Darren Hughes (footballer)

Hughes started his career at Everton, playing in the FA Youth Cup final defeat to Norwich City in 1983, and the victory over Stoke City in the following year's final – he scored the winning goal against Stoke from well outside the penalty box.[3] He signed his first professional contract in October 1983.[4] As John Bailey's understudy, he made his first team debut on 27 December 1983, in a 3–0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.[5] He played in the final two First Division games of the title winning 1984–85 season: a 4–1 loss to Coventry City at Highfield Road and a 2–0 defeat to Luton Town at Kenilworth Road. Manager Howard Kendall allowed him to join Shrewsbury Town on a free transfer in June 1985.

He helped Chic Bates's "Shrews" to post a 17th-place finish in the Second Division in 1985–86. Hughes left Gay Meadow on a £35,000 transfer to league rivals Brighton & Hove Albion in September 1986. However, he could not prevent Alan Mullery's "Seagulls" from suffering relegation in last place in the 1986–87 season.

Hughes left Goldstone Ground and joined John Rudge's Port Vale on loan in September 1987, before signing permanently for a £5,000 fee later that month.[1] He claimed a goal against former employers Brighton in a 2–0 win at Vale Park on 28 September, and went on to make 53 appearances for the "Valiants" in the 1987–88 campaign.[1] He played 56 games in the 1988–89 season, including both legs of the Third Division play-off Final victory over Bristol Rovers.[1] He then played 46 matches in the 1989–90 season, as Vale settled into the Second Division.[1] Teammate and club legend Phil Sproson named him as the club's best left-back of the 1980s.[6] However, he could only play 18 games in the 1990–91 season, as he suffered a hernia injury and underwent two operations to fix it; during his absence Nigerian loanee Reuben Agboola took his place.[1] Hughes returned to fitness by April 1991.[1] He made 49 appearances in the 1991–92 relegation season, and scored past Newcastle United in a 2–2 draw at St James' Park.[1] He ruptured a thigh muscle in July 1992 and again battled through two surgical procedures to correct it during the 1992–93 season; this caused him to miss the play-off Final and League Trophy Final.[1] Still injured at the start of the 1993–94 season, he found, to his dismay, that he was released by the club in February 1994.[1] He took the club to an industrial tribunal citing unfair dismissal, the result of which was a six-week trial in August 1994 to prove his 'fitness and ability'.[1] He quit the club in November 1994 after being dissatisfied there, and moved on to Northampton Town in January 1995.[1]

He helped Ian Atkins's "Cobblers" to a 17th-place finish in the Third Division in 1994–95, before he left Sixfields to switch to Exeter City in November 1995.[4] He made 62 Third Division appearances, as Peter Fox's "Grecians" struggled at the foot of the English Football League in 1995–96 and 1996–97. He then departed St James Park for Morecambe.[4] He played ten games as he helped Jim Harvey's "Shrimpers" to a fifth-place finish in the Conference National in 1997–98. He left the Globe Arena and later played for Newcastle Town in the North West Counties League.[4]