Chris Hogg

Born in Middlesbrough,[2] Hogg was educated at Conyers School, Yarm.[3] He started his career with the York City youth system in 1997 and had a trial at Manchester United in 2000.[4] He signed for FA Premier League team Ipswich Town for an initial six-figure compensation fee on 29 June 2001.[5][6] The fee has since been reported as £150,000.[7] He signed a professional contract with Ipswich on 12 August 2002.[2]

Hogg joined the Third Division team Boston United on a one-month loan on 9 October 2003.[8] He made his debut two days later in a 3–1 victory over Cheltenham Town.[9] He made eight appearances before returning to Ipswich in November.[10][11] He rejoined Boston on another one-month loan on 12 December and made five appearances during this spell,[10][12] leaving the club in February 2004.[13]

Because of the financial restrictions at Ipswich, Hogg was transferred to the Scottish Premier League club Hibernian on 31 January 2005, even though he was unavailable for two months.[14] This was due to Hogg being severely injured whilst trying to prevent a car robbery in Middlesbrough earlier that month.[15] Tony Mowbray, who was then the manager of Hibernian, was aware of Hogg from his time coaching at Ipswich. He made his debut in a 4–0 defeat to Hearts on 7 August.[16] He signed a new contract with Hibernian in October that would expire in June 2009, with Mowbray saying "Chris is a model professional for a young man of 20. He deserves his new deal and I know there's more to come."[17]

Hogg initially struggled to establish himself in the Hibernian first team, but he started to win a regular place from January 2007 under the management of John Collins. He played in the 2007 Scottish League Cup Final against Kilmarnock, which Hibernian won 5–1.[18] Hogg formed a solid defensive partnership with the captain Rob Jones, and in June 2007 he signed a contract with Hibernian until June 2011.[19] Hogg was made vice-captain at the start of the 2007–08 season following the departure of Scott Brown to Celtic.[20] Hogg was voted the club's Player of the Year by both the fans and his fellow players at the end of the 2007–08 season.[21]

During the early part of the 2008–09 season, Hogg played on for over a month despite suffering from concussion.[22] After spending a few weeks resting, he admitted that he had been "foolish" to initially play on, in a desire to retain his first team place.[22] Hogg was made the new captain at the beginning of the 2009–10 season, after Rob Jones moved to Scunthorpe United.[23] Despite his status as captain, Hogg was dropped from the starting line-up early in the 2010–11 season to make way for new signing Francis Dickoh, who made his debut in a 1–1 draw against Inverness CT.[24] the Hibernian manager John Hughes praised the performance of Dickoh, who offered a greater physical presence.[24] After Hughes left the club in October, Hogg was reinstated to the starting line-up at right-back by the caretaker management team of Gareth Evans and Alistair Stevenson against Kilmarnock.[25][26] Hogg scored the two goals that gave Hibs a 2–1 win.[25][26] It was the first time in over four years that Hogg had scored a goal, his only previous senior goal also being scored against Kilmarnock.[26]

Hogg lost his place in the team soon afterwards, however, and on 31 January 2011 he was released from his contract.[27]

Hogg signed a short-term deal for Inverness Caledonian Thistle after he was released from his contract by Hibernian.[27] He scored a goal on his debut for Inverness, in a Scottish Cup tie against Morton.[28][29] Hogg left Inverness at the end of the 2010–11 season.[30]

Following a spell training with his home town club, Middlesbrough, and a trial with Crewe Alexandra,[31][32] he re-signed with Inverness on a one-year contract on 29 July.[33] Hogg suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury in a match against Dundee United on 10 December 2011.[34] His manager, Terry Butcher, described it as "one of the worst knee injuries we've seen".[35] After a successful operation on his knee, Hogg was offered a new contract by Inverness in January 2012.[36][37][38] Hogg made his first competitive appearance since recovering from injury on 4 May 2013, in a 4–3 win against Motherwell.[39] Hogg's contract with Inverness CT expired at the end of the 2012–13 season.[40] He elected to leave the club despite being offered a one-year extension.[40]

In January 2014, Hogg signed for Needham Market.[41] He left Needham in September 2015 to take up a full-time coaching role within the Ipswich Town Academy.

While a York player he captained England at under-15 level,[5] making his debut in a 1–0 defeat to Northern Ireland on 20 October 2000 in the Victory Shield.[42] He made another appearance in the Victory Shield, also playing three games in the Walkers Under-15 Tournament and four games at the Montaigu Tournament.[42] He made his under-17 debut after starting a 2–1 defeat to Italy on 12 July 2001 and went on to score his first goal in a 2–2 draw with Slovakia on 13 February 2002.[43] He then played for the under-17s at the 2002 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship and played in five of a possible six games, with England finishing the tournament in third place.[43] Hogg finished his time with the side with 11 caps and two goals.[43] His debut for the under-18 team came after starting in a 4–0 victory over Tunisia on 14 November.[44] He then played in three of England's four games at the 2003 Meridian Cup and his last appearance at this level came in a 0–0 draw with Switzerland on 12 March 2003.[44] Hogg's debut for the under-19s was a 3–2 defeat to Germany on 24 April and went on to make a further three appearances for the side.[44][45]

Hogg played as a centre back and was described as "solid and self-reliant".[46] The Crewe Alexandra manager, Dario Gradi, described Hogg as "decent in the air", despite his relative lack of height for a centre back.[32]