Emlyn Hughes

Early life

Emlyn Hughes was the son of Fred Hughes, a Great Britain, Wales, Barrow, and Workington Town rugby league footballer.

Blackpool:1964–1967

After being refused a trial by local side Barrow, Hughes joined Blackpool, then a first division side. He made his début for Blackpool in 1964 playing alongside Jimmy Armfield and Alan Ball, initially as an inside forward, but later at left-half.

1960s

In February 1967, after just 28 appearances for Blackpool, Hughes joined Liverpool for £65,000, (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £1,940,000 in 2013). Manager Bill Shankly was stopped in his car by the police as he drove Hughes to Liverpool for the first time and said: "Don't you know who I've got in this car? The captain of England!" The policeman peered through the window and said that he didn't recognise the man, to which Shankly replied: "No, but you will!" In the future Hughes did indeed go on to captain his country.

Hughes made his Reds début in the 2–1 league win over Stoke City at Anfield on 4 March 1967. He scored his first goal in the 6–0 thrashing of Newcastle United at Anfield on 26 August the same year.

Hughes settled into the midfield at Liverpool during a transitional period for the club, earning the nickname Crazy Horse after an illegal rugby tackle on Newcastle United winger Albert Bennett. Liverpool did not win any honours in his first four seasons there but Hughes was seen as a forerunner of the future which Shankly had in mind. His versatility was noticed too – he filled in at left back and central defence, a trait which was spotted by England coach Alf Ramsey in 1969.

Ramsey gave Hughes his début on 5 November of that year, playing him at left back in a friendly against the Netherlands in the Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam. England won 1–0. He played in the next game in the same position. Hughes scored his only international goal against Wales, the opening goal of a 3–0 British Home Championship victory at Ninian Park in 1972.

1970

For Hughes, 1970 was an important year in his career. After Liverpool were humiliated by Second division side Watford in the quarter finals of the FA Cup, Shankly made a decision to clear out many of the senior players who had won two League Championship titles, an FA Cup, and reached a European Cup Winners Cup final, and recruit younger players to replace them. Hughes, not yet 23, survived the cull, together with Ian Callaghan and Tommy Smith, as the new recruits who would help re-establish Liverpool's dominance in the 1970s began to arrive.

Meanwhile, England were about to fly to Mexico and defend the World Cup won four years earlier. Hughes had six caps by the time Ramsey included him in his provisional squad of 27 which flew to South America for altitude-acclimatising friendly games against Colombia and Ecuador. Hughes featured in neither game, but was selected in the final squad of 22. He was the youngest player selected by Ramsey, and the only Liverpool player in the squad.

Along with Nobby Stiles, Hughes was one of only two outfield players who did not feature in any game as England progressed to the quarter finals where they were defeated by West Germany. Questions were raised about Ramsey's decisions during the game. He controversially withdrew Bobby Charlton and Martin Peters in the second half, but retained a clearly exhausted Terry Cooper, who played at left back the entire 120 minutes although Hughes was available to replace him. Hughes would ultimately never feature at a World Cup.

1970–1971

In the 1970–71 season, Liverpool reached the FA Cup final, losing 2–1 after extra-time to Arsenal, who completed the then-rare 'double' of League title and FA Cup. Hughes was barely able to conceal his devastation as he collected his loser's medal, about which BBC commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme remarked: "Emlyn Hughes there, really absolutely sick." By this time, Hughes had established a reputation for charging upfield from his defensive midfield position on long, complicated runs, and constantly berating referees.

1972

In 2008, Tommy Smith claimed in his autobiography that on 8 May 1972, Hughes told him that he had been speaking to a number of Arsenal players who were "willing to throw a match for £50 a man." Liverpool subsequently failed to win the vital match at Highbury, which allowed Derby County to snatch the title instead. Smith wrote that he was disgusted with what Hughes said and never spoke to him again. Smith maintained that the only witness was Ian Callaghan. Smith also stated that he wasn't sure whether Hughes was suggesting that they bribe the Arsenal players or had told him this so he (Smith) would be implicated in a scheme undertaken by others. Smith said he never told Shankly because it would have "broken his heart".

Hughes appeared again for England in the quarter-final of the 1972 European Championships, again under Ramsey, again facing West Germany, again with the same result – victory for West Germany.

1973–1974

In 1973, Hughes won his first League Championship title with Liverpool FC and his first European honour with the UEFA Cup. Then after scoring goals in a memorable win over Merseyside rivals Everton at Goodison Park, Hughes was made Liverpool captain after Tommy Smith had a publicised falling-out with Shankly, who nonetheless kept him in the team. Smith and Hughes' relationship soured as a consequence, although it never affected their football.

