Mark Hughes (footballer, born 1986)

Mark Anthony Hughes (born 9 December 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender. An Everton academy graduate, Hughes has also played for clubs Northampton Town, Walsall, North Queensland Fury, Bury and Morecambe. Although he plays as a central defender, he is capable of being a regular goal scorer, both from the penalty spot and in open play.

This article is about the English footballer. For other people with the same name, see Mark Hughes (disambiguation).

Mark Hughes
Hughes playing for North Queensland Fury in 2011
Personal information
Full name Mark Anthony Hughes[1]
Date of birth (1986-12-09) 9 December 1986[2]
Place of birth Kirkby, England
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2]
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 Accrington Stanley
Number 3
Youth career
1994–2004 Everton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2007 Everton 1 (0)
2006 → Stockport County (loan) 3 (0)
2007–2009 Northampton Town 93 (4)
2009–2010 Walsall 26 (1)
2010–2011 North Queensland Fury 30 (4)
2011–2013 Bury 52 (0)
2013 → Accrington Stanley (loan) 5 (0)
2013–2015 Morecambe 84 (8)
2015–2016 Stevenage 20 (1)
2016– Accrington Stanley 184 (9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11:14, 22 November 2020 (UTC)

Career

Early senior career

Born in Liverpool, he joined Everton at the age of seven and progressed to the rank of reserve team captain.[3] During his time at Everton, he spent a period in 2006 out on loan at Stockport County in League Two.[4] He signed a new 1-year deal with Everton in April 2006 to keep him at the club until the summer of 2007.

He was a regular captain for the reserves team and made three appearances in the Everton first team. He started in the Football League Cup game against Peterborough United on 20 September 2006 which Everton won 2–1, and came on as a substitute at half time against Luton Town in the following League Cup match which Everton won 4–0, as well as making his Premier League debut on 3 December 2006, being substituted on in the final minutes of a 2–0 victory over West Ham United at Goodison Park.[5]

He moved to Northampton Town on 31 January 2007 for an undisclosed fee and signed a two-year contract. He became a first choice centreback under Stuart Gray, and scored his first goal for the club against Rotherham United on 24 March.

In June 2009 he did not take up an offer of a new contract with Northampton Town. On 8 July, Hughes signed for League One club Walsall on a free transfer. He scored his first goal for the club in a 3–2 win at Wycombe Wanderers on 31 October 2009.[6]

He was offered a new contract by Walsall on 10 May 2010.[7]

North Queensland Fury

In June 2010, Hughes signed a contract with North Queensland Fury in the Australian A-League.[8] The move came as a surprise, after signing contract acceptance forms with Walsall just one month earlier.[7][9] He was given a role in the leadership group at the Fury upon arrival.[10]

"The decision to come and play in Australia has been life-changing for me. I believe I've improved as a footballer and grown as a man."

—Mark Hughes, speaking at the North Queensland Fury awards night on 18 February 2011.[11]

Hughes quickly made a name for himself in the A-League, having to turn down contracts offered by several other A-League clubs midway through the season, including Sydney FC.[10][12] In total, he scored four goals for the season including one penalty. He went on to be named the Fury's best player of the season at the club's awards night, in addition to receiving the People's Choice Award and the Player's Player Award.[11]

Hughes returned to England after North Queensland Fury ceased operations, and joined newly promoted League One club Bury, having to turn down an offer from A-League club Newcastle Jets.[13]

Bury

Hughes signed a two-year contract with Bury on 21 June 2011, subject to a medical and international clearing. This made him new manager Richie Barker's first signing for the club.[14] Hughes scored his first goal for Bury in the opening game of his second season at the club on 12 August 2012, where Bury suffered a 2–1 defeat to Middlesbrough in the League Cup.[15]

Despite being a regular starter for Bury in the 2012–13 season, Hughes was loaned out to League Two side Accrington Stanley on 31 January 2013 for the remainder of the season.[16] He made just five appearances for Accrington before returning to Bury early, after suffering a calf injury.[17]

Hughes was released by Bury at the end of the 2012–13 season, along with fifteen other players, following the club's relegation to League Two.[18] He made a total of 60 appearances for Bury in his two seasons at the club.

Morecambe

Following his release from Bury, Hughes signed a two-year deal with League Two club Morecambe on 9 July 2013, and was named as the new club captain on arrival.[19] He was then released by Morecambe on 7 May 2015.[20]

Stevenage

Following the release from Morecambe, Mark Hughes signed for Stevenage on 27 May 2015.[21] He was Teddy Sheringham's first summer signing. Hughes' first goal for the club was a late equaliser in a 2–2 draw with Newport County on 15 August 2015.[22]

Accrington Stanley

Accrington exercised a contractual option at the end of the 2017–18 season to retain him.[23]

Career statistics
As of 6 July 2017[24][25][26]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other[nb 1] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Stockport County 2005–06 League Two 3000000030
Everton 2006–07 Premier League 100020—30
Northampton Town 2006–07 League One 172000000172
2007–08 351402010421
2008–09 411203010471
Total 9346050201064
Walsall 2009–10 League One 261200000281
North Queensland Fury 2010–11 A-League 304———304
Bury 2011–12 League One 250101000270
2012–13 270301120331
Total 520402120601
Accrington Stanley 2012–13 League Two 5000000050
Morecambe 2013–14 League Two 445002010475
2014–15 342001010362
Total 787003020837
Accrington Stanley 2015–16 League Two 151000020171
2016–17 362403020452
Career total 3391916015110038020
  1. Constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League Trophy

Honours

Individual

References
  1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Accrington Stanley" (PDF). English Football League. p. 1. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  2. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0.
  3. "Mark Hughes profile". The Everton Way. Everton FC. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
  4. "Hatters secure Hughes loan deal". BBC Sport. 14 February 2006. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  5. Sinnott, John (3 December 2006). "Everton 2–0 West Ham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  6. "Wycombe 2 – 3 Walsall". BBC Sport. 31 October 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  7. "Walsall release seven including Dwayne Mattis". BBC Sport. 10 May 2010.
  8. "Edds, Hughes signings positive for North Queensland Fury". Tribal Football. 1 July 2010. Archived from the original on 3 July 2010. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  9. "Mark Hughes quits Walsall for Australia". BBC Sport. 28 June 2010. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  10. "Sydney FC chasing North Queensland Fury import Mark Hughes for 2011–2012 A-League season". Fox Sports. 26 October 2010. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  11. "Hughes scoops Fury awards". The World Game. SBS. 19 February 2011. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  12. "Hughes Shows Faith in Fury". FourFourTwo. 17 December 2010. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  13. "Abbas back on radar: Jets reopen talks with discarded Iraqi midfielder". Newcastle Herald. 22 March 2011. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
  14. "Mark Hughes signs..." Bury FC. 21 June 2011.
  15. Nelson, Craig (11 August 2012). "Bury 1 Middlesbrough 2". Bury Times. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  16. "Rachubka, Hunt, Aldred & Hughes join Accrington Stanley". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  17. "Bury dressing room galvanised by gallows humour – Hughes". Bury Times. Newsquest. 26 April 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  18. "Clearout at stricken Shakers". Sky Sports. BSkyB. 23 May 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  19. "Mark Hughes: Morecambe name new signing as captain". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 9 July 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  20. http://www.morecambefc.com/news/article/shrimps-release-eight-2444767.aspx
  21. http://www.stevenagefc.com/news/article/former-everton-youngster-morecambe-captain-mark-hughes-stevenage-fc-2471951.aspx
  22. "Newport 2–2 Stevenage". BBC. 15 August 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  23. "Accrington Stanley: Scott Brown and Aaron Chapman offered new deals". BBC Sport. 14 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  24. "Mark Hughes". Soccerbase. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  25. "Mark Hughes Bio, Stats, News". ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  26. "Mark Hughes club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  27. "PFA League Two Team of the Year: Five Luton Town players named in 2017–18 side". BBC Sport. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
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