Aaron Hughes
Encyclopedia
Aaron William Hughes is a Northern Irish
footballer who plays for Fulham
. Hughes is able to play centre back, right back or left back, as well as anywhere in midfield. He is usually deployed in a centre half position for his club and country, and is the current Northern Ireland captain. Hughes is renowned for his disciplined defending, as he holds a record of making over 400 Premier League appearances without getting sent off, which is the third most in the history of the league.
, County Tyrone
, Hughes came through the Newcastle United
ranks to become a regular in the Newcastle starting eleven. He made his first team début in the Camp Nou
in a match between Newcastle and Barcelona
on 26 November 1997. His league début came against Sheffield Wednesday
later in the same season. His first team appearances after this were few and far between, yet he had established himself in the team by the 1999–2000
season. During his time on Tyneside
, Hughes appeared 279 times for the Magpies in all competitions and scored seven goals. He held the record as the Magpies' youngest debutant in European competition until it was broken by Andy Carroll
in November 2006.
Hughes was awarded the number 18 shirt by Ruud Gullit
at the start of the 1999–2000 season while at Newcastle. Since then he has never worn another number at club level. Even at international level he has worn the number since 2002.
for a fee of £1m. During his time in the West Midlands
, he made 64 appearances in all competitions for his club.
.
Hughes 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 will see the Northern Ireland captain remain at Craven Cottage
until the summer of 2013.
He scored his first goal for Fulham on 26 December 2010, against West Ham United
at Craven Cottage.
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 first and only international goal, thirteen and a half years and 77 caps after his début, against the Faroe Islands
on 10 August 2011. Hughes announced his retirement from international football in September 2011. Injury meant that he could not play in the final Euro 2012 qualifying matches, ending his international career after 79 caps.
|1996–97
||rowspan="9"|Newcastle United
||rowspan="9"|Premier League||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0
|-
|1997–98
||4||0||1||0||1||0||2||0||8||0
|-
|1998–99
||14||0||2||0||1||0||0||0||17||0
|-
|1999–00||27||2||4||0||0||0||3||0||34||2
|-
|2000–01
||35||0||2||0||3||0||0||0||40||0
|-
|2001–02
||34||0||5||1||3||0||6||2||48||3
|-
|2002–03
||35||1||1||0||0||0||12||0||48||1
|-
|2003–04
||34||0||2||0||0||0||11||0||47||0
|-
|2004–05
||22||1||2||0||2||0||10||0||36||1
|-
!colspan="3"|Newcastle United Total
!205!!4!!19!!1!!10!!0!!44!!2!!278!!7
|-
|2005–06||rowspan="2"|Aston Villa
||rowspan="2"|Premier League||35||0||4||0||2||0||0||0||41||0
|-
|2006–07||19||0||1||0||3||0||0||0||23||0
|-
!colspan="3"|Aston Villa Total
!54!!0!!5!!0!!5!!0!!0!!0!!64!!0
|-
|2007–08||rowspan="5"|Fulham
||rowspan="5"|Premier League||30||0||1||0||1||0||0||0||32||0
|-
|2008–09||38||0||5||0||1||0||0||0||44||0
|-
|2009–10
||34||0||5||0||0||0||17||0||56||0
|-
|2010–11||38||1||3||0||2||0||0||0||43||1
|-
|2011–12||7||0||0||0||0||0||8||1||15||1
|-
!colspan="3"|Fulham Total
!147!!1!!14!!0!!4!!0!!25!!1!!190!!2
|-
406||5||38||1||19||0||69||3||532||9
2011-12 appearances includes match in Uefa Cup, away to Dnipro on 25/8/2011, which is currently not included on Soccerbase website.
|1998||5||0
|-
|1999||5||0
|-
|2000||6||0
|-
|2001||6||0
|-
|2002||4||0
|-
|2003||8||0
|-
|2004||6||0
|-
|2005||5||0
|-
|2006||5||0
|-
|2007||6||0
|-
|2008||6||0
|-
|2009||8||0
|-
|2010||4||0
|-
|2011||4||1
|-
|Unknown||1||0
|-
!Total||79||1
|}
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
footballer who plays for Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
. Hughes is able to play centre back, right back or left back, as well as anywhere in midfield. He is usually deployed in a centre half position for his club and country, and is the current Northern Ireland captain. Hughes is renowned for his disciplined defending, as he holds a record of making over 400 Premier League appearances without getting sent off, which is the third most in the history of the league.
Newcastle United
Born in CookstownCookstown
Cookstown may refer to either of the following:*Cookstown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland*Cookstown, Ontario, Canada*Cookstown, New Jersey, United States...
, County Tyrone
County Tyrone
Historically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610-1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on...
