Carl Gerard McHugh (born 5 February 1993) is an Irish 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 plays for

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

club

ATK Mohun Bagan ATK Mohun Bagan FC () is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. The club competes in Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club, which was formed as a merger between the football section of m ...

. Primarily 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 ...

, McHugh can also play as a

left-back 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 ...

, and even as a

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Lettermacaward Leitir Mhic an Bhaird or Leitir Mhic a' Bhaird (anglicised as Lettermacaward) is a Gaeltacht village in the Rosses region of County Donegal, Ireland. The village, known colloquially as ''Leitir'' (pronounced ''letcher''), is between the larger ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

, McHugh signed a scholarship with English club

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

at the age of 16. He spent loan spells at Swindon Supermarine and

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

. He spent one year as a professional at Reading before being released in the summer of 2012.

Bradford City

McHugh signed for

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

in August 2012. He made his professional debut for Bradford City on 28 August 2012, in a League Cup match against

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

. He made his debut 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 ...

on 27 October 2012, coming on as a substitute in the 1–0 defeat away at Burton Albion. In November, he starred and scored an equalising header for Bradford City in their

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 ...

victory over Northampton Town. Earlier that month, McHugh had been praised by his manager for his performance against Wigan Athletic in the League Cup, and he later commented that his recent spell of first-team games had been a "huge learning curve" for him. McHugh's performances were praised by teammate

Rory McArdle Rory Alexander McArdle (born 1 May 1987) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for League Two club Harrogate Town. He has previously played for Sheffield Wednesday, Rochdale, Aberdeen, Bradford City and Scunthorpe United, and r ...

. Following Bradford City's elimination of

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

in the League Cup semi-final, McHugh was photographed waving the flag of his native county on the pitch at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...

. He later said, "That was the highlight of the night for me. Back in Bradford they might have thought it was the Irish flag, but they know now that it is the Donegal flag." In the run-up to the

2013 Football League Cup Final The 2013 Football League Cup Final was a football match between Bradford City and Swansea City, which took place on 24 February 2013 at Wembley Stadium in London. It was the final match of the 2012–13 Football League Cup, the 53rd season of t ...

, which McHugh played in, he was cited as an "unsung hero" of the Bradford City team. In the latter stages of the 2012–13 season, he began to be played more as a

. In June 2013, McHugh was praised by former Bradford City left-back

Wayne Jacobs Wayne Jacobs (born 3 February 1969) is an English football coach and former professional player who is an assistant manager at Sheffield Wednesday under Darren Moore. Career Playing career During his career he played for Sheffield Wednesday, ...

. In July 2013, McHugh signed a new one-year contract with Bradford City, and later that month he spoke about his fight to become a first-team member in the forthcoming season. In November 2013, McHugh publicly spoke about his lack of first-team football. By 17 January 2014, however, he had played three of the club's last four games, and he credited a sports psychologist for helping him regain his first-team spot.

Plymouth Argyle

On 16 June 2014, McHugh signed a two-year contract with

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

. He played 50 games for Plymouth in his first season at the club, mainly at centre-back alongside Peter Hartley and Curtis Nelson. During the 2014–15 season Plymouth had one of the best defensive records in the league. Following the arrival of new Plymouth manager Derek Adams in the summer of 2015, McHugh was moved further up the field into a midfield role. He played all season in midfield, earning a lot of praise for his performances throughout the season.

Motherwell

On 5 July 2016, McHugh signed a two-year contract with

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

. His signing was met with much controversy, signing for Motherwell despite previously agreeing terms to extend his contract with previous club Plymouth Argyle in writing. McHugh suffered a serious head injury – a two inch deep gash above his right eye – on the opening day of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

against

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

on 6 August 2016. Motherwell manager Mark McGhee later said that the nature of the injury meant the club could not put a timescale on McHugh's return. He made his comeback on 28 December 2016, away to

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

. On 4 February 2017, McHugh was sent off during a Scottish Premiership match with Hearts following a challenge on Don Cowie. Motherwell went on to lose the game 3–0, with Mark McGhee blaming the McHugh red card for losing the game. On 4 March 2017, he scored his first Motherwell goal in a 2–1 win away to Kilmarnock. In June 2017 it was announced that McHugh would be Motherwell's new captain, before signing a new two-year contract with the club on 27 July 2017. Ahead of the 2018–19 season McHugh gave up his role as captain, saying it was best for both himself and the club.

ATK

In May 2019 McHugh signed for Indian club ATK. He scored on his debut. He said he chose to play in India because of its improving standards. McHugh's debut season with ATK ended early for him due to injury, although the club secured the ISL championship title. He joined

after ATK merged with

Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Athletic Club is an Indian professional sports club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, its football section is one of the oldest in India and Asia. The club is most notable for its victory over East Yorkshire Regiment ...

in 2020. With the club, he began 2022–23 season on 20 August 2022 against Rajasthan United at the 131st edition of

Durand Cup The Durand Football Tournament, commonly known as Durand Cup, is an annual domestic football competition in India which was first held in 1888 in Shimla. Hosted by the Durand Football Tournament Society (DFTS) and All India Football Federation ...

as his team lost the match by 3–2.

International career

Having previously played for them at under-17 and under-19 levels, McHugh was called up to the Republic of Ireland under-21 squad in January 2013. He made his debut for the under-21 on 6 February 2013, appearing as a second-half substitute in a 3–0 victory over the Netherlands. McHugh was recalled to the Irish under-21 squad in March 2013, and he earned a second cap for the under-21s on 25 March 2013. He was re-called to the under-21 squad in October 2013 for two Euro Championship qualifiers.

Personal life

McHugh played

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

for Na Rossa, where he was coached by All-Ireland winner

Declan Bonner Declan Bonner (born 11 August 1965) is an Irish Gaelic footballer and manager. He played at senior level for the Donegal county team, winning an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in 1992. He later managed the Donegal county team for tw ...

. He is a close friend of

Donegal Donegal may refer to: County Donegal, Ireland * County Donegal, a county in the Republic of Ireland, part of the province of Ulster * Donegal (town), a town in County Donegal in Ulster, Ireland * Donegal Bay, an inlet in the northwest of Ireland b ...

Gaelic footballer

Patrick McBrearty Patrick McBrearty (born 5 August 1993) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Cill Chartha and the Donegal county team. He is usually selected in the full-forward line for his county, often flanking Michael Murphy with Colm McFadden (be ...

. McHugh's footballing hero is

Shay Given Séamus John James Given (born 20 April 1976) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. With 134 caps, he is the second-highest capped Republic of Ireland player. Given started his career at Celtic, however he neve ...

, who also comes from Donegal.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Bradford City *

Football League Two play-offs The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual Eng ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

runner-up: 2012–13 ATK Mohun Bagan *

runner-up:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McHugh, Carl 1993 births Living people People from Kilcar Association footballers from County Donegal Gaelic footballers who switched code Na Rossa Gaelic footballers English Football League players League of Ireland players Reading F.C. players Swindon Supermarine F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland youth international footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Association football defenders Association football midfielders Scottish Professional Football League players ATK (football club) players Republic of Ireland expatriate association footballers Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Irish expatriate sportspeople in India Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate footballers in India Indian Super League players ATK Mohun Bagan FC players