Stephen Hughes (footballer, born 1976)

Stephen Hughes

Stephen Hughes playing for Fulham.
Personal information
Full name	Stephen John Hughes
Date of birth	18 September 1976
Place of birth	Wokingham, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1995–2000	Arsenal	49	(4)
1999	→ Fulham (loan)	3	(0)
2000–2001	Everton	29	(1)
2001–2003	Watford	15	(0)
2003–2004	Charlton Athletic	0	(0)
2004–2008	Coventry City	133	(8)
2008–2009	Walsall	32	(2)
Total		261	(15)
National team
	England U15[1]
	England U21	8	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Stephen John Hughes (born 18 September 1976 in Wokingham) is an English former footballer, who most recently played as a midfielder for Walsall. He signed as a free agent, following his release from Coventry City, where he rejected a new contract.

Club career

Hughes started his career at Arsenal, where he made 76 senior appearances, 40 of them as a substitute, and scored 7 goals.^[2] He made 16 appearances as Arsenal won the 1997-98 FA Premier League. Hughes' highlight for that season was scoring twice as Arsenal defeated Chelsea 2-0 at home.^[3] He also made 6 appearances in Arsenal's FA Cup run that season, including the semi final against Wolves,^[4] but was left out of the squad for the 1998 FA Cup Final as they clinched the double. Another highlight was a 25-yard last minute equaliser against Leicester City at Filbert Street the following season.^[5]

Hughes then moved to Everton in March 2000, for a fee of £3 million.^[6] He played 33 games for them before being released on a free transfer on 4 July 2001. He then moved on to First Division side Watford that same month,^[7] having scored his two Everton goals against them; once in the league^[8] and once in the FA Cup.^[9] He only managed 17 games in his first season due to injury. His contract was settled early in the 2002–03 season.

He signed for Charlton Athletic in August 2003.^[10] but made no appearances that season and subsequently left on a free transfer to join Coventry City in July 2004.^[11] He went on to become the club's captain and made over 150 appearances.

Post-retirement

After his retirement from football, Hughes returned to Arsenal as a commentator and pundit for their Arsenal Player service.^[12]

Career statistics

Club	Season	Division	League				FA Cup				League Cup				Europe				Other¹				Total
			Apps	Goals			Apps	Goals			Apps	Goals			Apps	Goals			Apps	Goals			Apps	Goals
Arsenal	1994–95	Premier League	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	1	0	0	0
	1995–96		1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	0	0	0
	1996–97		14	1	1	0	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	16	2	2	0
	1997–98		17	2	0	0	6	0	1	0	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	28	3	1	0
	1998–99		14	1	3	0	4	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	4	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	25	2	3	0
Fulham (loan)	1999–2000	First Division	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	0	1	0
Arsenal		Premier League	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	0
Everton			11	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	11	1	1	0
	2000–01		18	0	3	0	2	1	1	0	2	0	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	22	1	6	0
Watford	2001–02	First Division	15	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	17	0	2	0
	2002–03		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0	0	0	0
Charlton Athletic	2003–04	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	0	0	0	0
Coventry City	2004–05	Championship	40	4	3	0	2	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	44	5	3	0
	2005–06		19	0	3	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	21	0	3	1
	2006–07		37	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	38	1	4	0
	2007–08		37	1	7	0	1	1	0	0	3	0	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	41	2	7	0
Walsall	2008–09	League One	32	2	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	-	-	-	-	2	0	0	0	41	2	7	0
Career total			261	13	30	1	21	3	3	0	21	2	4	0	5	1	0	0	3	0	0	0	315	19	37	1

¹ includes FA Charity Shield and Football League Trophy.

Honours

Arsenal

Winner

• FA Youth Cup (1) : 1993–94^[13]
• Premier League (1) : 1997–98
• Charity Shield (1) : 1998
• FA Cup (1) : 1997–98

Runner-up

• Premier League (1) : 1998–99

_{Arsenal won Charity Shield 1999, but Hughes did not play in that game}

Individual

• Coventry City Player of the Year (1): 2004–05^[14]
• Coventry City Players' Player of the Year (1): 2004–05^[14]

References

1. Hall, Damian (19 June 2003). "Promised much, delivered little". When Saturday Comes. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
2. Ward, Rupert. "Total appearance records of selected former Arsenal players". Arseweb. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
3. "Arsenal outgun Chelsea". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 8 February 1998. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
4. "Wreh the wrecker of Wolves". The Independent. 6 April 1998. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
5. "Hughes rides Arsenal luck". The Independent. 13 September 1998. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
6. "Hughes joins Everton". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 7 March 2000. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
7. "Watford seal Hughes deal". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 3 July 2001. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
8. "Moore's double as Hughes stars". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 1 April 2000. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
9. "Everton snatch Watford win". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 6 January 2001. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
10. "Addicks make double signing". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 14 August 2003. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
11. "Wetherall snubs Sky Blues". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 6 July 2004. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
12. http://www.arsenal.com/watchthetourliveonplayer
13. "The FA Youth Cup". Arsenal F.C. official website. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
14. "Double award joy for Hughes". Coventry City F.C. official website. 20 May 2005. Retrieved 7 June 2012.

External links

• Stephen Hughes career statistics at Soccerbase
• Stephen Hughes profile at the Coventry City official website