David Thomas Hughes (19 March 1958 – September 2023) was an English

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 made 87 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 ...

playing for

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 ...

, Lincoln City and

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

, before moving into

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

with

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane. Worcester City's ...

. He played as a

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 ...

. Hughes died in September 2023, at the age of 65.

Early life and career

Hughes was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

on 19 March 1985. After joining Villa as an apprentice in July 1974, Hughes graduated from the youth team to play his first game for the reserves against Derby County in December that year. Later on in Hughes' career, he spent the 1981/82 campaign with Scunthorpe United and finished his career with three years of non-League football for Worcester City.

References

1958 births 2023 deaths Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Aston Villa F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Worcester City F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players {{England-footy-midfielder-1950s-stub