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 lea ...

who played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

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

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

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. The team compete in the ...

. 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, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...

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; anc ...

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

. In June 2011 he joined

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...

of the

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United ...

for a ten-day trial but failed to earn a contract. He also had trials at lower-league clubs including

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

, where he appeared in a 5–1 pre-season win over local side Mangotsfield United, and

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

, 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 ( ; ) 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 ...

, 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 Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

, 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 ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

under-18 and under-19 squads. He made his under-21 debut as a substitute against Georgia under-21 at

Tallaght Stadium Tallaght Stadium () is an List of association football stadiums in the Republic of Ireland, association football stadium in Ireland based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club Shamrock Rovers F.C., Shamrock Rovers originally announced details of ...

on 9 October 2009, and made his first start four days later against Switzerland under-21 at the

Waterford Regional Sports Centre The Waterford Regional Sports Centre (or simply, the RSC) is part of Waterford Corporation's Municipal sporting facilities and home to Waterford F.C. of the League of Ireland. Waterford moved to the newly opened RSC from their former home, ...

Personal life

Hughton is the son of former

and Ireland international player,

Chris Hughton Christopher William Gerard Hughton (born 11 December 1958) is a professional football manager and former player. Born in England, he represented the Republic of Ireland national team. He was most recently head coach of the Ghana national te ...

. 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 English men's footballers Footballers from the London Borough of Enfield People from Enfield, London Men's association football defenders Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's 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 sportsmen 21st-century Black British people English people of Ghanaian descent Sportspeople of Ghanaian descent English people of Irish descent Irish people of Ghanaian descent 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Irish sportsmen