Lee Hughes
Lee Hughes is an English former professional footballer. A strong striker with excellent finishing abilities, Hughes represented the England semi-professional team once in 1996. After being released as a youth team footballer, Hughes worked as a roofer alongside his father. He started his career in the Conference with Kidderminster Harriers before winning a £380,000 move to boyhood club West Bromwich Albion in August 1997. He finished as the club's top-scorer for four seasons running, earning a place on the PFA Team of the Year in 1998–99 after finishing as the highest scorer in the top four divisions of English football. He was sold to Coventry City for £5 million in August 2001 before returning to West Brom for half of that figure twelve months later. He failed to impress in the Premier League as Albion suffered relegation but helped the club to make an immediate return to the top flight as runners-up in the First Division in 2003–04.
In August 2004, he was sentenced to six years' imprisonment for causing death by dangerous driving following a fatal crash on 23 November 2003. Following his release from prison in 2007, he returned to the professional game with Oldham Athletic of League One. He signed for Notts County in July 2009 and was named on the PFA Team of the Year after scoring 30 league goals as the club won the League Two title in 2009–10. He left Notts County to sign for Port Vale in January 2013 and helped the club to secure promotion out of League Two in 2012–13. In January 2014, he signed for Forest Green Rovers on an 18-month deal. In January 2015, he returned to Kidderminster Harriers and moved on to Ilkeston and then Worcester City in the summer. He became a prolific goalscorer into his 40s and signed with AFC Telford United in February 2017. He began his management career as joint-manager of Worcester City, alongside John Snape, in May 2017. In March 2018, he joined Halesowen Town as a player, where he remained until moving on to Mickleover Sports in August 2019. He later played for Grantham Town, Nuneaton Borough, Cradley Town and Stourport Swifts.
Club career
Kidderminster Harriers
Hughes spent four years at West Bromwich Albion as a schoolboy from ages 11 to 15, though he was not offered a youth team contract. He then had unsuccessful trials at numerous clubs, though came close to being offered a contract by Swansea City. He instead started his career playing semi-professionally for Conference club Kidderminster Harriers, whilst holding down a part-time job as a roofer. Although Hughes scored 34 goals in the 1996–97 season, Kidderminster failed to gain promotion to the Football League after finishing five points behind champions Macclesfield Town. At this point in his career Hughes was regarded as one of England's finest semi-professionals and was called up to the England national football C team. In total, Hughes scored 70 goals in 139 games for Kidderminster in all competitions. He also played for amateur touring side Middlesex Wanderers during their tour of Vietnam whilst he was aged 19.West Bromwich Albion
Hughes was sold to West Bromwich Albion for an initial £200,000 – incentives later took the final sum up to £380,000 – in August 1997. He said "It was a dream to join the team I have supported all my life". The Daily Mirror printed that "Hughes has red hair, tattoos of a Tasmanian devil and a British bulldog on his forearms, dynamite in his boots and Albion in his blood." Fans affectionately nicknamed him the "Ginger Ninja".He made his debut at The Hawthorns as a substitute in a 2–1 win over Tranmere Rovers on 9 August 1997. Seven days later he scored two goals from the bench in a 3–2 win over Crewe Alexandra at Gresty Road. Though signed by Ray Harford, he came to the fore under new boss Denis Smith. Smith handed Hughes his first start on 28 December, in a 1–1 home draw with Stoke City. He finished his debut season as the club's top-scorer with 14 goals in 41 appearances and was rewarded with a new four-year contract.
He started the 1998–99 season in fine form, and claimed his first ever hat-trick in a 3–0 win over Port Vale at Vale Park on 22 August. Despite having recently signed a long-term contract, his form and goal record led to constant rumours of a big money move to a host of Premier League clubs. West Brom eventually issued a "hands-off" warning to other clubs. He claimed further hat-tricks against Crystal Palace and Huddersfield Town, and finished the season with 32 goals in 45 games. This tally left him as the country's top-scorer. He was named on the PFA Team of the Year for the First Division. He then submitted a written transfer request, and his spokesman told the press that there have "been a number of things going on behind the scenes which have unsettled him recently". In particular, his £1,400 a week salary was compared with the £5,000 a week salary of under-performing teammate Fabian de Freitas.
He remained at the club for the 1999–2000 season and scored 17 goals in 43 appearances. Albion struggled in the First Division under new manager Brian Little, though improved after Gary Megson replaced Little as manager in March and avoided relegation despite Hughes missing the final five matches of the season due to a knee injury.
He was partnered with Jason Roberts for the 2000–01 season; the pair went on to score 40 goals between them to help secure the "Baggies" a play-off place. With 23 goals to his name, he again attracted interest from other clubs. He claimed two hat-tricks in seven days against Gillingham and Preston North End. Hughes converted a penalty in a 2–2 draw with Bolton Wanderers in the first leg of the play-off semi-final before a 3–0 defeat at the Reebok Stadium ended Albion's play-off hopes. He refused to sign a new contract in July 2001, and was placed on the transfer list.
Coventry City
Hughes was sold to Gordon Strachan's Coventry City for a club record transfer fee of £5,000,001 in August 2001. His wages at Highfield Road were reported to be £15,000 a week. Hughes scored 14 goals in 40 games, including a hat-trick in a 6–1 win at Crewe Alexandra, and finished the 2001–02 season as the club's top-scorer. Coventry rejected a loan offer from West Bromwich Albion in March 2002, and ended the season outside the play-offs.Return to West Bromwich Albion
In August 2002, Hughes returned to West Bromwich Albion for a club record £2.5 million – half the fee Albion had received for him a year earlier – and signed a four-year deal with the club. Despite being a regular in the first-team, Hughes failed to score a single Premier League goal in the 2002–03 season and Albion were relegated in 19th place with just six wins and 26 points from 38 matches. Hughes was criticised by several teammates following the club's 1–0 defeat by Everton at Goodison Park, though was publicly backed by manager Gary Megson. He told the press that "I want to establish myself in the Premiership and any accusations of me not pulling my weight should be made to my face." He put his poor form down to him missing pre-season training with injury problems. He rediscovered his form back in the First Division, scoring 12 goals in 36 games in 2003–04 as West Brom secured promotion with a second-place finish. His contract at West Bromwich Albion was immediately terminated in August 2004, following his conviction for causing death by dangerous driving. He spent the next three years in prison, serving half his six-year sentence.Oldham Athletic
Upon his release from prison on 20 August 2007, Hughes signed a two-year contract with League One club Oldham Athletic; the club asked supporters "not to pass moral judgement". His reported salary of £1,800-a-week at Boundary Park was less than a tenth of what he earned at the peak of his career with West Bromwich Albion. Hughes made his debut for Oldham in a 4–1 defeat by Hartlepool United at Victoria Park on 1 September 2007. He failed to find the net in his first seven games, and underwent an operation to correct a hernia problem. He recovered quickly from the procedure and registered his first two goals for the Latics in a 3–0 win over AFC Bournemouth at Dean Court on 25 November, before being named in the "League One Team of the Week". He scored his first hat-trick for the club against Millwall in a 3–2 victory at The Den on 15 December, and again made the "League One Team of the Week". He picked up a groin injury in March 2008, and was sidelined for the rest of the season. Hughes had scored eight goals by the end of the 2007–08 season, making him the club's second-highest goalscorer behind Craig Davies.He opened his account for the 2008–09 season with a hat-trick in a 4–0 win over Cheltenham Town on 23 August. Stating his future ambitions as playing Championship football with Oldham, he was offered a new deal at the club on 30 December 2008. He was linked with a move to Doncaster Rovers in January 2009, but stayed put after talks with manager John Sheridan, who insisted Hughes was "very happy" at Oldham. In March 2009, it was widely reported that Hughes had been involved in a drunken brawl with Sheridan where Hughes was reported to have had him "in a headlock". Sheridan later downplayed the incident as "jovial", saying, "people have made things up". Sheridan was sacked, but insisted that the two incidents were not related, as "it was results that cost me the job".
On 26 March 2009, Hughes joined Championship club Blackpool on loan until the end of the season. He made his debut in a 1–0 defeat to Plymouth Argyle at Bloomfield Road on 4 April. His first goal for the club came on 18 April against Charlton Athletic at the Valley, when after coming on as an 89th-minute substitute, and with Blackpool 2–1 down, he scored four minutes later to make the score 2–2. Hughes ended the campaign as Oldham's highest scorer with 18 goals in 40 appearances. However, he was one of several players released by the club's new manager Dave Penney in May 2009, and returned to Kidderminster Harriers for training to keep up his fitness levels whilst searching for a new club.