Stephen Hughes (footballer, born 1976)

For other people named Stephen Hughes, see Stephen Hughes (disambiguation).

Stephen John Hughes (born 18 September 1976) is an English former professional footballer and pundit.

Stephen Hughes

Hughes with Fulham in 1999
Personal information
Full name	Stephen John Hughes[1]
Date of birth	(1976-09-18) 18 September 1976 (age 48)[1]
Place of birth	Reading, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
0000–1995	Arsenal
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	(6)
2008–2009	Walsall	32	(2)
Total		261	(13)
International career
1994	England U18	4	(1)
1997–1998	England U21	8	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He played as a midfielder, notably in the Premier League for Arsenal, Everton and Charlton Athletic, and in the Football League for Fulham, Watford, Coventry City and Walsall. He was capped at both England U18 and U21 levels.

Club career

Hughes started his career at Arsenal, with whom he won the FA Youth Cup in 1994.^[2] He then made 16 first team appearances to earn a winners medal as Arsenal won the 1998 Premier League title. Hughes' highlight for that season was scoring twice as Arsenal defeated Chelsea 2–0 at Highbury.^[3] He also made six 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] Altogether with Arsenal he made 76 senior appearances with 40 of them as a substitute, and scored seven goals.^[6][7]

Hughes then moved to Everton in March 2000, for a fee of £3 million.^[8] 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,^[9] having scored his two Everton goals against them; once in the league^[10] and once in the FA Cup.^[11] 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.^[12] but made no appearances that season and subsequently left on a free transfer to join Coventry City in July 2004.^[13] He went on to become the club's captain and make 144 appearances.

Personal life

After his retirement from football, Hughes returned to the Gunners as a commentator and pundit for Arsenal Player.^[14][15][16]

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
	1999–2000		2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	0
	Arsenal total		49	4	4	0	14	1	2	0	7	1	0	0	5	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	76	7	6	0
Fulham (loan)	1999–2000	First Division	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	0	1	0
Everton	1999–2000	Premier League	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
	Everton total		29	1	4	0	2	1	4	0	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	33	2	7	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
	Watford total		15	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	17	0	2	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
	Coventry City total		133	6	16	1	4	1	0	0	7	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	144	8	17	1
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^[2][17]

• Premier League: 1997–98^[18]
• FA Charity Shield: 1998
• FA Youth Cup: 1993–94

Individual

• Coventry City Player of the Year: 2004–05^[19]
• Coventry City Players' Player of the Year: 2004–05^[19]

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0.
2. "The FA Youth Cup". Arsenal F.C. official website. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
3. "Arsenal outgun Chelsea". BBC Sport. 8 February 1998. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
4. "Wreh the wrecker of Wolves". The Independent. 6 April 1998. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
5. "Hughes rides Arsenal luck". The Independent. 13 September 1998. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2013.
6. Hall, Damian (19 June 2003). "Promised much, delivered little". When Saturday Comes. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
7. Ward, Rupert. "Total appearance records of selected former Arsenal players". Arseweb. Retrieved 9 August 2011.
8. "Hughes joins Everton". BBC Sport. 7 March 2000. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
9. "Watford seal Hughes deal". BBC Sport. 3 July 2001. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
10. "Moore's double as Hughes stars". BBC Sport. 1 April 2000. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
11. "Everton snatch Watford win". BBC Sport. 6 January 2001. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
12. "Addicks make double signing". BBC Sport. 14 August 2003. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
13. "Wetherall snubs Sky Blues". BBC Sport. 6 July 2004. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
14. "Arsenal Player" – via Twitter.
15. "NextGen: Watch it LIVE on Arsenal Player". Arsenal.com.
16. "Arsenal Matchday Show" – via Twitter.
17. "Stephen Hughes". Arsenal.com.
18. "Stephen Hughes: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
19. "Double award joy for Hughes". Coventry City F.C. official website. 20 May 2005. Archived from the original on 2 February 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2012.

External links

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