at a summit with the EU next month — provided he’s still the prime minister.

His most likely successor, Andy Burnham, tempered his language on the U.K. rejoining the EU while out on the campaign trail over the past month, ahead of his victory in a special election on Thursday that saw him beat back a challenge from Reform in a seat that overwhelmingly backed Brexit.

“I am not proposing that the U.K. considers rejoining the EU,” Burnham said. “I respect the decision that was made at the referendum and it is going to undermine everything I have said about strengthening democracy if we don’t respect that vote.”

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Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this story

Keely Hodgkinson pulled out of the 400m final at the UK Athletics Championships moments before Sunday’s race after feeling “a little twinge”.

The Olympic 800m champion has been competing over the shorter distance in a bid to improve her first-lap speed and challenge for the 800m world record this summer.

After qualifying from Saturday’s heats, she warmed up for the final in Birmingham but stepped off the track right before the finalists were put under starters’ orders.

Hodgkinson looked emotional as she stood at the side of the track before making her way back inside the Alexander Stadium.

BBC’s commentary team later received a message from Hodgkinson’s coach Jenny Meadows, saying she withdrew as she “felt a little twinge in her last strides before the race” and that she “wanted to play it safe”.

The 24-year-old endured an injury-disrupted 2025 and her withdrawal on Sunday comes four weeks before the London Diamond League meeting, which she has earmarked for a tilt at the 800m world record.

Amber Anning earned a reprieve after a false start in the 400m but the world indoor champion regrouped to retain her title, winning in a time of 50.16 seconds.

Minutes before Hodgkinson’s withdrawal, her friend and rival Georgia Hunter Bell retained her 800m title, leading throughout to win by a distance in one minute 55.93 seconds, breaking a championship record set by Kelly Holmes in 1995.

More to follow.

The works will affect the Manchester Road East, Manchester Road West, Cleggs Lane, and Armitage Avenue junction until mid-October, as resurfacing work is undertaken and a new crossing is installed.

Local contractor Rosgal Ltd will be the company to undertake the works, on behalf of the commissioner, Salford Council.

(Image: Dan Dougherty)

The works will take place in four phases in an attempt to ‘minimise disruption,’ according to Salford Council.

Working hours will be between 9.30am and 3.30pm, with temporary traffic light signals and road closures in place.

The ‘North East’ quadrant – Cleggs Lane – will take place between June 22 and July 10.

The ‘South East quadrant – Manchester Road East – will take place between July 13 and 31 July.

The ‘South West’ quadrant – Armitage Avenue – will take place between August 3 and August 21.

The ‘North West’ quadrant – Manchester Road West – will take place between August 24 and September 14.

(Image: Dan Dougherty)

Several buses pass through this junction as they travel between Bolton, Little Hulton, Walkden, and Manchester, including the 36, 38, and 20.

If the works are completed on schedule, they should be finished by October 12.

Lewis Croden, City Councillor for Little Hulton Said:” While we appreciate these works will cause temporary disruption, they are essential to create a safer, better-functioning junction for pedestrians and all road users.

“We’ve phased the project to keep impacts to a minimum over the 17-week period.”

I came, I saw, I enjoyed, I didn’t want to go home – ever

Travelling around Wales there are so many towns and villages that can boast a unique collection of historic and stunning period properties, eye-catching contemporary constructions, and cute cottages that are either private dwellings or holiday lets.

But with a substantial choice of places to stay it can feel overwhelming to decide on a property that can wrap you up in the most wonderful of settings as the backdrop to creating lasting and life-enhancing memories with family or friends.

Enter Great House to instantly help with the decision – a grand yet warm and welcoming Georgian house that nestles along the road into the unique township of Laugharne, once described by poet Dylan Thomas as ‘the strangest town in Wales’. Just from the impressive front façade you know this property is going to be special, but its interiors and facilities easily soared past my expectations. For more home, renovation and interiors stories sent to your inbox twice a week sign up to the property newsletter here.

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Writing about property for too many years to remember, I have seen, visited and stayed at so many houses and homes and they have all been special but staying at Great House is truly a standout experience.

Arriving at the property there is a small, dead-end road to meander down before you find an unassuming single garage door – surely this isn’t it? – it didn’t look very grand! But press the button for the automatic door and the back of the house and garden is slowly revealed as the garage opens, and it is breathtaking.

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The rear of the huge and commanding house soars up four-storeys not the three suggested from the front elevation. Enclosed within its private stone walls are a lower lawn, a terrace with heated swimming pool against a backdrop of magnolia trees, a terrace for alfresco dining with a sizeable table and enough chairs to easily host more than the ten guests this property can accommodate.

As you drive through the garage to the private drive next to the lawn that can accommodate three cars, the door closes behind you there’s a feeling of being fully cocooned within this wonderful property’s boundaries, away from the busy and stressful world outside.

Your first glimpse inside the house is via the lower ground floor where a welcoming kitchen lounge diner greets you with character supplied by the exposed stone walls. In the cosy lounge incorporated into the space is the original stone staircase that once gave access to the street at the front for receiving deliveries when this was a working manor house.

The property is Grade II* listed, a higher level of award given by Cadw to only around 7% of listed buildings in Wales, so there’s no argument to be had about how important The Great House is to Welsh heritage.

