Liam Hughes
Personal information
Full name Liam Michael Hughes[1]
Date of birth (1992-08-10) 10 August 1992 (age 31)[1]
Place of birth Rotherham, England
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[2]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder, striker
Team information
Current team
 Worksop Town
Youth career
Scunthorpe United
2007–2011 Cambridge United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2016 Cambridge United 161 (13)
2012 → Corby Town (loan) 3 (3)
2016 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 9 (0)
2016–2017 Barrow 47 (5)
2017–2018 Guiseley 5 (0)
2018 Billericay Town 13 (1)
2018–2019 Darlington 22 (1)
2019 Gainsborough Trinity 4 (0)
2019 Stratford Town 5 (0)
2019–2020 Bradford Park Avenue 17 (2)
2020 → Frickley Athletic (dual reg.) 4 (0)
2020–2022 Matlock Town 38 (13)
2021 → Kettering Town (loan) 1 (0)
2022– Worksop Town 45 (40)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10:33, 1 January 2024 (UTC)

Liam Michael Hughes (born 10 August 1992) is an English footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or striker for Northern Premier League Premier Division club Worksop Town. He previously played for Cambridge United in the Football League and for Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Premiership, as well as for several non-league teams.

Club career

Born in Rotherham,[1] Hughes joined Cambridge United's youth setup from Scunthorpe United in 2007, aged 15.[3] Initially a defender, he was converted to a more attacking role during his time at the Academy,[2] and made his first-team debut on 9 November 2010, coming on as a late substitute in a 1–1 draw at home to Grimsby Town.[3][4]

On 4 April 2011 Hughes signed a two-year professional deal with Cambridge United,[5] but struggled to appear regularly as a starter.[2] On 21 November 2012 he was loaned to Corby Town for a month,[6] and after scoring six goals in five matches he returned to Cambridge.[4]

Hughes signed a new two-and-a-half-year contract with the club on 30 January 2014.[7] He was a member of the starting eleven for the 2014 FA Trophy Final as Cambridge beat Gosport Borough 4–0,[8] and his headed goal opened the scoring in that season's play-off final in which Cambridge beat Gateshead 2–1 to gain promotion to the Football League.[9] He played his first Football League match on 16 August, starting in a 2–1 loss away to Portsmouth.[10] His contract with Cambridge United was cancelled by mutual consent on 30 January 2016,[3] and Hughes signed for Inverness Caledonian Thistle of the Scottish Premiership two days later.[11]

In June 2016 he joined Barrow.[12] He moved on to Guiseley in November 2017,[13] before signing for Billericay Town in February 2018.[14]

On 16 May 2018 he joined Darlington.[15] He left by mutual consent on 7 March 2019 and signed for Gainsborough Trinity the same day.[16]

Hughes left Gainsborough in July 2019 and signed for Stratford Town, once again linking up with Darlington manager Tommy Wright.[17] He left Stratford in October and signed for Bradford Park Avenue; he made his debut on 12 October in a 3–2 defeat at home to Hereford.[18][4] In February 2020, he joined Frickley Athletic on dual registration.[19]

Hughes signed for Matlock Town ahead of the 2020–21 season,[20] and spent two years with the club, less a month on loan at Kettering Town while the Northern Premier League was under lockdown in early 2021.[21]

He then moved on to Worksop Town for the 2022-23 season.[22] In Hughes' first season at the club he finished as top scorer with 42 goals in 45 appearances,[23] helping Worksop win the NPL East Division title.[24] He was named in both the East Division and Media-voted Teams of the Season and won the East Division Player of the Season and the Supporters' Player of the Season.[25]

Personal life

In an interview with BBC Sport, Hughes revealed his struggles with drug addictions, self-harm and an attempted suicide during his career. Hughes was attacked and robbed of £350 on 25 December 2018, the day before he played for Darlington and scored in a 5–1 win over York City. Hughes is a father to three daughters from a previous relationship, and will marry his new partner in July 2024.[26]