, Hughes came through the Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
ranks to become a regular in the Newcastle starting eleven. He made his first team début in the Camp Nou
Camp Nou
Camp Nou , sometimes called "the Nou Camp" in English, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The stadium, located in the west of the city, has been the home of FC Barcelona since its construction in 1957....
in a match between Newcastle and Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
on 26 November 1997. His league début came against Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
later in the same season. His first team appearances after this were few and far between, yet he had established himself in the team by the 1999–2000
FA Premier League 1999-00
The FA Premier League 1999–2000 season was the eighth season of the FA Premier League, and Manchester United secured their sixth Premiership title. Like the previous season, they lost only three league games all season...
season. During his time on Tyneside
Tyneside
Tyneside is a conurbation in North East England, defined by the Office of National Statistics, which is home to over 80% of the population of Tyne and Wear. It includes the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside — all settlements on...
, Hughes appeared 279 times for the Magpies in all competitions and scored seven goals. He held the record as the Magpies' youngest debutant in European competition until it was broken by Andy Carroll
Andy Carroll
Andrew Thomas "Andy" Carroll is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Liverpool and the England national team....
in November 2006.
Hughes was awarded the number 18 shirt by Ruud Gullit
Ruud Gullit
OON is a Dutch football manager and former football player, who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the captain of the Netherlands national team that was victorious at Euro 88 and was also a member of the squad for the 1990 World Cup. He was named the European Footballer of the...
at the start of the 1999–2000 season while at Newcastle. Since then he has never worn another number at club level. Even at international level he has worn the number since 2002.
Aston Villa
On 20 May 2005, Hughes was sold to fellow Premier League side Aston VillaAston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
for a fee of £1m. During his time in the West Midlands
West Midlands (region)
The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...
, 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 FulhamFulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
.
Hughes was quoted as saying "I’m delighted to be joining Fulham and am looking forward to working with Lawrie Sanchez
Lawrie Sanchez
Lawrence Philip "Lawrie" Sanchez is a former Northern Irish football manager, and a former player. He is currently the manager of League Two side Barnet...
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
Brian McBride
Brian Robert McBride is a retired American soccer player who finished his career for Chicago Fire in Major League Soccer , but spent the majority of his time in MLS playing for the Columbus Crew. For much of his career he played in Europe, notably for Fulham in the English Premier League...
and latterly, Danny Murphy. On 4 December 2009, Hughes signed a new deal with the club which will see the Northern Ireland captain remain at Craven Cottage
Craven Cottage
Craven Cottage is the name of a football stadium in the Hammersmith and Fulham area that has been the home ground of the association football team Fulham F.C. since 1896....
until the summer of 2013.
He scored his first goal for Fulham on 26 December 2010, against West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
at Craven Cottage.
International career
Hughes made his debut for Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland national football team
The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...
on 25 March 1998, against Slovakia
Slovakia national football team
The Slovakia national football team represents Slovakia in association football and is controlled by the Slovak Football Association , the governing body for football in Slovakia. Slovakia's home stadium is Štadión Pasienky and their head coach is Vladimír Weiss...
. He first captained his country on 17 April 2002, against Spain
Spain national football team
The Spain national football team represents Spain in international association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Vicente del Bosque...
in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
. He was the regular captain from 2003 until his retirement in 2011, leading the team in notable wins over England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
, Spain and Sweden
Sweden national football team
The Swedish national football team represents Sweden in association football and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association, the governing body for Football in Sweden. Sweden's home ground is Råsunda Stadium in Stockholms län and their head coach is Erik Hamrén. Sweden made their first...
. With Hughes injured, Fulham teammate Chris Baird
Chris Baird
Christopher Patrick "Chris" Baird is a Northern Irish footballer who plays for Fulham and the Northern Ireland national football team.-Southampton:...
was given the honour of captaining Northern Ireland for Nigel Worthington
Nigel Worthington
Nigel Worthington is a former Northern Ireland international footballer and manager.He was manager of the Northern Ireland national team from 2007 until after their final Euro 2012 qualifying campaign match against Italy in October 2011.As a player, he was a left full back and occasional left...
's first games as manager. Hughes scored his first and only international goal, thirteen and a half years and 77 caps after his début, against the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands national football team
The Faroe Islands national football team represents the Faroe Islands in association football and is controlled by the Faroe Islands Football Association, the governing body for football in the Faroe Islands. The Faroe Islands became a member of FIFA in 1988 and UEFA in 1990 and are the third...
on 10 August 2011. Hughes announced his retirement from international football in September 2011. Injury meant that he could not play in the final Euro 2012 qualifying matches, ending his international career after 79 caps.
International goals
- Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 10 August 2011 Windsor Park Windsor ParkWindsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland and the home ground of Linfield F.C. and the Northern Ireland national football team. It is also where the Irish Cup and Irish League Cup finals are played.-History:...
, BelfastBelfastBelfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
1–0 4–0 Euro 2012 qualifying UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group CThis page shows the standings and results for Group C of the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying tournament.- Standings :- Results and fixtures :Group C fixtures were negotiated between the participants in a meeting held in Belgrade on 8 March 2010.----...
Club
|-|1996–97
FA Premier League 1996-97
The 1996–97 FA Premier League season was the fifth season of the competition, since its formation in 1992. The majority of the season was contested by the reigning champions, Manchester United, along with Newcastle United, Arsenal and Liverpool...
||rowspan="9"|Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
||rowspan="9"|Premier League||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0
|-
|1997–98
FA Premier League 1997-98
The FA Premier League 1997-98 season saw Arsenal lift their first league title since 1991, and also become only the second team to win the 'double' of the FA Cup and league title twice...
||4||0||1||0||1||0||2||0||8||0
|-
|1998–99
FA Premier League 1998-99
The 1998–99 FA Premier League season was the seventh season of the Premier League, the top division of English football, since its establishment in 1992. The season will always be remembered as the one in which Manchester United won a unique treble of the league title, the FA Cup and the European Cup...
||14||0||2||0||1||0||0||0||17||0
|-
|1999–00||27||2||4||0||0||0||3||0||34||2
|-
|2000–01
FA Premier League 2000-01
The FA Premier League 2000-01 season was the third season running which ended with Manchester United as champions and Arsenal as runners-up. Sir Alex Ferguson became the first manager to win three successive English league titles, although three teams had achieved that feat in the past - but with...
||35||0||2||0||3||0||0||0||40||0
|-
|2001–02
FA Premier League 2001-02
The 2001–02 FA Premier League season was the tenth season of the competition. It began with a new sponsor, Barclaycard, and was titled the FA Barclaycard Premiership, replacing the previous sponsor, Carling...
||34||0||5||1||3||0||6||2||48||3
|-
|2002–03
FA Premier League 2002-03
The 2002–03 FA Premier League was the eleventh season of the Premier League, the top division in English football. The first matches were played on 17 August 2002 and the last were played on 11 May 2003...
||35||1||1||0||0||0||12||0||48||1
|-
|2003–04
FA Premier League 2003-04
The 2003–04 FA Premier League season was the twelfth season of the Premier League. In the end, Arsenal went through the season without a single defeat – only the second ever team to do so and were crowned champions once more, at the expense of Chelsea, who had spent heavily throughout the...
||34||0||2||0||0||0||11||0||47||0
|-
|2004–05
FA Premier League 2004-05
The 2004–05 season of the FA Premier League began on 14 August 2004 and ended on 15 May 2005. Arsenal were the defending champions after going unbeaten the previous season....
||22||1||2||0||2||0||10||0||36||1
|-
!colspan="3"|Newcastle United Total
!205!!4!!19!!1!!10!!0!!44!!2!!278!!7
|-
|2005–06||rowspan="2"|Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
||rowspan="2"|Premier League||35||0||4||0||2||0||0||0||41||0
|-
|2006–07||19||0||1||0||3||0||0||0||23||0
|-
!colspan="3"|Aston Villa Total
!54!!0!!5!!0!!5!!0!!0!!0!!64!!0
|-
|2007–08||rowspan="5"|Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
||rowspan="5"|Premier League||30||0||1||0||1||0||0||0||32||0
|-
|2008–09||38||0||5||0||1||0||0||0||44||0
|-
|2009–10
Fulham F.C. season 2009–10
The 2009–10 season was Fulham's 112th professional season and their 9th consecutive season in the top flight of English football, the Premier League, since their return in 2001. They also competed in European competition for the second time in their history, in the newly formed UEFA Europa League...
||34||0||5||0||0||0||17||0||56||0
|-
|2010–11||38||1||3||0||2||0||0||0||43||1
|-
|2011–12||7||0||0||0||0||0||8||1||15||1
|-
!colspan="3"|Fulham Total
!147!!1!!14!!0!!4!!0!!25!!1!!190!!2
|-
406||5||38||1||19||0||69||3||532||9
2011-12 appearances includes match in Uefa Cup, away to Dnipro on 25/8/2011, which is currently not included on Soccerbase website.
International
|-|1998||5||0
|-
|1999||5||0
|-
|2000||6||0
|-
|2001||6||0
|-
|2002||4||0
|-
|2003||8||0
|-
|2004||6||0
|-
|2005||5||0
|-
|2006||5||0
|-
|2007||6||0
|-
|2008||6||0
|-
|2009||8||0
|-
|2010||4||0
|-
|2011||4||1
|-
|Unknown||1||0
|-
!Total||79||1
|}