Emlyn Hughes

Emlyn Hughes
Personnel
Surname	Emlyn Walter Hughes
birthday	August 28, 1947
place of birth	Barrow-in-Furness ,  England
date of death	November 9, 2004
Place of death	Sheffield ,  England
position	Defense
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1964-1967	Blackpool FC	28 0(0)
1967-1979	Liverpool FC	474 (35)
1979-1981	Wolverhampton Wanderers	58 0(2)
1981-1983	Rotherham United	56 0(6)
1983	Hull City	9 0(0)
1983	Mansfield Town	0 0(0)
1983-1984	Swansea City	7 0(0)
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1967-1970	England U-23	8 0(1)
1969-1980	England	62 0(1)
Stations as a trainer
Years	station
1981-1983	Rotherham United
1 Only league games are given.

Emlyn Walter Hughes , OBE (born August 28, 1947 in Barrow-in-Furness , † November 9, 2004 in Sheffield ) was an English football player and long-time team captain of Liverpool FC, which was successful across Europe in the 1970s .

Athletic career

From Blackpool to Liverpool

The son of Welsh rugby player Frederick Hughes began his footballing career as a midfielder with local club Barrow before joining Blackpool , which was playing in the top English division at the time. At the side of the eventual world champions Jimmy Armfield and Alan Ball , Hughes made his debut in 1964, but by 1967 he only played a total of 28 games for the "Tangerines". In February of the last year Bill Shankly signed him for £ 65,000 and legend has it that Shankly was stopped by the police while driving from Blackpool to Liverpool, who then simply replied to the policeman: “Don't you know who's in that car? The prospective captain of the English national team! "

On March 4, 1967 Hughes made his debut in a 2-1 home win over Stoke City and followed his first goal in the 6-0 win over Newcastle United on August 26 of the same year in Anfield . He temporarily conquered a regular place in midfield and was nicknamed "Crazy Horse" after a serious tackle against winger Albert Bennett of Newcastle United. Hughes had not won a title in the first four seasons at Liverpool FC, but the young talent's consistently good performance revealed the future potential as a leader Shankly would soon draw on. Hughes also stood out for his versatility and in addition to playing as a central defender , he even made it into the English national team coached by Alf Ramsey in 1969 as a left full-back . On November 5, 1969, Hughes played his first international match for England against the Netherlands in Amsterdam and was victorious there 1-0. In the next game, Hughes held the left-back position and scored his first goal in the dress of the "Three Lions" in the 3-0 victory at Ninian Park in the British Home Championship against Wales .

1970: a trend-setting year

1970 marked a crucial milestone in Emlyn Hughes' career. After Liverpool FC suffered a disappointing defeat in the FA Cup quarter-finals against underdog Watford FC , coach Shankly decided to replace a large part of his older players who had previously won two championships and an FA Cup for the club as well had reached a final in the European Cup Winners' Cup . The still less than 23-year-old Hughes  benefited from this measure - like Ian Callaghan and Tommy Smith - and together with a number of young players he founded a new team that was to cause a sensation across Europe in the 1970s.

In the meantime, the English national team had flown to Mexico as the defending champion and Hughes was to be appointed to the provisional 27-man squad as a six-time English selection player by Ramsey, which had come to South America for the purpose of acclimatization to friendly matches against Colombia and Ecuador . Hughes didn't get a chance in either game, however, but was then nominated as the youngest member - and the only Liverpool player - in the final squad. In the tournament itself, however, he was the only field player, together with Nobby Stiles , who was not used in any English game - up to the quarter-final against Germany  . Above all, the substitutions of Bobby Charlton and Martin Peters in the second half of the Germany game caused controversial discussions in the English public, especially since Terry Cooper completed 120 minutes in the left-back position and, due to his apparent exhaustion, had given cause for an exchange with Hughes . After all, he should not have the opportunity to make his debut in any final round of the World Championship.

The 1970s

While the national team career of Emlyn Hughes stagnated in the future, the club career began to take off after the turn of the decade, which found its first partial success with the FA Cup final against Arsenal . There, Liverpool lost 2-1 after extra time and could not prevent the opponent's double . Hughes developed on the defensive midfield position more and more to a central player within the team, who contributed both with a high running quota and through frequent discussions with the referee for his team. Football skills remained controversial among supporters and critics; while some experts called Hughes an excellent player, others called him "a good player on a great team". Hughes was a regular full-back in the Ramsey team for England. He also acted in the games for the European Football Championship in 1972 and was on the field in the quarter-final defeat against Germany in both the first and second leg.