The lower floor is a very social space, with a well-equipped kitchen that includes two tower fridge freezers, a dishwasher and double oven with six electric hobs above it, encased within a huge island unit.

My star turn in the kitchen is beans on toast with a slice of cheese under the beans with a sprinkling of soy sauce – try it – so I happily left the first night’s meal to my sister who is a culinary goddess, somehow managing to create delicious meals from scratch with memorable flavour combinations that everyone loves. She’s cooked in many kitchens and her feedback for Great House was glowing.

But arguably it’s upstairs on the ground floor, and then ascending the sweeping staircase to the two upper floors, where the house really impresses, with enough Instagram-worthy rooms, features and items to keep even the keenest influencers busy.

The ground floor has a drawing room and a library at the front of the house accessed from the typically symmetrical Georgian design of a central and wide hallway. Plasterwork, panelling, fireplaces, windows with shutters and seats all demand attention in these quiet and atmospheric spaces.

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At the back of the house is the banqueting hall with an inglenook fireplace so large the whole group could stand up in it. The full size of the fireplace was only discovered and set free from the bricks that had blocked it up for decades when the current owner was restoring and renovating the house.

Bought in 1997 after it had been on the market for over 15 years according to the owner, he set about slowly and carefully bringing back its Georgian grandness back but with an emphasis on creating inviting and comfortable spaces – it took him over ten years.

We used the banqueting hall on the first night to enjoy a family meal together – not my beans on toast – and with the soft lighting, being enveloped in a dark colours, and sitting next to the largest china dresser I’ve ever seen, I felt shrouded in the historic atmosphere and knew we were joining the surely hundreds of people who would have enjoyed dining in this intimate space over the centuries.

The final room on this floor was the bedroom that made us gasp because the four-poster bed was a stunner, with plush, rich pink fabric ruched under the canopy for extra impact.

This bedroom had the best shower I’ve ever used – a rainforest head that was huge plus a hand held bonus shower head and I could use them both at the same time. Surely the boiler at the house must be a beast because at one point every one of the four bathrooms was being used, a combination of showers and baths, and the pressure and heat remained unaffected – impressive.

Then to the grand staircase that rewards your visit with the most incredible half-landing window that demands you linger and look out over the garden and pool. Then climb again to discover two ensuite bedrooms, both with statement beds and huge ensuites with a traditional roll-top bath placed in the middle of each – one pink, one blue.

Also with a shower and the biggest basins we’d all ever seen, these ensuites were popular with the younger generation in our group, with comments including ‘the grandest bathroom I’ve ever been in!’.

During the first afternoon lunch at the huge alfresco dining table and then swimming and playing in the pool, joined by some jugs of Pimms, were on the ‘to do’ list.

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Some people might say we were unlucky with the weather, we had occasional showers and a moderate breeze as the unwanted filling between the two summer heatwave, but the first day was dry and we enjoyed spending time together in the pool and lounging next to it when the sun did grace us with its presence intermittently between the clouds that rushed across the sky.

The first evening we spent time together on the bonus top floor, the converted loft level with the most intoxicating exposed roof structure that has us all regularly looking up and admiring in wonder. We watched football on the large smart television (plus there was ample Wi-Fi for everyone, boosted throughout the house) as well as played pool until the early hours.

The next day, after a slow start because the beds were all so comfortable, the house had so much to do – books, games, DVDs – and spaces to share and enjoy we almost didn’t make it out of the front door at all!

But eventually Laugharne was calling and we indulged in the tourist list – castle, boat house, walk along the estuary as well as wandered up to Milk Wood House on the fabulous Dylan Coastal Resort but didn’t have time for a spa visit or treatment – next time maybe.

The house is well placed as a base for exploring the coastline across Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, including Pendine Sands, Pembrey, Tenby and Saundersfoot, as well as castles, houses and estates and nature reserves and country parks to explore as well as children focused sites such as Folly Farm Adventure Park and Zoo.

That evening we ate at Ty Glo, a fabulous pizza and burger restaurant inside a property tucked away along a cobbled lane that one local resident once told me was the maintenance building for the local coach which her family owned, find out more about that here.

Alternatives include Dexters at Browns, one of poet and author Dylan Thomas’ favourite hang-outs, Poons Street Food, The Globe Bar and Restaurant, Milk Wood Bar & Kitchen at Dylan Coastal Resort, The Owl and the Pussycat, The Carpenters Arms, Castle View Fish & Chips, The Cross House Inn and just outside the township, Stone Range Café.

Maybe one of these establishments will be on the agenda next time, and there will be a next time and it will be at The Great House because it is the most welcoming and character-packed properties I have ever had the privilege to visit, let alone be fortunate to stay for a while and soak up its special and relaxing ambience.

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Of course some of the floors are wonky and some of the walls aren’t straight, giving the house its authentic historic charm, and, yes, the house chats to you during your visit – creaking floorboards here and there and the odd squeaky door latch – and I would like to chat back to this remarkable property and say thank you so much for hosting such a special time with my family.

Bookings for The Great House, Laugharne, can be made via Great Welsh Escapes, with prices starting from £295 per night depending on the time of year and length of stay. Visit the website here or call 01994 220629. For more property, renovation, and interior design stories join our Amazing Welsh Homes Facebook group here.