Darren Hughes (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Darren John Hughes[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 6 October 1965[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Prescot, England[1] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||
| Playing position | Left-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Everton | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1983–1985 | Everton | 3 | (0) |
| 1985–1986 | Shrewsbury Town | 37 | (1) |
| 1986–1987 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 26 | (2) |
| 1987–1994 | Port Vale | 184 | (4) |
| 1995 | Northampton Town | 21 | (0) |
| 1995–1997 | Exeter City | 62 | (1) |
| 1997–1998 | Morecambe | 10 | (0) |
| Total | 343 | (8) | |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Darren John Hughes (born 6 October 1965) is an English former footballer. He was a left-back noted for his pace. He played 333 games for six clubs over a fourteen-year career in the Football League.
Starting his senior career at Everton in 1983, he was unable to make the grade at the First Division champions, despite helping the youth team to lift the FA Youth Cup, and so was allowed to leave for Shrewsbury Town in June 1985. After one season with the "Shrews" he signed with Brighton & Hove Albion for a £35,000 fee in September 1986. In September 1987 he signed with Port Vale, where he spent seven years and made 184 league appearances. He helped the "Valiants" to win promotion out of the Third Division in 1989. He then spent January to November 1995 at Northampton Town, before transferring to Exeter City. After two seasons at Exeter he moved on to Morecambe.
Playing career
Hughes started his career at Everton, playing in the FA Youth Cup final defeat to Norwich City in 1983, and the victory over Stoke City in the following year's final – he scored the winning goal against Stoke from well outside the penalty box.[2] As John Bailey's understudy, he made his first team debut on 27 December 1983, in a 3–0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. He played two First Division games in the title winning 1984–85 season: a 2–1 win over Coventry City at Goodison Park and a 2–0 defeat to Luton Town at Kenilworth Road. Manager Howard Kendall allowed him to join Shrewsbury Town on a free transfer in June 1985.
He helped Chic Bates's "Shrews" to post a 17th-place finish in the Second Division in 1985–86. Hughes left Gay Meadow on a £35,000 transfer to league rivals Brighton & Hove Albion in September 1986. However he could not prevent Alan Mullery's "Seagulls" from suffering relegation in last place in the 1986–87 season.
Hughes left Goldstone Ground and joined John Rudge's Port Vale on loan in September 1987, before signing permanently for a £5,000 fee later that month.[1] He claimed a goal against former employers Brighton in a 2–0 win at Vale Park on 28 September, and went on to make 53 appearances for the "Valiants" in the 1987–88 campaign.[1] He played 56 games in the 1988–89 season, including both legs of the Third Division play-off Final victory over Bristol Rovers.[1] He then played 46 matches in the 1989–90 season, as Vale settled into the Second Division.[1] Teammate and club legend Phil Sproson named him as the club's best left-back of the 1980s.[3] However he could only play 18 games in the 1990–91 season, as he suffered a hernia injury and underwent two operations to fix it; during his absence Nigerian loanee Reuben Agboola took his place.[1] Hughes returned to fitness by April 1991.[1] He made 49 appearances in the 1991–92 relegation season, and scored past Newcastle United in a 2–2 draw at St James' Park.[1] He ruptured a thigh muscle in July 1992 and again battled through two surgical procedures to correct it during the 1992–93 season; this caused him to miss the play-off Final and League Trophy Final.[1] Still injured at the start of the 1993–94 season, he found, to his dismay, that he was released by the club in February 1994.[1] He took the club to an industrial tribunal citing unfair dismissal, the result of which was a six-week trial in August 1994 to prove his 'fitness and ability'.[1] He quit the club in November 1994 after being dissatisfied there, and moved on to Northampton Town in January 1995.[1]
He helped Ian Atkins's "Cobblers" to a 17th-place finish in the Third Division in 1994–95, before he left Sixfields to switch to Exeter City in November 1995. He made 62 Third Division appearances, as Peter Fox's "Grecians" struggled at the foot of the Football League in 1995–96 and 1996–97. He then departed St James Park for Morecambe. He played ten games as he helped Jim Harvey's "Shrimpers" to a fifth-place finish in the Conference National in 1997–98. He retired from professional football after leaving the Globe Arena.
Style of play
Hughes was a pacey left-back, though injuries prevented him from reaching his full potential.[4]
Statistics
- Sourced from Darren Hughes profile at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
| Club | Season | Division | League | FA Cup | Other | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Everton | 1983–84 | First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1984–85 | First Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Shrewsbury Town | 1985–86 | Second Division | 31 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 37 | 1 |
| 1986–87 | Second Division | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| Total | 37 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 46 | 1 | ||
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 1986–87 | Second Division | 26 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 2 |
| Port Vale | 1987–88 | Third Division | 43 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 53 | 1 |
| 1988–89 | Third Division | 44 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 56 | 0 | |
| 1989–90 | Second Division | 38 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 46 | 1 | |
| 1990–91 | Second Division | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 0 | |
| 1991–92 | Second Division | 42 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 49 | 2 | |
| Total | 184 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 222 | 4 | ||
| Northampton Town | 1994–95 | Third Division | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| 1995–96 | Third Division | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| Total | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 0 | ||
| Exeter City | 1995–96 | Third Division | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0 |
| 1996–97 | Third Division | 36 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 40 | 1 | |
| Total | 62 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 67 | 1 | ||
| Career Total | 333 | 8 | 19 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 388 | 8 | ||
Honours
- with Everton
- FA Youth Cup runner-up: 1983
- FA Youth Cup winner: 1984
- Football League First Division champion: 1984–85
- with Port Vale
- Football League Third Division play-off winner: 1989[5]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 145. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
- ↑ "Youth Cup final belters, trendy referees and unpunished punches". The Sentinel. 29 November 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
- ↑ Kent, Jeff (December 1991). Port Vale Tales: A Collection Of Stories, Anecdotes And Memories. Witan Books. p. 298. ISBN 0-9508981-6-3.
- ↑ Earle, Robbie (12 January 2012). "Here's my promotion-winning Vale team". The Sentinel. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
- ↑ Kent, Jeff (1989). Port Vale Promotion Chronicle 1988-1989: Back to Where We Once Belonged!. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9508981-3-9.