In 1973 Hughes won his first English championship with Liverpool FC and also had his first European success in the UEFA Cup. In the internal ranking, Hughes rose further in the following years, especially after he had scored both goals in a derby win against Everton FC at Goodison Park and had replaced Tommy Smith as team captain. Tommy Smith had previously fallen out in public with Shankly and was punished by his trainer with the removal of the captain's armband. Nevertheless, Smith remained part of the team and although the mood between Smith and Hughes also worsened significantly, this did not have a lasting effect on football performance.

Conversely, as the club career of Hughes was at a peak, the national team career found a new low point when Ramsey played as a left defender in an important World Cup qualifier against Poland at Wembley Stadium in October 1973 . In a game that England absolutely had to win in order not to gamble away their participation in the finals in Germany , the English team dominated, but always failed in their attacking efforts due to the opposing goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski . In the second half of the game, Hughes tried to defend himself with a tackle, but Jan Domarski's goal from the edge of the box could not be prevented. England managed to equalize to 1: 1 via Allan Clarke with a penalty, but the decisive winning goal did not materialize. In public, Hughes' defensive action was then the subject of critical consideration, which, however, took a back seat in view of the previous loss of the ball by Norman Hunter and the shot on goal, which for Peter Shilton did not seem untenable. Six months later, Ramsey was to be relieved of his position as England coach.

At the end of the 1973/74 season, Hughes expanded his trophy collection in club football and, after beating Newcastle United 3-0 in the final, received the FA Cup from the hands of Princess Anne . In the English national team Hughes rose under interim coach Joe Mercer to the new captain - and thus successor to Bobby Moore - and led his team on May 11, 1974 in Cardiff against Wales to a 2-0 victory. Before Don Revie was finally appointed the new national coach, Hughes had worn the captain's armband in all seven transition games. Nevertheless, Revie finally decided after the first two European Championship qualifiers to take Hughes out of the team and pass the captaincy to Alan Ball . In 1975 he should only come to two internationals for England. In contrast to his dwindling chances in the English team, Hughes was a consistent and successful leader in Liverpool in the "Reds" now trained by Bob Paisley . A year without a title in 1975, another double from the English championship and the UEFA Cup followed a year later. Nevertheless, the following season 1976/77 should develop to the climax in the career of Emlyn Hughes.

In the second qualifying game for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina , Hughes returned to the English team, although the captaincy was now exercised by his teammate Kevin Keegan - this distribution of roles seemed a bit strange, as Keegan again subordinated himself to his captain Hughes at Liverpool FC. Hughes was now acting as a central defender in a national team that had reached another low point and was particularly weak in tactical terms with a 2-0 defeat against Italy . When Hughes was on the way to a triple of the English championship, FA Cup and European national championship cup, Revie relied again in 1977 on his formerly eliminated player. In club football, Hughes initially missed the possible triple success after winning the league title by losing in the FA Cup final against Manchester United . Four days later, however, Hughes secured the European Cup with a 3-1 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach in Rome . Finally, at the end of the season, Hughes was named England's Footballer of the Year by the Football Journalists' Association .

Due to the absence of Keegan, Hughes was returned to the captaincy in an international match against Scotland from Revie. This was followed by a tour of the national team through South America and after the signs of an impending resignation of Revies condensed there, Hughes was given back the role of team captain permanently from his successor Ron Greenwood . In the decisive World Cup qualifying duel against Italy, the newly formed English team scored a 2-0 win on November 16, 1977, but that should not be enough for the final round in Argentina.

In 1978 Hughes lost the League Cup final after losing to Nottingham Forest in the replay with Liverpool . That of Brian Clough oversaw opponents from Nottingham was chosen also to the new English champions, but at European level Hughes was with a 1: 0 final victory against FC Bruges at Wembley celebrate the title defense in the European national champions competition. However, Hughes 'regular place was now seriously threatened by the talented young Scotsman Alan Hansen , who had previously been signed by Partick Thistle for 100,000 pounds in the previous season , and Hughes' 16 league appearances in the 1978/79 season were just enough for the official Medal. Paisley then signaled his readiness for a transfer to Hughes and had his former leader move to Wolverhampton Wanderers for £ 90,000 in August 1979 . In terms of all competitive games, Hughes had played a total of 665 games for Liverpool and scored 49 goals. His 59 appearances for England by then meant a record for most international matches by a Liverpool player, until more than ten years later the Welsh striker Ian Rush surpassed this record.

