Mark Anthony Hughes (born 16 September 1983) is a former 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 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 ...

. He was most recently manager of King's Lynn Town.

Club career

Hughes was born in

Dungannon Dungannon () is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 14,340 at the 2011 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council had its headquarters in the ...

, Northern Ireland. He started his career at

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

, coming through their youth system and breaking into the reserve side. Midway through the 2003–04 season he was loaned out to

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

where he impressed sufficiently to be signed permanently for a nominal fee. He played a little over one season at Oldham before new boss John Sheridan decided he was surplus to requirements and terminated his contract. At Oldham he scored his first career goal in a 4–3 win over

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 ...

. From Oldham Athletic he moved into

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 de ...

with

Thurrock Thurrock () is a unitary authority area with borough status and unparished area in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is part of the London commuter belt and an area of regeneration within the Thames Gateway redevelopment zone. The l ...

, but was back in the league a few months later, joining

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

agreed to take him on loan. At Chesterfield he scored on his debut against Gillingham. Three months later, he was on the move again, joining

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

club

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...

. Hughes struggled to establish himself in a disappointing league campaign for Stevenage and was once again released, with another former Spurs youngster, Stuart Lewis signing for the club. Hughes joined Chester City after impressing on trial in July and August 2007. He made his debut for the club on the opening day of 2007–08 against his former club Chesterfield and was a regular starter for City for the next 18 months before moving to

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

in February 2009. Hughes scored the goal that kept Barnet 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 the last day of the 2011–12 League Two season, in the 2–1 win at

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...

. As a result,

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...

were relegated to the

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

instead. In August 2012, Hughes signed for

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

side

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

, making his debut on 29 September 2012. In July 2013, Hughes signed for Conference South club

Chelmsford City Chelmsford City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Currently members of they play at the Melbourne Stadium. History Chelmsford Chelmsford Football Club was established in 1878 by members o ...

and was immediately made club captain. Hughes made his 100th appearance in all competitions for Chelmsford City on 7 November 2015 in a loss to Truro City, after which he expressed his desire to see out his career at the club. However, on 29 June 2016, new manager Rod Stringer confirmed Hughes' departure. In July 2016, Hughes joined Eastbourne Borough.

Coaching career

On 23 May 2017, Hughes signed for

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...

in a player-assistant manager role. He joined

Cheshunt Cheshunt ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London on the River Lea and Lee Navigation. It contains a section of the Lee Valley Park, including much of the River Lee Country Park. To the north lies Broxbourne and Wormley, Hertfor ...

for the 2018–19 season, where he continued playing alongside roles as first team coach and later assistant manager. Hughes joined

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 ...

as assistant to new manager

Kevin Watson Kevin Edward Watson (born 3 January 1974) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. After his retirement from playing, he turned non-league coach. Playing career Watson started his career as a trainee with his local side ...

in January 2021. He joined King's Lynn Town as first team coach in January 2022 following the appointment of

Tommy Widdrington Thomas Widdrington (born 1 October 1971) is an English former football player and manager who is manager of club Aldershot Town. As a midfielder, he made 372 appearances in the English Football League in a 15-year career, before spending fiv ...

as manager. After his resignation in April 2023, Hughes was appointed interim manager. On 12 May 2023, he was given the job on a permanent basis, signing a two-year deal. A poor start to the 2023–24 season where his side picked up just eight points from ten matches spelled the end of his managerial tenure, departing the club on 25 September 2023.

International career

Hughes was picked for the

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

squad, which toured America in 2006, making two full caps against Romania and Uruguay.

External links

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Mark 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Dungannon Association footballers from County Tyrone Northern Ireland men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Thurrock F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Eastleigh F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Eastbourne Borough F.C. players Bishop's Stortford F.C. players Cheshunt F.C. players Association football coaches Association football managers from Northern Ireland King's Lynn Town F.C. managers National League (English football) managers