François Hugues (13 August 1896 – 13 December 1965) was a France international football player mostly known for his international career and his time at

Red Star FC Red Star Football Club (), known as Red Star FC or simply Red Star, is a French professional football club founded in Paris in 1897, and is the fourth oldest French football club, after Standard AC of Paris, Le Havre AC and Girondins de Bord ...

, which included two stints spanning over 14 years. With Red Star, Hugues won two

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

titles in 1921 and 1923. He also played for

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

FC Lyon Football Club de Lyon is a French sports club. It was established on 17 November 1893, and is notable for its rugby and football sections. They currently compete in the Championnat National 3, the fifth tier of French football. They were Runner ...

, and Suisse Paris. During his time as an international, Hugues was considered one of the best French players of his generation.

Biography

Born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, François Hugues spent most of his football career in the French capital. In his youth, he played football in

Montmartre Montmartre ( , , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement of Paris, 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Rive Droite, Right Bank. Montmartre is primarily known for its a ...

, with US de l'Est and US Auteuil. In 1913, he joined

Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. ...

, a club in which he remained for thirteen seasons, and with whom he realized his main achievements. At 22, on March 9, 1919, Hugues made his debut for the French team, in a friendly match against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. He subsequently became a regular with the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

, being selected 24 times between 1919 and 1927. In the tricolor jersey, he notably participated in the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

in 1920 (semi-finalist), and in the historic victory against England (2-1) in 1921. On three occasions he was named captain of the team, but the three meetings ended in as many defeats. Francois Hugues With great physical and mental qualities, as well as an excellent mind for the game, Hugues won the Coupe de France for the first time with Red Star, in 1921 against

Olympique de Paris Olympique de Paris was a French association football team based in Paris which existed from 1908 to 1926. Founded with the name Olympique de Pantin, it won the Coupe de France in 1918 and played in the finals in 1919 and 1921. It merged with Red S ...

(2-1). A few weeks later, he left Paris for the provinces, joining Stade Rennes FC. He quickly settled there among the best players of the team, took the captain's armband, and became the first player wearing the Rennes colors to be selected for the French team. With him, Stade Rennes reached the final of the

for the first time, but Hugues was beaten by his former Red Star teammates (0-2). At the end of the contest, Hughes collapsed, but was carried in triumph by some spectators celebrating him for his excellent performance. The stay at Rennes was short-lived, as Hugues returned to Red Star for the following season. It served him well, with the Parisian club winning its third consecutive Coupe de France, this time over FC Cette (4-2). After four other seasons in the Audonian jersey, Hugues returned to the provinces in 1927, joining

. He remained there until 1933. At 37 years old, he ended his career at US Suisse in Paris and at Suresnes. After his retirement from playing, François Hugues embraced a coaching career, working in particular at SC Bel-Abbès in the 1950s.

Style of Play

François Hugues played as a center-half and was the on-the-pitch strategist of his team, playing at the heart of the game. Despite his average height and a rather lean physique, he possessed great athletic abilities and was a hard worker on the field of play. Hugues was typically not the best technician on his team, but compensated for any limitations with a precise knowledge of the game and great mental qualities.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hugues, Francois 1896 births 1965 deaths French men's footballers France men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Red Star FC players Stade Rennais FC players French football managers Expatriate football managers in Algeria FC Lyon players Olympic footballers for France Footballers at the 1920 Summer Olympics 20th-century French sportsmen