In October 1973, Ramsey selected Hughes to be left back as England entertained Poland at Wembley. Victory would guarantee a place at the 1974 World Cup finals. Anything else would take Poland through. England dominated the match but were denied constantly by the charmed antics of Polish goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski. Then Poland had a breakaway after a misplaced tackle by Norman Hunter in the second half, and only Hughes and goalkeeper Peter Shilton were back to defend. The ball was spread across to Jan Domarski who shaped to shoot from the edge of the area. Hughes flew into a last-ditch tackle but Domarski's shot evaded his block and slipped under the body of Shilton and into the net. England equalised through an Allan Clarke penalty but couldn't find the winning goal.

At the end of the 1973–74 season, Liverpool reached the FA Cup final and beat Newcastle United 3–0, with Hughes receiving the trophy from The Princess Anne. Later that month Hughes was also appointed England captain – as successor to Bobby Moore – by caretaker boss Joe Mercer. Hughes led out England for the first time on 11 May 1974 in a Home International against Wales in Cardiff, which England won 2–0.

1975

Hughes captained England for every one of Mercer's seven games in charge, and initially maintained the role when Don Revie was appointed as Ramsey's permanent successor. However, after the first two qualifiers for the 1976 European Championships, Revie decided to drop Hughes from the team, giving the captaincy to Hughes' former Blackpool teammate Alan Ball.

With Liverpool now under the guidance of Bob Paisley following Shankly's retirement, Hughes focused on his club football. Liverpool won nothing in 1975, but achieved another League Championship and UEFA Cup double in 1976.

1977

The 1977–78 season began with a shock recall to England by Don Revie, who played Hughes in the second qualifier for the 1978 World Cup, under national captain and clubmate Kevin Keegan. Hughes was now predominantly a central defender, and played in a tactically-disastrous team against Italy in Rome which marked the lowest point of Revie's tenure as England manager. England lost 2–0.

Revie selected Hughes for further games through the early part of 1977, during which time Liverpool were heading towards an unprecedented 'treble' of League Championship, FA Cup and European Cup. Ultimately, they would win the title but then lose the FA Cup final to bitter rivals Manchester United. Four days later, Hughes captained Liverpool to a 3–1 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach in Rome to win the European Cup. His season ended with some individual glory, when he was voted the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year.

1978–1979

Revie gave Hughes the England captaincy back for a Home International match against Scotland when Keegan was unavailable, before selecting him for the squad which would tour South America in the summer. On return to England, Ron Greenwood took over as England manager, returning the captaincy to Hughes. England left too much to do after the defeat by Italy to qualify for the World Cup, but Hughes nonetheless celebrated a 50th cap when England beat the Italians 2–0 in the final qualifier at Wembley at the end of 1977.

In 1978, Hughes was in the Liverpool team which played and lost its first ever League Cup final to Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest after a replay. The league title went to Forest too, but Liverpool managed to retain the European Cup with a 1–0 win over FC Bruges at Wembley, with Hughes lifting the trophy for a second year running. Hughes' place was now under regular threat from a talented young Scottish defender named Alan Hansen who had arrived the previous season for a mere £100,000 from Partick Thistle.

The following season, Hughes made just 16 appearances, enough to earn his final title medal. Liverpool lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup semi finals and Hughes was caught out of position for the winning goal. He never played for Liverpool again. A costly error. Paisley decided to let him go and sold him to Wolverhampton Wanderers for £90,000 in August 1979. Hughes left Liverpool after 665 appearances and scoring 49 goals for the club. His 59 appearances for England while at Liverpool made him the club's most capped player until Welsh striker Ian Rush broke the record more than ten years later.

Wolverhampton Wanderers:1979–1981

Hughes made his Wolves début at the Baseball Ground on Wednesday, 22 August 1979 in a 1–0 win over Derby County.

Hughes went on to win the League Cup in his first season with Wolves – the only trophy he did not win with Liverpool – and duly lifted it as captain after a 1–0 win over Nottingham Forest at Wembley.

He continued to be selected for England squads even after leaving Liverpool. He featured sporadically in England's successful qualifying campaign for the 1980 European Championships, he captained the team for the final time in the 1–1 1980 Home International game with Northern Ireland draw at Wembley, and won his 62nd and final cap against Scotland in the next game as a substitute.

Greenwood still put him in the squad for the European Championship finals in Italy as experienced back-up, but Hughes ultimately did not play as England were eliminated in the group stages. Hughes was England's only connection with their previous foray into the finals of a tournament – the 1970 World Cup – but his non-participation in either made him England's most capped player never to feature in a major finals. He also became only the fifth player to represent England in three separate decades, joining Jesse Pennington, Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton and Peter Shilton. The 57 caps Hughes earned in the 1970s make him the most capped England player of that decade.

