Richard Gwynedd Hughes (born 2 August 1902 – April 1984) 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 over 290 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 as a

right 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 ...

Career

Hughes was captain of the England Schoolboys team then played locally for Castletown before signing as an amateur 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 ...

in July 1919. Joe Palmer signed Hughes in September 1920 for

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

. Hughes made his debut at right back replacing Lemmo Southway in a 2–0 win over

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

on 16 April 1921. Hughes made 4 appearances in season 1921–22 when

were relegated from the Second Division by a single point. The following season 1922–23 Hughes made 29 appearances as the "Robins" bounced back as Third Division South winners. Hughes shared the right back position with Ernie Glenn in the first season back in the Second Division making 15 appearances. He switched to left back playing alongside Glenn in 1924–25 making 34 appearances as Bristol City finished 3rd. The following season Hughes made 36 appearances as the right back with Glenn playing left back. Bristol City won promotion as Third Division South winners again in 1926–27 when Hughes made 26 appearances before being replaced at right back by Jock Walsh. Walsh and Glenn formed the regular full back partnership for the next four years as Bristol City struggled in the Second Division twice finishing 20th. Hughes made 3 appearances, 22 appearances, 18 appearances and 19 appearances deputising for the regular full back partners in these seasons. In his final season 1931–32 with Bristol City, Hughes made 25 appearances sharing the right back duties with Walsh as Jock Taylor moved from half back to become the regular left back. Dick Hughes moved to

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

in August 1932 making 13 appearances in 1932–33 when Exeter City finished runners up in the Third Division South. Hughes made a further 13 appearances the following season but Charlie Miller, Exeter legendary left back with 274 league apps, recovered from a knee injury to resume duties as regular left back. After retirement Hughes was landlord of the "Old Inn" at Hutton near Weston-super-Mare.

Honours

;with Bristol City *

Football League Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

winner: 1922–23, 1926–27

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Dick 1902 births 1984 deaths Footballers from Sunderland English men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Sunderland A.F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players English Football League players