Carl Gerard McHugh (born 5 February 1993) is an Irish 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 lea ...

who plays as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for club. He can also play as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Lettermacaward Leitir Mhic an Bhaird or Leitir Mhic a' Bhaird (anglicised as Lettermacaward) is a Gaeltacht village in the Rosses region of County Donegal, Ireland. The village, known colloquially as ''Leitir'' (pronounced ''letcher''), is between the larger ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

, McHugh signed a scholarship with English club

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

at the age of 16. He spent loan spells at

Swindon Supermarine Swindon Supermarine Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in South Marston, Swindon, England. The club plays in the and is affiliated to the Wiltshire Football Association. The club plays at the Webbswood Stadium on the nort ...

and

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

. He spent one year as a professional at Reading before being released in the summer of 2012.

Bradford City

McHugh signed for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

in August 2012. He made his professional debut for Bradford City on 28 August 2012, in a League Cup match against

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

. He made his debut 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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

on 27 October 2012, coming on as a substitute in the 1–0 defeat away at Burton Albion. In November, he starred and scored an equalising header for Bradford City in their

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

victory over Northampton Town. Earlier that month, McHugh had been praised by his manager for his performance against Wigan Athletic in the League Cup, and he later commented that his recent spell of first-team games had been a "huge learning curve" for him. McHugh's performances were praised by teammate Rory McArdle. Following Bradford City's elimination of

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

in the League Cup semi-final, McHugh was photographed waving the flag of his native county on the pitch at

Villa Park Villa Park is a association football, football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, with a seating capacity of 42,918. It has been the home of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witt ...

. He later said, "That was the highlight of the night for me. Back in Bradford they might have thought it was the Irish flag, but they know now that it is the Donegal flag." In the run-up to the

2013 Football League Cup Final The 2013 Football League Cup Final was a association football, football match between Bradford City A.F.C., Bradford City and Swansea City A.F.C., Swansea City, which took place on 24 February 2013 at Wembley Stadium in London. It was the final m ...

, which McHugh played in, he was cited as an "unsung hero" of the Bradford City team. In the latter stages of the 2012–13 season, he began to be played more as a

. In June 2013, McHugh was praised by former Bradford City left-back Wayne Jacobs. In July 2013, McHugh signed a new one-year contract with Bradford City, and later that month he spoke about his fight to become a first-team member in the forthcoming season. In November 2013, McHugh publicly spoke about his lack of first-team football. By 17 January 2014, however, he had played three of the club's last four games, and he credited a sports psychologist for helping him regain his first-team spot.

Plymouth Argyle

On 16 June 2014, McHugh signed a two-year contract with

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

. He played 50 games for Plymouth in his first season at the club, mainly at centre-back alongside Peter Hartley and Curtis Nelson. During the 2014–15 season Plymouth had one of the best defensive records in the league. Following the arrival of new Plymouth manager Derek Adams in the summer of 2015, McHugh was moved further up the field into a midfield role. He played all season in midfield, earning a lot of praise for his performances throughout the season.

Motherwell

On 5 July 2016, McHugh signed a two-year contract with

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

. His signing was met with much controversy, signing for Motherwell despite previously agreeing terms to extend his contract with previous club Plymouth Argyle in writing. McHugh suffered a serious head injury – a two inch deep gash above his right eye – on the opening day of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

against

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

on 6 August 2016. Motherwell manager

Mark McGhee Mark Edward McGhee (born 25 May 1957) is a Scottish former professional football player and coach. A former forward, McGhee started his career at Greenock Morton in 1975 and had spells at clubs including Newcastle United, Aberdeen, Hamburg, ...

later said that the nature of the injury meant the club could not put a timescale on McHugh's return. He made his comeback on 28 December 2016, away to

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, Inverness CT or just Inverness, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team competes in , the third tier of the Scottish Professional Footba ...

. On 4 February 2017, McHugh was sent off during a Scottish Premiership match with Hearts following a challenge on Don Cowie. Motherwell went on to lose the game 3–0, with Mark McGhee blaming the McHugh red card for losing the game. On 4 March 2017, he scored his first Motherwell goal in a 2–1 win away to Kilmarnock. In June 2017 it was announced that McHugh would be Motherwell's new captain, before signing a new two-year contract with the club on 27 July 2017. Ahead of the 2018–19 season McHugh gave up his role as captain, saying it was best for both himself and the club.

ATK

In May 2019 McHugh signed for Indian club ATK. He scored on his debut. He said he chose to play in India because of its improving standards. McHugh's debut season with ATK ended early for him due to injury, although the club secured the ISL championship title. He joined

ATK Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Super Giant, commonly referred to as Mohun Bagan, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Asia. The club competes in the Indian Super League, ...

after ATK merged with

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Super Giant, commonly referred to as Mohun Bagan, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Asia. The club competes in the Indian Super League, ...

in 2020. With the club, he began 2022–23 season on 20 August 2022 against Rajasthan United at the 131st edition of

Durand Cup The Durand Cup (also called the IndianOil Durand Cup Powered by Coal India Limited for sponsorship reasons) is an annual domestic football competition in India which was first held in 1888 in Annadale, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Hosted by the ...

as his team lost the match by 3–2.

Goa

On 28 July 2023, McHugh signed for

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

after he mutually parted ways with Mohun Bagan.

International career

Having previously played for them at under-17 and under-19 levels, McHugh was called up to the Republic of Ireland under-21 squad in January 2013. He made his debut for the under-21 on 6 February 2013, appearing as a second-half substitute in a 3–0 victory over the Netherlands. McHugh was recalled to the Irish under-21 squad in March 2013, and he earned a second cap for the under-21s on 25 March 2013. He was re-called to the under-21 squad in October 2013 for two Euro Championship qualifiers.

Personal life

McHugh played

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

for Na Rossa, where he was coached by All-Ireland winner Declan Bonner. He is a close friend of Donegal Gaelic footballer

Patrick McBrearty Patrick McBrearty (born 5 August 1993) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for CLG Chill Chartha, Cill Chartha and the Donegal county football team, Donegal county team, which he has captained since 2023. He is usually selected in the full ...

. McHugh's footballing hero is

Shay Given Séamus John James Given (born 20 April 1976) is an Irish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Irish goalkeepers of all time ...

, who also comes from Donegal.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Bradford City *

Football League Two play-offs The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual Engli ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

runner-up:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

ATK *

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

: 2019–20 Mohun Bagan * ISL Cup:

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

runner-up:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McHugh, Carl 1993 births Living people People from Kilcar Association footballers from County Donegal Gaelic footballers who switched code Na Rossa Gaelic footballers English Football League players League of Ireland players Reading F.C. players Swindon Supermarine F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Mohun Bagan Super Giant players FC Goa players Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Scottish Professional Football League players ATK (football club) players Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Irish expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in India Indian Super League players 21st-century Irish sportsmen