Emlyn Hughes

After being refused a trial by local side Barrow, Hughes joined First Division side Blackpool. He made his debut for Blackpool in 1964 playing alongside Jimmy Armfield and Alan Ball, initially as an inside forward, but later at left-half.

In February 1967, after 28 appearances for Blackpool, Hughes joined Liverpool for £65,000 (equivalent to £1,255,133 in 2021). Manager Bill Shankly was stopped in his car by the police as he drove Hughes to Liverpool for the first time and said "Don't you know who I've got in this car? The captain of England!" The policeman peered through the window and said that he did not recognise the man, to which Shankly replied: "No, but you will!" Hughes did indeed go on to captain his country. Hughes made his Liverpool debut in a 2–1 league win over Stoke City at Anfield on 4 March 1967. He scored his first goal in a 6–0 defeat of Newcastle United at Anfield on 26 August the same year.

Hughes settled into the midfield at Liverpool during a transitional period for the club, earning the nickname "Crazy Horse" after an illegal rugby tackle on Newcastle United winger Albert Bennett. Liverpool did not win any honours in his first four seasons there, but Hughes was seen as a forerunner of the future which Shankly had in mind. His versatility was noticed too – he filled in at left back and central defence, a trait which was spotted by England coach Alf Ramsey in 1969.

Ramsey gave Hughes his debut on 5 November of that year, playing him at left back in a friendly against the Netherlands at the Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam. England won 1–0. He played in the next game in the same position. Hughes scored his only international goal against Wales, the opening goal of a 3–0 British Home Championship victory at Ninian Park in 1972.

For Hughes, 1970 was an important year in his career. After Liverpool were beaten by Second Division side Watford in the quarter finals of the FA Cup, Shankly made a decision to clear out many of the senior players who had in the previous eight years won two League titles, an FA Cup, and reached a European Cup Winners Cup final, and recruit younger players to replace them. Hughes, not yet 23, survived the cull, together with Ian Callaghan and Tommy Smith, and the new recruits who would help establish Liverpool's dominance in the 1970s began to arrive.

Meanwhile, England were about to fly to Mexico and defend the World Cup won four years earlier. Hughes had six caps by the time Ramsey included him in his provisional squad of 27 which flew to South America for altitude-acclimatising friendly games against Colombia and Ecuador. Hughes featured in neither game but was selected in the final squad of 22. He was the youngest player selected by Ramsey, and the only Liverpool player in the squad.

Along with Nobby Stiles, Hughes was one of only two outfield players who did not feature in any game. England progressed to the quarter finals, where they were defeated by West Germany. Questions were raised about Ramsey's decisions during the game. He controversially withdrew Bobby Charlton and Martin Peters in the second half but retained a clearly exhausted Terry Cooper, who played at left back the entire 120 minutes although Hughes was available to replace him. