William Hughes (30 December 1948 – 20 December 2019) was a Scottish 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 ...

. During his career he played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

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 ...

and

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

, making a total of 349 appearances and scoring 87 goals. He also won one cap for the

Scotland national football team The Scotland national football team gd, Sgioba Ball-coise Nàiseanta na h-Alba sco, Scotland National Fitbaa Team represents Scotland in men's international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It competes in the t ...

Playing career

Hughes was discovered by Sunderland scout Tom Rutherford while playing for

Coatbridge Coatbridge ( sco, Cotbrig or Coatbrig, gd, Drochaid a' Chòta) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, Coatbridge forms the area known as ...

schools at the age of 16. His move to England was close to being halted before it began due to his parents' wishing for him to play for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

, where his brother

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

was already playing. He went against his family's wishes and stayed with Sunderland, where he remained for 11 years (and never played professionally in Scotland).Dykes, p. 218. He made his debut for the club at the age of 18 on 4 February 1967 in a 2–2 draw against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. Hughes played a large role in Sunderland's 1972–73 FA Cup run, scoring four goals on the way to the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. He scored one goal against Manchester City in the fifth round tie at

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest atte ...

, and then another two in the replay at

Roker Park Roker Park was a football ground in Roker, Sunderland, England, which was the home of Sunderland A.F.C. from 1898 to 1997, before the club moved to the Stadium of Light. Its final capacity was around 22,500, with only a small part being seated; ...

. He also scored in the semi-final against Arsenal, and took the corner that led to

Ian Porterfield John Ian Porterfield (11 February 1946 – 11 September 2007) was a Scottish professional footballer, and an experienced football coach who worked at both club and international level for almost 30 years. At the time of his death, he was the coa ...

scoring the winner against Leeds United in the final on 5 May 1973. His Sunderland career ended in September 1977 when

paid £30,000 for his signature. In his time at Sunderland Hughes amassed 332 appearances, scoring 82 times.Dykes, p. 219. Leeds United manager

Don Revie Donald George Revie OBE (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an England international footballer and manager, best known for his successful spell with Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, which immediately preceded his appointment as England manage ...

had tried to prise Hughes away from Sunderland at one point, and spoke positively about the Scotsman saying he "is one of the most exciting players I've seen. He loves to go forward. He runs straight at opponents forcing them to commit themselves and can shoot with either foot." His stay at Derby County was brief, he lasted just two months before being allowed to join

for £45,000 in December 1977. He had made just 19 league appearances for Derby County, scoring eight goals. Hughes remained at Leicester until 1979, scoring five goals in 37 league appearances. His spell with Leicester also included a loan stay at

where he made five appearances.

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

team

was Hughes' last professional team, but he only made a solitary appearance. He had a short stay at non-league

Corby Town Corby Town Football Club is a football club based in Corby, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Steel Park. History The club was established in 1948, taking over from Stewarts & Lloyds as the main team ...

before retiring from playing.

International career

Hughes earned his solitary cap for Scotland on 16 April 1975 against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

in a 1–1 draw.

Personal life

His older brother

was also a footballer, and played together with Billy at Sunderland in 1973. Another brother Pat was also a player. Following his retirement from football, Hughes worked as a licensee in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

, and later returned to the

North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authorit ...

as clubhouse manager of Stressholme Golf Club in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

. Hughes died on 20 December 2019, aged 70, after a long illness.

Honours

Club

Sunderland *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

Football League Division Two The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

: 1975-76

Individual

* PFA Division Two Team of the Year: 1974-75

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Billy 1948 births 2019 deaths Footballers from Coatbridge Scottish footballers Association football forwards Scotland international footballers Sunderland A.F.C. players Vancouver Royals players Derby County F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) players English Football League players United Soccer Association players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Scottish expatriate footballers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate soccer players in Canada FA Cup Final players