Career statistics

As of match played 26 December 2023
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Cambridge United 2010–11[4] Conference Premier 18 2 0 0 — 0 0 18 2
2011–12[4] Conference Premier 21 2 1 0 — 4[c] 0 26 2
2012–13[4] Conference Premier 36 4 0 0 — 0 0 36 4
2013–14[4] Conference Premier 40 2 4 0 — 11[d] 1 55 3
2014–15[10] League Two 30 3 5 0 1 0 1[e] 0 37 3
2015–16[27] League Two 16 0 1 0 0 0 1[e] 0 18 0
Total 161 13 11 0 1 0 17 1 190 14
Corby Town (loan) 2012–13[4] Conference North 3 3 0 0 — 3[c] 2 6 5
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2015–16[27] Scottish Premiership 9 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 11 0
Barrow 2016–17[4] National League 38 5 4 0 — 3[c] 0 45 5
2017–18[4] National League 9 0 0 0 — 0 0 9 0
Total 47 5 4 0 — 3 0 54 5
Guiseley 2017–18[4] National League 5 0 1 0 — 0 0 6 0
Billericay Town 2017–18[28] Isthmian League Premier Division 13 1 0 0 2 1 — 15 2
Darlington 2018–19[4][29] National League North 22 1 1 0 — 1[c] 0 24 1
Gainsborough Trinity 2018–19[30] Northern Premier League (NPL)
Premier Division 		4 0 — — — 4 0
Stratford Town 2019–20[28] Southern League (SFL)
Premier Division Central 		5 0 1 1 1 0 — 7 1
Bradford Park Avenue 2019–20[4] National League North 17 2 — — 2[c] 0 19 2
Frickley Athletic 2019–20[31] NPL Division One South East 4 0 — — — 4 0
Matlock Town 2020–21[32] NPL Premier Division 5 3 3 1 — 0 0 8 4
2021–22[33] NPL Premier Division 33 10 1 0 — 4[f] 2 38 12
Total 38 13 4 1 — 4 2 46 16
Kettering Town (loan) 2020–21[4] National League North 1 0 — — 1[c] 0 2 0
Worksop Town 2022–23[23] NPL East Division 35 33 5 4 — 5[g] 5 45 42
2023–24[34] NPL Premier Division 10 7 6 7 — 1[c] 2 17 16
Total 45 40 11 11 — 6 7 62 58
Career total 374 78 35 13 4 1 37 12 450 104
  1. ^ Includes FA Cup, Scottish Cup
  2. ^ Includes Football League Cup, Alan Turvey Trophy, Southern League Cup
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Appearance(s) in FA Trophy
  4. ^ Eight appearances in FA Trophy, three in Conference Premier play-offs
  5. ^ a b Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
  6. ^ Three appearances and one goal in FA Trophy, one appearance and one goal in Northern Premier League play-offs
  7. ^ Four appearances and four goals in FA Trophy, one appearance and one goal in Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup

Honours

Cambridge United

Worksop Town

References

  1. ^ a b c "Liam Hughes". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Player profile: Liam Hughes". Cambridge United F.C. Archived from the original on 19 March 2016.
  3. ^ a b c "Liam Hughes departs the U's". Cambridge United F.C. 30 January 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "L. Hughes". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  5. ^ "Liam Hughes signs professional deal at Cambridge United". BBC Sport. 4 April 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  6. ^ "Corby Town sign Liam Hughes, release Pierrick Briand". BBC Sport. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  7. ^ "Duo sign new deals". Cambridge United F.C. 30 January 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  8. ^ a b Hassan, Nabil (23 March 2014). "FA Trophy final: Cambridge United 4–0 Gosport Borough". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  9. ^ McVeigh, Niall (21 November 2012). "Conference play-off final: Cambridge United 2–1 Gateshead – as it happened". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
  10. ^ a b "Games played by Liam Hughes in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  11. ^ "Inverness CT recruit Ryan Williams and Liam Hughes". BBC Sport. 2 February 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  12. ^ "Barrow make it nine new faces with Hughes capture". Non League Daily. June 2016. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016.
  13. ^ "Liam Hughes: Guiseley sign midfielder from Barrow". BBC Sport. 27 November 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  14. ^ Lambert, Luke (18 February 2018). "Billericay add National League duo to ranks". Echo. Basildon. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  15. ^ Simpson, Ray (16 May 2018). "Liam Hughes signs for Quakers". Darlington F.C. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  16. ^ Simpson, Ray (8 March 2019). "Liam Hughes leaves Darlington". Darlington F.C. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
    Stoddart, Craig (8 March 2019). "Liam Hughes signs for Gainsborough Trinity". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  17. ^ Chilton, Andy (21 July 2019). "New Signing; Liam Hughes signs for the blues". Stratford Town F.C. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  18. ^ "Avenue add four ahead of Hereford clash". Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. 12 October 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  19. ^ "Liam Hughes departs Avenue". Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. 15 February 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  20. ^ Gordon, James (7 July 2020). "Matlock confirm triple signing". Northern Premier League. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  21. ^ Richardson, Ian (6 January 2021). "Matlock Town boss sorry for players after latest lockdown". Derbyshire Times. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  22. ^ Duffy, Mark (1 June 2022). "Matlock Town captain Liam Hughes departs for Worksop Town". Derbyshire Times. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  23. ^ a b "Worksop Town – Appearances – Liam Hughes – 2022–2023". Football Web Pages. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  24. ^ a b "Worksop Town win the title". Worksop Guardian. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  25. ^ Lomas, John (21 June 2023). "More honours for Worksop Town goal machine Liam Hughes at awards night". Worksop Guardian. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  26. ^ Johnston, Neil (28 September 2023). "FA Cup: Former Cambridge United forward Liam Hughes on addiction and self-harm". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  27. ^ a b "Games played by Liam Hughes in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  28. ^ a b "Liam Hughes". Aylesbury United Archive. Luke Buckingham-Brown. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  29. ^ Simpson, Ray (22 September 2018). "Quakers beaten by first half goal". Darlington F.C. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
    "Darlington 0–2 AFC Telford United: Season 2018–2019: FA Trophy". Darlington F.C. 23 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  30. ^ "Gainsborough Trinity – Appearances – Liam Hughes – 2018–2019". Football Web Pages. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  31. ^ "Frickley Athletic – Appearances – Liam Bateman [sic] – 2019–2020". Football Web Pages. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  32. ^ "Matlock Town – Appearances – Liam Bateman [sic] – 2020–2021". Football Web Pages. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  33. ^ "Matlock Town – Appearances – Liam Bateman [sic] – 2021–2022". Football Web Pages. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  34. ^ "Worksop Town – Appearances – Liam Hughes – 2023–2024". Football Web Pages. Retrieved 1 January 2024.

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