Rotherham United: 1981–1983

Hughes left Molineux in 1981, joining Rotherham United as player-manager. Inheriting a side that had won the Third Division championship under Ian Porterfield including such players as John Breckin, Tony Towner and Ronnie Moore, Rotherham made a patchy start to the season and were in the relegation zone in January. However, a run of 9 wins in a row followed and Rotherham climbed from third last to third place in the league. Promotion would be missed by four points, but the finish of 7th place was the Millers' highest since the 1960s.

The following season, Rotherham appeared to be holding their ground in the Second Division and were 9th at the start of 1983. However, the side plummeted down the table. On the morning of 20 March Hughes was asked to resign as manager. He refused and therefore was sacked, and replaced by George Kerr the following day. Rotherham would only go down on the final day of the season, as they won only one more game afterwards.

Later football career

Hughes also played for Hull City, later becoming a director. He joined Mansfield Town briefly in 1983, but did not make any appearances for the Stags. Later that year he also turned out for Swansea City, with whom he brought his playing career to a close.

Post-football career

In 1979, Hughes became a team captain on the long-running BBC quiz A Question of Sport, opposite the former rugby player Gareth Edwards. He left the programme in 1981, but returned in 1984, this time playing against England's former rugby union captain Bill Beaumont. Hughes became much-mimicked for his competitive nature and high-pitched protestations when not being able to recall an answer. In the show's picture board section, in which panel members were shown a board with a choice of 12 photographs of well-known sports personalities to be identified, Hughes would usually reference his old shirt number at Liverpool, informing the show's host David Coleman "Number six please, Dave".

He infamously identified a picture of a heavily muddied jockey as John Reid, only to be mortified when told it was the Princess Anne. Later in the same series, she came on the programme, made it clear she was not remotely offended by the misidentification, and was put on his team. Hughes caused a minor national debate when he defied protocol and put his arm around her. He called her "ma'am" throughout. Hughes later joined her team for the much-criticised It's a Royal Knockout project, the brainchild of her brother the Prince Edward.

Hughes' involvement with the BBC also included work as an analyst on radio. Alongside Peter Jones he was present at the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985 and uttered the words: "Football has died and the hooligans have won." He also was a member of the punditry panel for BBC Television's coverage of the 1986 World Cup. Hughes hosted the short-lived BBC game show Box Clever during 1986 and 1987. However, he left A Question Of Sport – and the corporation as a whole – in 1987 to go to ITV and skipper a team on the unsuccessful Sporting Triangles. Through this, he also occasionally appeared as a pundit on ITV's own football coverage. He was also immortalised in comic strip form as he was signed by Melchester Rovers in the Roy of the Rovers strip; he also wrote a column for the teenage football magazine Match. Alongside Peter Jones again, he was present at the Hillsborough disaster in April 1989. Later he paid visits to the parents of Andrew Devine, who was left comatose after the tragedy, in hospital and offered them support and help.

Final years

In later years, Hughes lived a quiet retirement, occasionally carrying out duties as an after-dinner or motivational speaker. In 1992, he appeared on an episode of GamesMaster (a TV-based computer games magazine) promoting the football video game which carried his name, Emlyn Hughes International Soccer. From March 2002, he became a presenter and pundit on the nightly football phone-in on Real Radio Yorkshire. From 1995 Hughes became chief patron to the Sheffield based charity F.A.B.L.E. (For A Better Life with Epilepsy).

In 2003, it was announced that he was suffering from a brain tumour, for which he underwent surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Hughes was married to Barbara and had a son and daughter, both named after him (Emlyn Jr. and Emma Lynn). His last public appearance had been at his daughter's wedding, nine months before his death.

Hughes continued to battle against the disease until his death at his home in Dore, Sheffield, at the age of 57. A minute's silence was held the following evening at Anfield before Liverpool's game against Middlesbrough in the League Cup. His funeral service took place at Sheffield Cathedral.

Legacy

Hughes is a much-loved character amongst the Anfield Faithful and was voted at No.10 on the official Liverpool Football Club web site poll "100 Players Who Shook The Kop".

A statue of Hughes was unveiled in his birthplace of Barrow-in-Furness in 2008, it is placed in front of a new office building on Abbey Road which was also named after Hughes.

A cancer support charity in Hughes' name is run by the Freemasons of Tapton Masonic Hall in Sheffield, of which Hughes was a member.

Awards

In 1981, Hughes was decorated with the OBE for services to football, and later featured on the television tribute show This Is Your Life.

On 24 July 2008 it was announced that Hughes would be inducted into the National Football Museum's Hall of Fame. The National Football Museum in Preston started its Hall of Fame in 2002 with the inductees chosen by a selection panel that included Gordon Banks, Sir Trevor Brooking, Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Bobby Charlton, Jack Charlton, Mark Lawrenson and Gary Lineker. The awards were presented at the annual ceremony, held at the Millennium Mayfair Hotel in London on 18 September.

Club

Individual