Richard Hughes (footballer)
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Richard Daniel Hughes (born 25 June 1979) is a Scottish professional
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
executive and former player who is sporting director for
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
club
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
. Hughes played 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. ...
, and started his professional career as a junior in Italy for
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, before moving to
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
and Bournemouth, where he made his professional debut. He most prominently featured for
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
from 2002 until 2011 and had a brief loan spell with
Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...
in 2003. After a year out of the game, Hughes signed again for Bournemouth. He finally retired from playing in May 2014, aged 34. He was capped five times by
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
.


Playing career


Early career

Born in Scotland, Hughes grew up in Italy and began his career as a youth player at
Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
side
Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...
. After moving back to the United Kingdom, Hughes spent five years with
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
as a youth player. He did not make the transition to the first team and so left the club to join
AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...
in the summer of 1998. Hughes made his debut for Bournemouth in a 2–0 victory over Lincoln City, and became a regular member of the first team. He was signed by Portsmouth for £50,000 in summer 2002.


Portsmouth

After making his debut for Portsmouth in a 1–1 draw at Sheffield United, Hughes was loaned out to
Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...
, where he played 12 games and scored one goal against Brighton. He was given a Premier League appearance in December 2003, and he remained a squad member for the remainder of the 2003–04 campaign. He scored the winning goal, his first for Portsmouth, in a 1–0
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
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
on 22 February 2004. On 28 July 2006 he pledged his future to the club, signing a three-year contract. On 15 August 2007, playing against
Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
, Hughes was
headbutt A headbutt or butt is a targeted strike (attack), strike with the head, typically involving the use of robust parts of the headbutter's Skull#Humans, cranium as the area of impact. The most effective headbutts strike the most sensitive areas of ...
ed by
Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...
, after Hughes allegedly provoked him. Ronaldo was red-carded for his actions. The game finished 1–1. Hughes was part of Portsmouth's 2007–08 FA Cup-winning team. Despite not making the squad for the final he appeared in the earlier rounds. In January 2009, Hughes was offered an extension to his Portsmouth contract. His second competitive goal for Portsmouth came when he scored in a 4–1 League Cup win against
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on 25 August 2009. Hughes' first league goal for Portsmouth came in a 3–3 draw against
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...
at
Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...
on 28 December 2010, his last game for the club. The Scottish midfielder's strike deflected off Leeds defender Andy O'Brien on its way into the net. Originally awarded as an own goal to O'Brien, the goal was subsequently credited to Hughes by the dubious goals committee as his first league goal for the club. Hughes played his last game for Portsmouth on 28 December 2010. Under the terms of his contract, signed when Portsmouth were still in the Premier League, he was entitled to a new contract with increased wages if he had played one more game. As Portsmouth could not afford to fulfil the original offer, and he was not prepared to accept alternative terms; he remained at Portsmouth without playing in the second half of the 2010–11 season. He was subsequently released at the end of the season.


Return to Bournemouth

In the summer of 2012, a year after retiring from the game, Hughes was convinced to come out of retirement by Paul Groves, who managed him at Grimsby and was assistant manager while Hughes was at Portsmouth. In turn he re-joined Bournemouth following Groves' appointment as manager. Hughes made his second debut for Bournemouth in a 5–3 loss at Sheffield United on 1 September 2012, coming on as a 46th-minute substitute for Shaun MacDonald. On 8 September, Hughes scored the only goal in the match against
Yeovil Yeovil () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England. It is close to Somerset's southern border with Dorset, west of London, south of Bristol, west of Sherborne and east of Taunton. The population of the bui ...
, securing Bournemouth their first League One victory. In May 2014, with his contract due to expire, Hughes took the decision to retire aged 34.


International play

Hughes gained recognition for his performances at Bournemouth with a call-up to represent Scotland at under-21 level. His performances also earned him selection for the Scottish senior side, and he won his first cap against
Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
in May 2004.


Post-retirement football career

Following his retirement from the game, Hughes later joined Bournemouth's recruitment team under
Eddie Howe Edward John Frank Howe (born 29 November 1977) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Premier League club Newcastle United. A centre-back during his playing career, Howe spent most of his playing ...
and was promoted to Technical Director during the club's stay in the Premier League. On 5 March 2024, AFC Bournemouth announced Hughes would leave the club at the end of the 2023–24 season. On 20 March,
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
announced that Hughes would become their sporting director on 1 June.


Personal life

Hughes' father worked for Penguin Books in Italy and the family lived in Milan although his mother moved back to Glasgow for a month to give birth. Attending a British school in the city, Hughes spoke English in the home and school and Italian when out with friends. Initially playing football for local boys teams he was invited to sign for AC Milan at the age of ten. However, he turned them down, later saying it was because at the time he was very shy. A year later Hughes was picked up by the
Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...
youth system and spent seven years with the club, before moving to Arsenal in late 1993. Hughes revealed he planned on life after retirement, working for
BT Sport TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport) is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Now owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, Warner Bros. Discovery and BT Group, they first launched as B ...
as a pundit and running a restaurant with his brother called Mele e Pere and based in Brewer Street, Soho, London.


Career statistics


Honours

; Portsmouth *
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 ...
:
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
*
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 ...
Runner-up:
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Richard 1979 births Living people AFC Bournemouth players Arsenal F.C. players Men's association football midfielders Grimsby Town F.C. players Footballers from Glasgow Portsmouth F.C. players Premier League players Scotland men's international footballers Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Scottish men's footballers English Football League players Footballers from Milan Atalanta BC players Association football technical directors AFC Bournemouth non-playing staff Liverpool F.C. non-playing staff