Full name Paul Hughes Name Paul Hughes Playing position Role Footballer | Years Team Current team Kings Langley F.C. 1994–2000 Chelsea Position Midfielder | |
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Date of birth (1976-04-19) 19 April 1976 (age 39) Place of birth Hammersmith, London, England | ||
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Paul Hughes (born 19 April 1976 in Hammersmith) is an English retired footballer who played in midfield.
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Hughes began his career with his local side, Chelsea, and started well, scoring on his debut against Derby County with an impressive solo effort. Thereafter, however, his career was stalled by injuries, successive managers' squad rotation policies and the signing of other midfielders like Roberto Di Matteo, Gustavo Poyet and Didier Deschamps. Chelsea won the 1996–97 FA Cup; Hughes was left out of the squad for the final but played in the quarter-final against Portsmouth. The following year Chelsea won the European Cup Winners Cup (1997–98) and although Hughes played in the earlier rounds of the competition he did not make the squad for the final in Stockholm.
Over the next three years he only featured in 24 more games for the club, and had loan spells with Stockport County, Crewe Alexandra and Norwich City (where he scored once against Swindon Town). Hughes joined Southampton, then managed by his old Chelsea manager Glenn Hoddle, on a free transfer in the summer of 2000, but due to a lengthy groin injury and subsequent change of manager, left a year later having never played a game for the Saints. Hughes' next club was Luton Town, where he remained until May 2006, making 88 appearances and scoring seven goals for the club helping them gain promotion from League 2 and become champions of League 1.
In 2012, Hughes was appointed joint manager at Kings Langley alongside Ritchie Hanlon. The pair led Kings Langley to back to back promotions, finishing 2nd in Spartan South Midlands Division One in 2014, and then winning the Spartan South Midlands Premier Division title in 2015.
Following a third consecutive promotion that saw Kings Langley FC become champions of the Southern Central Division and took the club to the Southern Premier Division, Hughes, alongside Hanlon, moved to Hayes & Yeading United in November 2016.