Bryan Hughes

Bryan Hughes (born June 19 1976 in Liverpool) is an English football player who currently plays for Hull City as a midfielder.

Club career

Early career

Hughes initially made his name at Wrexham. Guiding them to the FA Cup quaterfinals in 96-97 with the goals he scored on that cup run.

Indeed, it was his performances in the League Cup for Wrexham that had caught the attention of the Blues.

Hughes scored against Colwyn Bay, Scunthorpe United, West Ham United and Birmingham before the Welsh outfit bowed out to Chesterfield - shortly after that defeat Trevor Francis paid £800,000 to take him to St Andrews.

Birmingham

Hughes made a total of 291 appearances for the Blues, scoring 42 goals, and was an essential part of Steve Bruce's side's play-off winning season in 2002 and their first and second seasons in the Premiership, before his switch to South-East London.

Unable to sign a new deal with Birmingham in July 2004, he moved to Charlton Athletic, signing a three year contract.

Charlton

Hughes made his debut against Bolton Wanderers as a substitute for Matt Holland who was injured in the fifth minute. In all, he made only 10 starts all season.

Included in the side for the third round of the Carling Cup, Hughes scored the winning penalty in a dramatic shootout to dump the holders out of the competition, which Mourinho had claimed it was technically a draw after 120 minutes.

In 2005/06 when he became the man who caused Jose Mourinho to lose his first match at Stamford Bridge - whatever the Chelsea boss said after the final whistle.

He actually played in all but five games of the Premiership campaign, passing 50 games for the club, and was on the scoresheet five times.

Despite a brave bundled home goal against Blackburn Rovers in November, his first team appearances came in fits and starts in the first half of the season, however, and it wasn't until the visit of Arsenal on Boxing Day that Hughes established himself as former manager Alan Curbishley made sweeping changes.

In a match against Birmingham in early January, Hughes scored against his former club with a header. He also set up Darren Bent for a second goal.

And then it was back to that cup record, when he bagged the clinching third against Brentford in round five, and he also notched a goal in the FA Cup replay at Middlesbrough.

Hughes bagged a brace in a 4-1 win over Rochdale at The Valley in January 2005 - his first strikes for the club, and was on target as the Addicks stuttered past Yeovil Town in the fourth round, but the Addicks to progress further and they were knocked out by Leicester City, 2-1.

Hughes did feature in the final two matches of the campaign, however, and played his part in the dramatic showdown with Crystal Palace, opening the scoring with a shot that went in off the post, as the Eagles were relegated.

On December 30 2006, Hughes scored the last-minute winning goal against Aston Villa providing new manager Alan Pardew with his first win for the club.

Hull City

Hughes joined Championship club Hull City on a free transfer from Charlton Athletic on a three year deal on June 29 2007, and scored on his home debut in a 1-0 win over Newcastle United.^[1]

Notes

External links

• Bryan Hughes career stats at Soccerbase
• PRESS CONFERENCE - Official Site

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