Anthony Hughes (born 3 October 1973) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Career

Hughes began his career with

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

, where he made 23 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. He made his debut against

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

on 15 August 1992, and scored his first (and only) league goal for Crewe against

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

on 6 April 1993, both at Gresty Road. In 1994 Hughes briefly went on loan to Norwegian second-tier club

Bærum SK Bærum Sportsklubb is a Norwegian association football club founded on 26 March 1910. The men's team is currently playing in the Norwegian Second Division, after being relegated from the 1. divisjon in 2015. The club comes from Sandvika, the a ...

. Hughes later played non-league football for four seasons at

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

, and playing for

Winsford United Winsford United Football Club are a football club based in Winsford, Cheshire, England. The club was founded in 1883 and are nicknamed ''The Blues''. The club is currently a member of the , with home matches played at The Barton Stadium. Thei ...

before quitting the game, aged 29. Hughes also participated at the

1993 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1993 FIFA World Youth Championship, known as the 1993 FIFA/Coca-Cola World Youth Championship for sponsorship purposes, was the 9th edition FIFA World Youth Championship. U20 Brazil defeated Ghana, 2–1 for its third title. It took place ac ...

, making six appearances for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

as they finished third in the tournament, held in Australia. On 27 November 2016, Hughes revealed that he had been abused by former Crewe Alexandra coach Barry Bennell, a core figure in the

United Kingdom football sexual abuse scandal A child sexual abuse scandal involving the abuse of young players at football clubs in the United Kingdom began in mid-November 2016. The revelations began when former professional footballers waived their rights to anonymity and talked publicly ab ...

References

1973 births Living people Footballers from Liverpool English men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Winsford United F.C. players English Football League players England men's youth international footballers English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Norway English expatriate sportspeople in Norway Bærum SK players Norwegian First Division players {{England-footy-defender-1970s-stub