The end of the football career

On August 22, 1979, Hughes made his debut for the Wolves at the Baseball Ground and was 1-0 victorious against Derby County . In the first year for his new club, Hughes won the League Cup, completing his trophy collection with the only domestic title he was unable to win with Liverpool. The final victory against Nottingham Forest, which is now also dominant in Europe, was a big surprise at Wembley. Personal awards followed with the appointment of Officer of the British Empire and a tribute on the popular TV show " This Is Your Life ".

In the English national team, Hughes made sporadic appearances in qualifying for the 1980 European Championship in Italy after his departure from Liverpool . He led his team for the last time in 1980 as team captain in a British Home Championship game against Northern Ireland (1-1) at Wembley. His 62nd international match against Scotland in the subsequent game as a substitute would be his last.

Greenwood nominated Hughes in the squad for the European Championship finals in Italy. However, this was not used in any game and the veteran Hughes should rather serve as a safeguard in the event of injury problems - England was eliminated from the tournament after the group games. With his 62 internationals for England, Hughes was considered to be the most experienced national player in the history of the "Three Lions" who did not appear in a major tournament. On the other hand, his career in the English selection spanned three decades, which had previously only been achieved by Jesse Pennington , Stanley Matthews and Bobby Charlton .

In 1981 Hughes left Wolverhampton Wanderers and joined Rotherham United as a player-coach . He then played briefly for Hull City , where he later held a director post in the club. He was briefly under contract with Mansfield Town in 1983 , but did not make a single game there. The active career finally ended a year later at Swansea City .

After the active career

After leaving active sports, Hughes developed a successful television career. In 1984 he became the captain of a BBC sports quiz program called " A Question of Sport " which has been running with great success in Great Britain since 1970 and in which he competed against former English rugby captain Bill Beaumont . He catapulted himself into national attention especially when he mistook the jockey John Reid, covered in mud in a photo, for Princess Anne during a broadcast . On the same show, the queen daughter finally made it clear that she was not offended by the mix-up and even competed on the team led by Hughes. Nevertheless, Hughes' behavior led to a minor debate during this program, as he put his arm around the princess and constantly addressed her with "Ma'am". Later, Hughes was to join Princess Anne's team in the TV event " It's a Royal Knockout " initiated by Prince Edward .

Part of Hughes' collaboration with the BBC was a job as a football expert on the radio. Together with Peter Jones, he commented on the events of the Heysel disaster in 1985 with the words: "Football has died and the hooligans have won". After he had accompanied the 1986 World Cup in Mexico as a BBC reporter, he ended his work for the BBC a year later with the withdrawal of "A Question of Sport" and joined the TV channel ITV . There he led a team in the program " Sporting Triangles ", which ran without success. Hughes came to late football honors as a “newcomer” to the fictional Melchester Rovers team in the well-known comic series “ Roy of the Rovers ”. He also wrote a column for the teenage soccer magazine "Match".

The last few years

Monument in Barrow-in-Furness

Hughes later largely withdrew from the public eye and only performed occasional tasks - preferably as a keynote speaker. In 1995 he became a patron of the Sheffield- based charity FABLE ("For A Better Life with Epilepsy"), which works for epileptics.

In 2003 it was announced that Hughes had a brain tumor and that he was going to have an operation. Hughes died of cancer on November 9, 2004, aged 57, at his Sheffield home. At the subsequent league cup match between Liverpool FC and Middlesbrough FC, both teams commemorated the former Liverpool captain with a minute of silence. The funeral took place in Sheffield Cathedral .

successes

• European Champion's Cup: 1977, 1978
• UEFA Cup winners: 1973, 1976
• UEFA Super Cup winner: 1977
• English champion: 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979
• FA Cup winner: 1974
• English league cup winner: 1980
• Charity Shield Winner: 1974, 1976, 1977
• England's Footballer of the Year ("Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year"): 1977

This and that

• To this day, Hughes is held in high regard by Liverpool FC supporters. In a recently published poll of the best Liverpool players of all time ("100 Players Who Shook The Kop") he came in tenth place.
• Hughes was dedicated to the home computer game " Emlyn Hughes International Soccer " (1988) for the C-64 .

Web links

• Datasheet on LFChistory.net
• Datasheet on the official Liverpool FC website
• Emlyn Hughes in the soccerbase.com database
• Obituary from the BBC
• Guardian Obituary