Len Hughes

Leonard Chester Hughes (1899 – 1958) was an English professional footballer who played as a wing half.

Len Hughes

Personal information
Full name	Leonard Chester Hughes
Date of birth	27 February 1899
Place of birth	Tottenham, England
Date of death	19 August 1958(1958-08-19) (aged 59)
Position(s)	Wing half
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
	Leyton
1924–1926	Burnley	28	(1)
1926–1927	Accrington Stanley	33	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Len was born on 27 February 1899 at St Roy's Road, Tottenham N17. His father, Thomas Hughes, was a general labourer and his mother was Ellen Hughes.

On 19 July 1915, Len started a 5-year apprenticeship to Edmund Henry Matthew of D. Matthew & Son, Tariff Road, Tottenham as a Journeyman Brushmaker. He did not complete the apprenticeship, as he was conscripted to the army in 1917.

He was probably sent to the training battalion of his county regiment for basic military training. In February 1918, Len was transferred to the Machine Gun Corps (MGC). After six weeks specialist training and short leave, he was posted overseas in April 1918. In France, he was allocated to joint 24th Battalion MGC, a uni of 800 men fielding 64 Vickers machine guns, which was the machine gun element of the 24th Division.

on 14 May 1918, Len was hospitalised in 7th (Canadian) General Hospital at Etaples with PUO, commonly known as Trench Fever. He was later wounded (believed to be gassed) and was awarded the British War and Victory Medals. He was released from the army 15 February 1919.

He married Edith Elizabeth Lomax (1900 - 1982) on 18 September 1921 and they had one child, Winifred Joan Hughes, who died in 1983.

Len was an able all-round sportsman and, as a professional footballer, was employed through the 1920s & much of the 1930s, which enabled him to support his family during the depression whilst many others struggled. However, this was at a very modest level and during his time playing for first division Burnley, the family lived in back-to-back millworkers' houses. Nothing like the palatial living of top-flight footballers of today, but secure by comparison with many of his contemporaries. During the football season, Len and his family lived in the town he played for, but during the summer they often returned to Tottenham.

After retiring from professional football, Len became a school caretaker and groundsman, working for Rowland Hill School, Tottenham and lived at the cottage in the grounds. A cigarette smoker throughout his life, Len contracted lung cancer, which became systemic and he died at the Cottage on 19 August 1958.