Liam Michael Hughes (born 10 August 1992) is 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 ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

or striker for club

Worksop Town Worksop Town Football Club is an English football club based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. As of the 2021–22 season the team plays in the . They are nicknamed ''The Tigers'' and play their home games at Sandy Lane in Worksop. History First clu ...

. He previously played for

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

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 ...

and for

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 ...

in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

, as well as for several

non-league 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 d ...

teams.

Club career

Born in

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

, Hughes joined

's youth setup from Scunthorpe United in 2007, aged 15. Initially a defender, he was converted to a more attacking role during his time at the Academy, and made his first-team debut on 9 November 2010, coming on as a late substitute in a 1–1 draw at home to

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

. On 4 April 2011 Hughes signed a two-year professional deal with Cambridge United, but struggled to appear regularly as a starter. On 21 November 2012 he was loaned to

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 ...

for a month, and after scoring six goals in five matches he returned to Cambridge. Hughes signed a new two-and-a-half-year contract with the club on 30 January 2014. He was a member of the starting eleven for the 2014 FA Trophy Final as Cambridge beat Gosport Borough 4–0, and his headed goal opened the scoring in that season's play-off final in which Cambridge beat

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

2–1 to gain promotion to the

. He played his first Football League match on 16 August, starting in a 2–1 loss away to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. His contract with Cambridge United was cancelled by mutual consent on 30 January 2016, and Hughes signed for

of the

two days later. In June 2016 he joined Barrow. He moved on to

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is a town in metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-western suburb of Leeds. It sits in th ...

in November 2017, before signing for

Billericay Town Billericay Town Football Club is a football club based in Billericay, Essex, England. The club are currently members of and play at New Lodge. They are the second most successful club in FA Vase history, having won the competition on three o ...

in February 2018. On 16 May 2018 he joined

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 ...

. He left by mutual consent on 7 March 2019 and signed for

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

the same day. Hughes left Gainsborough in July 2019 and signed for Stratford Town, once again linking up with Darlington manager Tommy Wright. He left Stratford in October and signed for Bradford Park Avenue; he made his debut on 12 October in a 3–2 defeat at home to

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

. In February 2020, he joined Frickley Athletic on dual registration. Hughes signed for

Matlock Town Matlock Town Football Club is a football club based in Matlock, Derbyshire, England. Nicknamed 'the Gladiators', they are currently members of the and play at Causeway Lane. History The club was established in 1878 as Matlock Football Club.< ...

ahead of the 2020–21 season, and spent two years with the club, less a month on loan at

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

while the Northern Premier League was under lockdown in early 2021. He then moved on to

for the 2022-23 season. In Hughes' first season at the club he finished as top scorer with 42 goals in 45 appearances, helping Worksop win the NPL East Division title. He was named in both the East Division and Media-voted Teams of the Season and won the East Division Player of the Season and the Supporters' Player of the Season.

Personal life

In an interview with

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

, Hughes revealed his struggles with drug addictions, self-harm and an attempted suicide during his career. Hughes was attacked and robbed of £350 on 25 December 2018, the day before he played for Darlington and scored in a 5–1 win over

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

. Hughes is a father to three daughters from a previous relationship, and will marry his new partner in July 2024.

Career statistics

Honours

Cambridge United *

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

: 2013–14 Worksop Town *

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

East Division: 2022-23

References

External links

Profile
at the Cambridge United F.C. website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Liam 1992 births Living people Footballers from Rotherham English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Scunthorpe United F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Corby Town F.C. players Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Guiseley A.F.C. players Billericay Town F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Stratford Town F.C. players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players Frickley Athletic F.C. players Matlock Town F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Worksop Town F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Isthmian League players Northern Premier League players Southern Football League players