Darren Hughes (footballer)

This article is about the English soccer player. For the Monaghan player, see Darren Hughes (Gaelic footballer).

Darren Hughes

Personal information
Full name	Darren John Hughes
Date of birth	(1965-10-06) 6 October 1965
Place of birth	Prescot, England
Height
Position(s)	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)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

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. 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. 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. He played 56 games in the 1988–89 season, including both legs of the Third Division play-off Final victory over Bristol Rovers. He then played 46 matches in the 1989–90 season, as Vale settled into the Second Division. Teammate and club legend Phil Sproson named him as the club's best left-back of the 1980s. 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. Hughes returned to fitness by April 1991. He made 49 appearances in the 1991–92 relegation season, and scored past Newcastle United in a 2–2 draw at St James' Park. 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. 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. 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'. He quit the club in November 1994 after being dissatisfied there, and moved on to Northampton Town in January 1995.

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.

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

External links

• Darren Hughes career statistics at Soccerbase