Cian James Hughton (born 25 January 1989) is a former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for Lincoln City. A defender, he began his career with

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

before joining Lincoln City, and was later on the books of

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

. Born in England, he played international football for the Republic of Ireland under-21 team.

Club career

Tottenham Hotspur

Hughton joined Tottenham Hotspur's academy in 2005, and went on to make 15 youth team appearances that season. Established, he played a further 27 games the following season, scoring once and stepping into the reserve set-up, where he appeared on a total of 21 occasions over two seasons.

Lincoln City

On 27 July 2009, Hughton signed a six-month contract with

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club Lincoln City. He made his first-team debut in the 1–0 victory over

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

on 8 August. He was given a new 18-month contract following the conclusion of his initial deal, but found first team opportunities hard to come by after Chris Sutton left the club and Steve Tilson took over. In May 2011 he was not offered a new contract after a mass clear out of players following the club's relegation from

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. In June 2011 he joined

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

of the MLS for a ten-day trial but failed to earn a contract. He also had trials at lower-league clubs including Bristol Rovers, where he appeared in a 5–1 pre-season win over local side

Mangotsfield United Mangotsfield United Football Club is a football club based in Mangotsfield, Bristol, England. They are currently members of the and play at Cossham Street. History The club was formed in 1951 after Mangotsfield Football Club closed down its r ...

, and Milton Keynes Dons, where he scored in a 6–0 friendly victory against Buckingham Town. During the summer off-season of 2011, Hughton travelled to Ireland and agreed a deal with

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

, only to be told that budget cuts at the club meant the deal could no longer materialise.

Birmingham City

Having spent several months training with

, where his father became manager in June 2011, on 29 February 2012 Hughton signed for the club until the end of the season. He was an unused substitute for the visit to Brighton & Hove Albion, but made no first-team appearances, and was released when his contract expired.

International career

Hughton had numerous calls into the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

under-18 and under-19 squads. He made his under-21 debut as a substitute against Georgia under-21 at Tallaght Stadium on 9 October 2009, and made his first start four days later against Switzerland under-21 at the Waterford Regional Sports Centre.

Personal life

Hughton is the son of former

and Ireland international player, Chris Hughton. His uncle Henry Hughton was also a professional player. Hughton's paternal grandfather was Ghanaian, and his paternal grandmother was Irish.

References

External links

*
Ireland profile
at Soccerscene {{DEFAULTSORT:Hughton, Cian Living people 1989 births 20th-century Irish people 21st-century Irish people English footballers Footballers from Enfield, London Association football defenders Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players English Football League players Black British sportspeople English sportspeople of Ghanaian descent English people of Irish descent Irish people of Ghanaian descent Irish sportspeople of African descent European sportspeople of Ghanaian descent