Chris Hogg

Early career

Born in Middlesbrough, Hogg was educated at Conyers School, Yarm. He started his career with the York City youth system in 1997 and had a trial at Manchester United in 2000. He signed for FA Premier League team Ipswich Town for an initial six-figure compensation fee on 29 June 2001. The fee has since been reported as £150,000. He signed a professional contract with Ipswich on 12 August 2002.

Hogg joined the Third Division team Boston United on a one-month loan on 9 October 2003. He made his debut two days later in a 3–1 victory over Cheltenham Town. He made eight appearances before returning to Ipswich in November. He rejoined Boston on another one-month loan on 12 December and made five appearances during this spell, leaving the club in February 2004.

Hibernian

Because of the financial restrictions at Ipswich, Hogg was transferred to the Scottish Premier League club Hibernian on 31 January 2005, even though he was unavailable for two months. This was due to Hogg being severely injured whilst trying to prevent a car robbery in Middlesbrough earlier that month. Tony Mowbray, who was then the manager of Hibernian, was aware of Hogg from his time coaching at Ipswich. He made his debut in a 4–0 defeat to Hearts on 7 August. He signed a new contract with Hibernian in October that would expire in June 2009, with Mowbray saying "Chris is a model professional for a young man of 20. He deserves his new deal and I know there's more to come."

Hogg initially struggled to establish himself in the Hibernian first team, but he started to win a regular place from January 2007 under the management of John Collins. He played in the 2007 Scottish League Cup Final against Kilmarnock, which Hibernian won 5–1. Hogg formed a solid defensive partnership with the captain Rob Jones, and in June 2007 he signed a contract with Hibernian until June 2011. Hogg was made vice-captain at the start of the 2007–08 season following the departure of Scott Brown to Celtic. Hogg was voted the club's Player of the Year by both the fans and his fellow players at the end of the 2007–08 season.

During the early part of the 2008–09 season, Hogg played on for over a month despite suffering from concussion. After spending a few weeks resting, he admitted that he had been "foolish" to initially play on, in a desire to retain his first team place. Hogg was made the new captain at the beginning of the 2009–10 season, after Rob Jones moved to Scunthorpe United. Despite his status as captain, Hogg was dropped from the starting line-up early in the 2010–11 season to make way for new signing Francis Dickoh, who made his debut in a 1–1 draw against Inverness CT. the Hibernian manager John Hughes praised the performance of Dickoh, who offered a greater physical presence. After Hughes left the club in October, Hogg was reinstated to the starting line-up at right-back by the caretaker management team of Gareth Evans and Alistair Stevenson against Kilmarnock. Hogg scored the two goals that gave Hibs a 2–1 win. It was the first time in over four years that Hogg had scored a goal, his only previous senior goal also being scored against Kilmarnock.

Hogg lost his place in the team soon afterwards, however, and on 31 January 2011 he was released from his contract.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Hogg signed a short-term deal for Inverness Caledonian Thistle after he was released from his contract by Hibernian. He scored a goal on his debut for Inverness, in a Scottish Cup tie against Morton. Hogg left Inverness at the end of the 2010–11 season.

Following a spell training with his home town club, Middlesbrough, and a trial with Crewe Alexandra, he re-signed with Inverness on a one-year contract on 29 July. Hogg suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury in a match against Dundee United on 10 December 2011. His manager, Terry Butcher, described it as "one of the worst knee injuries we've seen". After a successful operation on his knee, Hogg was offered a new contract by Inverness in January 2012. Hogg made his first competitive appearance since recovering from injury on 4 May 2013, in a 4–3 win against Motherwell. Hogg's contract with Inverness CT expired at the end of the 2012–13 season. He elected to leave the club despite being offered a one-year extension.

In January 2014, Hogg signed for Needham Market. He left Needham in September 2015 to take up a full-time coaching role within Ipswich Town FC Academy

International career

While a York player he captained England at under-15 level, making his debut in a 1–0 defeat to Northern Ireland on 20 October 2000 in the Victory Shield. He made another appearance in the Victory Shield, also playing three games in the Walkers Under-15 Tournament and four games at the Montaigu Tournament. He made his under-17 debut after starting a 2–1 defeat to Italy on 12 July 2001 and went on to score his first goal in a 2–2 draw with Slovakia on 13 February 2002. He then played for the under-17s at the 2002 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship and played in five of a possible six games, with England finishing the tournament in third place. Hogg finished his time with the side with 11 caps and two goals. His debut for the under-18 team came after starting in a 4–0 victory over Tunisia on 14 November. He then played in three of England's four games at the 2003 UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup and his last appearance at this level came in a 0–0 draw with Switzerland on 12 March 2003. Hogg's debut for the under-19s was a 3–2 defeat to Germany on 24 April and went on to make a further three appearances for the side.

Style of play

Hogg plays as a centre back and has been described as "solid and self-reliant". The Crewe Alexandra manager, Dario Gradi, described Hogg as "decent in the air", despite his relative lack of height for a centre back.

Career statistics

Honours