Aaron William Hughes is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays for
Australian club Melbourne City and the Northern Ireland national team as a
defender. Hughes plays mainly at centre back, but can also be used at right back
or left back, as well as anywhere in midfield. He is renowned for his
disciplined defending, having made over 450 Premier League appearances without
getting sent off, which is the second-most in the history of the
league, behind only Ryan Giggs. He began his career with Newcastle
United, making his debut in 1997 and playing 279 games for the club across
all competitions. He remained with the club until 2005, when he was transferred
to Aston Villa for £1 million, and two years later he was signed by his former
international manager Lawrie Sanchez to play for Fulham. He spent six-and-a-half
seasons at Fulham, reaching the UEFA Europa League final in 2010. After
leaving the club in January 2014, he had brief spells in the Championship with
Queens Park Rangers and Brighton & Hove Albion, then joined Melbourne City in
July 2015. Hughes made his full international debut
aged 18 in 1999 and has since earned 96 caps for Northern Ireland, the second
most in the nation's history, behind goalkeeper Pat Jennings. Hughes
captained the national team from 2003 up to international retirement in 2011, but
returned to the team the following year. Club career
= Newcastle United= Born in Cookstown, County Tyrone, Hughes
came through the ranks at Newcastle United. He made his first team debut in
the Camp Nou in a match between Newcastle and Barcelona on 26 November
1997, replacing Philippe Albert at half-time in a 1–0 UEFA Champions League
defeat. His league debut came against Sheffield Wednesday on 10 January 1998,
playing the entirety of a 2–1 defeat at Hillsborough. Although he featured in
the earlier rounds, including the semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur at
Old Trafford in the latter campaign as a 36th-minute replacement for the injured
Steve Howey, Hughes was not included in Newcastle's squads for their FA Cup
Final defeats in 1998 and 1999. He established himself in the team in
the 1999–2000 season under Ruud Gullit and later Bobby Robson. Hughes scored
his first goal for the club on 19 September 1999, heading Kieron Dyer's
cross past Kevin Pressman to open an 8–0 win over Sheffield Wednesday at St.
James' Park, and added his other goal of the season six months later to begin a
2–0 victory at Everton, dispossessing David Weir from six yards out and
scoring past Paul Gerrard. Before the 2001–02 season, Hughes
featured as Newcastle reached the final of that summer's UEFA Intertoto Cup. In
the semi-final first leg away to 1860 Munich at the Olympiastadion, he headed
in Wayne Quinn's cross in the 83rd minute to win the match 3–2. In the
second leg of the final on 21 August, he scored a last-minute equaliser for a 4–4
draw against Troyes, but his team lost on the away goals rule. On 27 January
2002, he confirmed a 4–2 win at Peterborough United in the fourth round
of the FA Cup, again heading in a cross from Quinn.
= Aston Villa= On 20 May 2005, Hughes was sold to
fellow Premier League side Aston Villa for a fee of £1 million, on a three-year
contract. He made his debut on 13 August, as they began the season with a
2–2 draw against Bolton Wanderers at Villa Park, all four goals coming in the
first nine minutes. During his time in the West Midlands, he made 64
appearances in all competitions for his club.
= Fulham= On 27 June 2007, Hughes was announced as
a new signing for Premier League side Fulham. He was quoted as saying "I’m
delighted to be joining Fulham and am looking forward to working with Lawrie
Sanchez at club level. I enjoyed my time at Aston Villa but when this opportunity
presented itself I had no hesitation in coming to discuss the Manager’s
ambitions for the Club, which obviously were of great interest to me. I’m happy
to have signed before the start of pre-season, which gives me the
opportunity of being with the lads on day one, when we come back to training
next week." He took the captain's armband in the absence of Brian McBride
and latterly, Danny Murphy. On 4 December 2009, Hughes signed a new deal
with the club which would see him remain at Craven Cottage until the summer of
2013. He scored his first goal for Fulham on
26 December 2010, heading a Simon Davies cross to open a 1–3 defeat to West Ham
United at Craven Cottage. His second goal came against Dnipro in the Europa
League on 18 August 2011, set up by Matthew Briggs for the first goal of a
3–0 victory. On 14 September 2012, Hughes signed a
one-year contract extension with Fulham, keeping him at the club until 2014. He
scored his third goal for Fulham, in his third different competition, against
Manchester United in the fourth round of the FA Cup on 26 January 2013, heading
Giorgos Karagounis' cross at the end of a 4–1 defeat at Old Trafford.
= Queens Park Rangers= After 17 appearances for Fulham earlier
in the season, on 31 January 2014, Hughes joined Queens Park Rangers of the
Championship on a free transfer. Manager Harry Redknapp signed him on a
short-term deal until the end of the season, saying that Hughes would be
useful in a defence suffering from injuries, while the player himself
refuted suggestion that he was taking a step down in his career. Redknapp had
previously tried to sign Hughes from Newcastle to West Ham United.
He started on the bench a day later when the side drew 3-3 against Burnley, and
made his debut on 10 February when they lost 1-0 to Derby. On 24 May, Hughes was
an unused substitute as QPR earned promotion to the Premier League with a
1–0 victory over Derby County in the play-off final at Wembley. On 1 July
2014, he was among seven players released by QPR following the expiration
of their contracts. = Brighton & Hove Albion=
Following his release from QPR, Hughes signed a one-year contract with fellow
Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion on 14 July, becoming Sami Hyypiä's first
signing at the club. He made his debut on 9 August as they began the campaign
with a 0–1 home loss to Sheffield Wednesday at the Falmer Stadium. He only
played 13 matches across all competitions, and did not feature at all
after January 2015. On 27 April, before the season had finished, it was
announced that Hughes and compatriot Paddy McCourt would be released at its
conclusion. = Melbourne City=
On 13 July 2015, it was announced that Hughes had signed a one-year contract
for Melbourne City of the A-League. He credited Damien Duff, his former Fulham
teammate, with persuading him to make the move.
International career Hughes made his debut for Northern
Ireland on 25 March 1998, against Slovakia. He first captained his country
on 17 April 2002, against Spain in Belfast. He was the regular captain from
2003 until his retirement in 2011, leading the team in notable wins over
England, Spain and Sweden. With Hughes injured, Fulham teammate Chris Baird was
given the honour of captaining Northern Ireland for Nigel Worthington's first
games as manager. Hughes scored his only international goal, thirteen and a half
years and 77 caps after his debut, against the Faroe Islands on 10 August
2011, opening a 4–0 win in qualification for UEFA Euro 2012 at Windsor Park.
He announced his retirement from international football in September
2011; injury meant that he could not play in the final Euro 2012 qualifying
matches, so he retired on 79 caps. On 19 February 2012, Hughes announced his
return to international football, and ten days later played in Michael
O'Neill's first match as manager, a 3–0 home friendly defeat to Norway. On 31
May 2015, Hughes earned his 96th cap by captaining the team to a 1–1 friendly
draw against Qatar at Gresty Road in Crewe, surpassing his former teammate
David Healy to become Northern Ireland's most capped outfield player of all time,
and second overall to goalkeeper Pat Jennings.
Honours Fulham
UEFA Europa League: 2009–10 Queens Park Rangers
Football League Championship play-offs: 2013–14
Career statistics = Club=
As of 12:56, 28 March 2015 2011–12 appearances includes match in
Europa League, away to Dnipro on 25 August 2011, which is currently not
included on Soccerbase website. = International=
As of 31 May 2015. References
External links Aaron Hughes career statistics at
Soccerbase Profile at Irish FA