Stephen Hughes (soccer player, 1976)

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Stephen Hughes
Stephen Hughes.jpg
Stephen Hughes
Personnel
Surname Stephen John Hughes
birthday September 18, 1976
place of birth Reading ,  England
size 183 cm
position Midfield (left, central)
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1995-2000 Arsenal FC 49 (4)
1999 →  Fulham FC  (loan) 3 (0)
2000-2001 Everton FC 19 (1)
2001-2003 Watford FC 15 (0)
2003-2004 Charlton Athletic 0 (0)
2004-2008 Coventry City 133 (6)
2008-2009 Walsall FC 32 (2)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
England U-21 8 (0)
1 Only league games are given.

Stephen John Hughes (born September 18, 1976 in Reading ) is a former English football player . Mostly in the left or central midfield , he won the English championship with Arsenal in 1998 . In Arsène Wenger's team , however, he mostly did not get beyond the role of substitute and supplementary player and then moved to Everton for a year in March 2000 , before he was active in the lower professional leagues until his retirement in 2009. The eight-time England U-21 international made the most lasting impression on the second division club Coventry City in the four years between 2004 and 2008 .

Professional career

Arsenal FC (1995-2000)

After winning the FA Youth Cup in 1994 with the Arsenal youth team , Hughes made his debut as a left midfielder on Boxing Day of the same year as a substitute for Aston Villa (0-0) in the Premier League . Six months later he signed his first professional contract with the "Gunners", but apart from another league appearance in February 1996 against Coventry City and an appointment for the bench in the second leg of the League Cup semi-final against Aston Villa, Hughes' sporting prospects were in the first team limited. Only with the arrival of Arsène Wenger as the new sporting director did things seem to have changed for the better in the 1996/97 season. Meanwhile, in the English U-21 team, he was promoted to captain and in the reserve team to the leading player. Hughes received his next chance on January 14, 1997 when he came on as a substitute for Sunderland AFC . Four days later, he scored his first goal for Arsenal in the FA Cup against the same opponent, and later in the season he was featured 14 more times, mostly for Paul Merson .

This was followed by the most successful sporting season in Stephen Hughes' professional career. Although he had top-class competition in midfield with Emmanuel Petit , Patrick Vieira and Marc Overmars , the club equipped him with a new five-year contract and the "left foot" showed himself both in the outside position and centrally with good passes and crosses and in a duel in 17 Premier League games as a good addition. All of his three competitive goals in the 1997/98 season came against city rivals Chelsea and in the end he won the English championship .

However, the final breakthrough was still a long time coming. In the 1998/99 season he was in the starting eleven in only four league games and at the beginning of the following season 1999/2000 he loaned the club to the second division FC Fulham in July 1999 - with the prospect of a permanent change with a correspondingly sporty positive Development. After a broken arm at the end of the previous season, Hughes lacked match practice and after a month he returned to Arsenal early. There he was then - with a few exceptions - only part of the reserve team, which in turn finally caused him to look around for a new club. For a transfer fee of just £ 500,000, Everton FC finally signaled its interest in a commitment in March 2000. If successful, the amount could have increased further to a maximum of three million pounds.

Career break: Everton, Watford and Charlton (2000–2003)

The fact that Hughes would not find his lasting happiness in Everton was not yet evident in the remaining games of the 1999/2000 season. Hughes seemed to find his way in left midfield as part of the team that had been rebuilt by coach Walter Smith , before he temporarily dropped out of the regular formation after the first six league games of the 2000/01 season and more or less completely after another series of seven missions lost. According to rumors, the Everton FC club management feared the increased transfer fee of up to three million pounds, which they were not prepared to pay in view of Stephen Hughes' changeable performance and so the signs were clearly in the direction of an early end. With Gianluca Vialli from the second division club Watford FC , a new prospect was quickly found in summer 2001.

At first it looked like Hughes would play an important role in the team reorganization at Watford as well, before injury problems caused decisive setbacks. After a concussion in September 2001, he struggled with groin problems especially from November of that year, which necessitated an operation in January 2002 and forced Hughes to take a long break. In the two following years until the end of the 2003/04 season, Hughes was finally not used in a single professional game, although he had meanwhile moved to the Premier League club Charlton Athletic on a free transfer in the summer of 2003 .

Coventry City (2004-2008)

Only Peter Reid as coach of the second division Coventry City found use for him again. Hughes immediately exceeded expectations with 40 league appearances, demonstrated his good passing game and understanding of position and also showed leadership qualities as a captain substitute for Tim Sherwood . In addition, there was a remarkable performance as a goalkeeper after the regular "keeper" Ian Bennett was sent off and Hughes remained clean with a few saves.

Setbacks followed in the 2006/07 season in the form of further injury problems and the painful Achilles tendon ended his season almost prematurely in November, although it came back sporadically at the end. Fortunately, the tide turned for the better the following year and Hughes made 38 league appearances. After starting as captain, trainer Micky Adams briefly removed him from office in November 2006 after a loss to Stoke City , but then reversed it in December. After Adams was fired, Hughes showed outstanding achievements under his successor Iain Dowie and was praised separately by the "newcomer".

In his last year in Coventry, Hughes, who was never undisputed in parts of the annex due to his not excessive goal danger, often interpreted his midfield role more defensively and only after the coaching to Chris Coleman did he have to act more offensively again. He found it increasingly difficult to set the appropriate accents, as he was rarely able to embarrass the opposing defensive associations with his no longer quite so pronounced pace. With Hughes' contract expiring at the end of the 2007/08 season, the time in Coventry came to an end.

FC Walsall (2008-2009)

Hughes spent his last professional year in 2008/09 at third division club FC Walsall , which he joined in early August 2008. He was immediately appointed captain, was supposed to provide the necessary experience in the midfield center and mostly performed these tasks reliably and unobtrusively. In the end, however, the wounds increased again and so it was left with the one season for the "Saddlers". The contract was subsequently not extended.

Title / Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1995-96 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1995, ISBN 978-0-09-180854-9 , pp. 106 .
  2. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1996-97 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1996, ISBN 978-1-85291-571-1 , pp. 121 .
  3. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1997-98 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1997, ISBN 978-1-85291-581-0 , pp. 134 f .
  4. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1998-99 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1998, ISBN 978-1-85291-588-9 , pp. 145 .
  5. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1999-2000 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1999, ISBN 978-1-85291-607-7 , pp. 151 .
  6. ↑ a b Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2000-2001 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2000, ISBN 978-1-85291-626-8 , pp. 161 .
  7. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2001-2002 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2001, ISBN 978-0-946531-34-9 , pp. 149 .
  8. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2002/2003 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2002, ISBN 978-1-85291-648-0 , pp. 203 .
  9. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2005/2006 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2005, ISBN 978-1-85291-662-6 , pp. 200 .
  10. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2006-07 . Mainstream Publishing, 2006, ISBN 978-1-84596-111-4 , pp. 200 .
  11. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2007-08 . Mainstream Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84596-246-3 , pp. 200 .
  12. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008-09 . Mainstream Publishing, 2008, ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8 , pp. 214 f .
  13. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009-10 . Mainstream Publishing, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0 , pp. 204 .
personal data
SURNAME Hughes, Stephen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hughes, Stephen John (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH September 18, 1976
PLACE OF BIRTH Reading