Bryan Hughes

For those of a similar name, see Brian Hughes (disambiguation).

Bryan Hughes

Personal information
Full name	Bryan Hughes
Date of birth	19 June 1976 (1976-06-19)
Place of birth	Liverpool, England,
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position	Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current club	Accrington Stanley
Number	27
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1994–1997	Wrexham	97	(14)
1997–2004	Birmingham City	247	(34)
2004–2007	Charlton Athletic	74	(5)
2007–2010	Hull City	41	(1)
2009	→ Derby County (loan)	3	(0)
2010–2011	Burton Albion	1	(0)
2011	Grimsby Town	3	(0)
2011	ÍBV Vestmannaeyjar	5	(0)
2011–	Accrington Stanley	12	(2)
National team
1997	Football League Under-21 XI	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11:55, 22 January 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals).

Bryan Hughes (born 19 June 1976) is an English professional footballer and first team coach for Football League Two side Accrington Stanley. He played in the Premier League for Birmingham City, Charlton Athletic and Hull City. He has also played in the Football League for Wrexham, Derby County and Burton Albion, in the Conference for Grimsby Town, and for Icelandic club ÍBV Vestmannaeyjar.

Club career

Wrexham

Born in Liverpool, Merseyside, Hughes initially made his name at Wrexham, guiding them to the FA Cup quarter finals in 1996–97 with the goals he scored on that cup run. It was his performances in the FA Cup for Wrexham that caught the attention of Birmingham City. 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 City

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 Premier League, before his switch to South-East London. Whilst at Birmingham he played in the 2001 Football League Cup Final as a substitute. He was credited for scoring the quickest goal in British football in the new millennium when he found the net after 12 seconds against Huddersfield Town on Monday 3 January 2000.^{[citation needed]} Unable to sign a new deal with Birmingham, in July 2004 he moved to Charlton Athletic, signing a three year contract.

Charlton Athletic

Hughes made his debut against Bolton Wanderers as a substitute for Matt Holland who was injured in the fifth minute. He bagged a brace in a 4–1 FA Cup 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 failed to progress further and they were knocked out by Leicester City, 2–1. In all, Hughes made only 10 starts all season. He 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.

In 2005–06 he became the man who caused José Mourinho to lose his first match at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea manager. 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 — though Mourinho claimed it was technically a draw after 120 minutes.

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, and it was not until the visit of Arsenal on Boxing Day that Hughes established himself as 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.

His scoring record in cup competitions continued, as he bagged the clinching third against Brentford in round five of the League Cup, and he also notched a goal in the FA Cup replay at Middlesbrough. He actually played in all but five games of the Premier League campaign, passing 50 games for the club, and was on the scoresheet five times.

On 30 December 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 29 June 2007, and scored on his home debut in a 1–0 friendly win over Newcastle United. He mainly played on the left wing for the majority of the season, but played in his preferred central midfield role in their successful play-off games. He scored his first league goal for the Tigers in a 5–0 win against Southampton. He did not play as often in the next season as Hull made it into the Premier League. He was not given a squad number at the start of the 2009–10 season.

Hughes signed for Derby County on a month-long loan on 22 October 2009. Hughes made 3 appearances before returning to Hull. Hughes agreed to mutually terminate his contract with Hull on 28 January 2010 but left on good terms with the club.

Burton Albion

After trials with Championship club Cardiff City, Huddersfield Town, and Walsall,^{[citation needed]} Hughes signed a one-month deal with Football League Two side Burton Albion on 14 December 2010. He made his debut on 1 January 2011 in a 1-1 home draw with Shrewsbury Town in which he was substituted in the 56th minute by Aaron Webster. That was his only appearance for the club and he left when his contract expired.

Grimsby Town

After a trial with Conference National team Grimsby Town, in which he played in a behind-closed-doors friendly with Lincoln City, Hughes signed for the club on 31 January 2011 until the end of the season. He made his debut on 1 February in a 2-2 away draw with Southport. A few weeks later Town's manager and key man in bringing Hughes to the club Neil Woods was sacked. He went on to only play three times for The Mariners but was among a number of players released at the end of the season by the club's new managerial duo Rob Scott and Paul Hurst.^{[citation needed]}

ÍBV Vestmannaeyjar

On 10 May 2011, Hughes joined ÍBV Vestmannaeyjar, a team from the Westman Islands in the south-west of Iceland that plays in the Pepsideild this season. ÍBV also plays in the UEFA Europa League this season.

Accrington Stanley

On 27 October 2011, Hughes joined League Two side Accrington Stanley on non-contract terms.

International career

He made one appearance for a Football League under-21 representative team in a friendly against an Italian Serie B under-21 team.

External links

• Bryan Hughes career stats at Soccerbase
• Bryan Hughes profile at Hull City website