Aaron Hughes facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Aaron Hughes
MBE

Hughes lining up for Northern Ireland in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Aaron William Hughes
Date of birth	(1979-11-08) 8 November 1979 (age 45)
Place of birth	Cookstown, Northern Ireland
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
1996–1998	Newcastle United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1997–2005	Newcastle United	205	(4)
2005–2007	Aston Villa	54	(0)
2007–2014	Fulham	196	(1)
2014	Queens Park Rangers	11	(0)
2014–2015	Brighton & Hove Albion	10	(0)
2015–2016	Melbourne City	6	(1)
2016–2017	Kerala Blasters	11	(1)
2017–2019	Heart of Midlothian	32	(0)
Total		525	(7)
International career
	Northern Ireland U16	2	(0)
	Northern Ireland U18	5	(1)
1997–1998	Northern Ireland B	2	(0)
1998–2018	Northern Ireland	112	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Aaron William Hughes MBE (born 8 November 1979) is a former professional footballer from Northern Ireland. He played as a defender. This means his main job was to stop the other team from scoring goals.

Hughes mostly played as a centre back, which is a central defender. He could also play as a right back or left back, and even in midfield. He was known for his very fair play. He played in 455 Premier League games without ever getting a red card! This is the second-highest number of games without a red card in the league's history. Only Ryan Giggs played more.

Aaron Hughes started his career at Newcastle United. He made his first team appearance in 1997. He played 279 games for the club. In 2005, he moved to Aston Villa. Two years later, he joined Fulham. With Fulham, he reached the UEFA Europa League final in 2010. After leaving Fulham in 2014, he played for a short time at Queens Park Rangers and Brighton & Hove Albion. He also played abroad for Melbourne City FC in Australia and Kerala Blasters FC in India.

Hughes also played for his country, Northern Ireland. He made his first international appearance at just 18 years old in 1998. He played 112 games for Northern Ireland. This makes him the third most capped player in their history. He was captain of the national team from 2003 until 2011. He returned to the team in 2012 and played in UEFA Euro 2016.

Aaron Hughes' Club Career

Playing for Newcastle United

Aaron Hughes was born in Cookstown, County Tyrone. He grew up playing football at Newcastle United. He played his first game for the senior team on 26 November 1997. This was a UEFA Champions League match against Barcelona. He came on as a substitute in that game. His first league game was on 10 January 1998.

He became a regular player for Newcastle in the 1999–00 season. He played under managers Ruud Gullit and later Bobby Robson. Hughes scored his first goal for the club on 19 September 1999. It was in a big 8–0 win against Sheffield Wednesday. He scored another goal that season against Everton.

In 2001, Newcastle reached the final of the UEFA Intertoto Cup. Hughes scored a goal in the semi-final against 1860 Munich. He also scored in the final against Troyes, but Newcastle lost on away goals. In 2002, he scored in an FA Cup match against Peterborough United.

Moving to Aston Villa

On 20 May 2005, Hughes joined another Premier League team, Aston Villa. He signed a three-year contract. He played his first game for Aston Villa on 13 August 2005. It was a 2–2 draw against Bolton Wanderers. During his time at Aston Villa, he played 64 games in total.

Time at Fulham F.C.

Aaron Hughes playing for Fulham in a UEFA Europa League match in 2009

On 27 June 2007, Aaron Hughes signed for Fulham. He was happy to join the club and work with his former international manager, Lawrie Sanchez. He said he was excited about the club's plans. Hughes often wore the captain's armband when the regular captains were not playing. In December 2009, he signed a new contract to stay at Fulham until 2013.

He scored his first goal for Fulham on 26 December 2010 against West Ham United. His second goal came in the Europa League on 18 August 2011 against Dnipro. Fulham won that game 3–0.

In September 2012, Hughes signed another contract extension with Fulham until 2014. He scored his third goal for Fulham in January 2013. It was in an FA Cup match against Manchester United.

Playing for Queens Park Rangers

After playing 17 games for Fulham in the 2013-14 season, Hughes joined Queens Park Rangers (QPR) on 31 January 2014. QPR was in the Championship at the time. Manager Harry Redknapp signed him because the team had many injured defenders.

He made his debut for QPR on 10 February 2014. On 24 May, QPR won promotion back to the Premier League. They beat Derby County 1–0 in the play-off final at Wembley. Hughes was on the bench for that game. He left QPR on 1 July 2014 when his contract ended.

Time at Brighton & Hove Albion

After leaving QPR, Hughes signed a one-year contract with Brighton & Hove Albion on 14 July 2014. They were also in the Championship. He played his first game for Brighton on 9 August 2014. He played 13 matches for the club in total. He left Brighton in April 2015.

Playing in Australia with Melbourne City

On 13 July 2015, Aaron Hughes signed a one-year contract with Melbourne City in Australia's A-League. His former Fulham teammate, Damien Duff, helped convince him to move there. Hughes played his first game for Melbourne City on 13 November 2015. On 2 January 2016, he scored his first goal in Australia. It was in a 2–2 draw against Sydney FC. He left Melbourne City in April 2016.

Joining Kerala Blasters in India

On 28 July 2016, Hughes joined the Kerala Blasters in the Indian Super League in India. He was signed as their "marquee player," which means he was a well-known, important player for the team. He played his first game on 1 October 2016. He scored his first goal on 25 November in a 2–1 win. Hughes helped his team reach the final, but they lost on penalties.

Final Years at Heart of Midlothian

Hughes signed for Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian on 9 January 2017. He made his debut 13 days later in a Scottish Cup match. Even though he had some injuries, he signed another one-year contract with Hearts in May 2017.

Aaron Hughes retired from playing football in June 2019, when he was 39 years old.

Aaron Hughes' International Career

Aaron Hughes played for the Northern Ireland national team. He made his first appearance on 25 March 1998 against Slovakia. He first became captain of his country on 17 April 2002 against Spain. He was the regular captain from 2003 until he first retired from international football in 2011. During this time, he led the team to famous wins against England, Spain, and Sweden.

Hughes scored his only international goal on 10 August 2011. It was in a 4–0 win against the Faroe Islands during qualification for UEFA Euro 2012. This goal came after he had played 77 games for his country.

He announced his retirement from international football in September 2011. However, he returned to the team on 19 February 2012. Ten days later, he played in Michael O'Neill's first game as manager. On 31 May 2015, Hughes played his 96th game for Northern Ireland. He became Northern Ireland's most capped outfield player ever, meaning he played more games than any other non-goalkeeper. Only goalkeeper Pat Jennings played more games.

Before UEFA Euro 2016, Hughes reached 100 caps for Northern Ireland. He was the first outfield player from Northern Ireland to do this. He played his first game in a major tournament at the age of 36. This was in a 2–0 win against Ukraine at Euro 2016.

Aaron Hughes' Personal Life

Aaron Hughes is married to Samantha, and they have two daughters. His younger brother, Ian, plays field hockey professionally.

In 2020, Aaron Hughes was given an award called Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). He received this honor for his contributions to football.

Career Statistics

Club Appearances and Goals

International Appearances and Goals

See Also

In Spanish: Aaron Hughes para niños

• List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps

Images for kids

• 

  Hughes lining up for Northern Ireland in 2012

• 

  Aaron Hughes playing for Fulham in a UEFA Europa League match in 2009