Stephen Hughes (footballer, born 1982)

Stephen David Hughes[3] (born 14 November 1982) is a Scottish former professional footballer. Hughes played for Rangers, Leicester City, Motherwell, Norwich City, Milton Keynes Dons, Aberdeen, Dundee and East Fife. Hughes made one appearance for Scotland, playing in the last 20 minutes of a friendly match against Japan in 2009.

For other people named Stephen Hughes, see Stephen Hughes (disambiguation).

Stephen Hughes
Hughes playing for Motherwell
Personal information
Full name Stephen David Hughes[1]
Date of birth (1982-11-14) 14 November 1982
Place of birth Motherwell, Scotland
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2005 Rangers 64 (7)
2005–2007 Leicester City 91 (7)
2007–2009 Motherwell 66 (2)
2009–2011 Norwich City 30 (3)
2011 → Milton Keynes Dons (loan) 6 (0)
2011–2012 Motherwell 4 (0)
2012–2013 Aberdeen 28 (0)
2013–2014 East Fife 9 (1)
2014 Dundee 1 (0)
2014 → East Fife (loan) 10 (1)
Total 309 (21)
National team
2001–2003 Scotland U21[2] 12 (2)
2009 Scotland B 1 (1)
2009 Scotland 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Rangers

Hughes started his career with Scottish Premier League club Rangers at the age of 16.[4] He went on to make 90 appearances for the Ibrox club and scored seven goals in the process.

Leicester City

Hughes joined Leicester City in January 2005 for £100,000 and signed a three-and-a-half year deal. In January 2006, he scored a memorable goal which helped knock Tottenham Hotspur out of the FA Cup in a cup upset.[5]

Motherwell

On 4 June 2007, Hughes was placed on the transfer list by then Leicester manager Martin Allen, with Hearts and Motherwell reportedly offering £50,000 for the player.[6][7] On 17 August, Hearts had successfully negotiated terms with Hughes. The transfer, however, was delayed,[8] and on 31 August, Hughes joined Motherwell for an undisclosed fee.[9] Hughes played for Motherwell in the 2007–08 and 2008–09 seasons.[4]

Norwich City

Scottish newspapers on 22 July 2009 suggested that Hughes had joined Norwich City as a free agent on a three-year contract. This was confirmed later the same day.[10] He played his first match for the Canaries in their final pre-season friendly against Wigan on 1 August 2009 playing for 59 minutes before being substituted. He scored his first goal for Norwich in a 2–0 win over Hartlepool on 29 August 2009.[11] Hughes impressed fans with his performances in his first season with the club. However, Hughes sustained an knee injury, which required an operation on 21 October and ruled him out for two months. Hughes returned to Norwich after a loan spell at MK Dons to gain fitness after his operation.[4] He left Norwich by mutual consent in August 2011.[12]

Return to Motherwell

After leaving Norwich, Hughes became a free agent, but failed to find a club in the first few months. On 16 November 2011, Hughes re-joined Motherwell until 3 January 2012 after a successful trial.[4] Hughes started the match against Hibernian on 2 December 2011, but this match was abandoned at half-time due to a floodlight fire, and was therefore a void match, so his second debut for the club came as a substitute in a 3–0 win away to St Johnstone the following week.[13] Hughes left the club at the end of his deal, after the club decided not to offer him an extension. He made 4 appearances in his second spell at Fir Park.[14]

Aberdeen

After a short trial, Hughes signed for Aberdeen on 27 January 2012.[15] He was released from his contract on 7 June 2013.

East Fife

On 10 October 2013, Hughes signed for Scottish League One side East Fife.[16] Hughes made 9 league appearances for East Fife, scoring one goal.

Dundee

Having completed a short-term contract with East Fife, Hughes signed for Scottish Championship club Dundee in January 2014.[17] His Dundee career was short lived where he played only the first 45 minutes away to Falkirk where after a poor performance was substituted at half time. He never played for Dundee again.

East Fife (loan)

After making only one appearance for Dundee, Hughes rejoined East Fife on loan after being told he wasn't part of Paul Hartley's plans as new manager.[18]

International career

Hughes was called up to the Scotland squad to play Japan in October 2009. Hughes came on as a second-half substitute, replacing Charlie Adam in the 67th minute.

Honours

Rangers

References
  1. "Stephen Hughes". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  2. "Stephen Hughes". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  3. Scottish Football League (October 2004). The Bell's Scottish Football Review 2004/05. CRE8. ISBN 0-9548556-0-4.
  4. "Motherwell re-sign midfielder Stephen Hughes". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 November 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  5. "Leicester 3-2 Tottenham". BBC Sport. BBC. 8 January 2006.
  6. Trio Transfer Listed Archived 6 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Hearts targeting Hughes". BBC Sport. BBC. 21 May 2007.
  8. "Hearts' capture of Hughes delayed". BBC Sport. BBC. 17 August 2007.
  9. "Hughes and Grabban move to Well". BBC Sport. BBC. 31 August 2007.
  10. "City sign Hughes". Norwich City F.C. 22 July 2009.
  11. "Hartlepool 0 - 2 Norwich". BBC Sport. BBC. 29 August 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2009.
  12. "Midfielder has contract terminated". Norwich City F.C. 31 August 2011. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  13. "St Johnstone 0-3 Motherwell". BBC Sport. BBC. 10 December 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  14. "Midfielder Stephen Hughes ends short Motherwell stay". BBC Sport. BBC. 3 January 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  15. "Hughes Clinches Deal at Aberdeen". BBC Sport. 27 January 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  16. "East Fife move for Hughes". spfl.co.uk. 10 October 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  17. "Dundee complete deal for midfielder Stephen Hughes". BBC Sport. BBC. 13 January 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  18. "Stephen Hughes returns to East Fife after just one game for Dundee". STV Sport. STV. 25 February 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
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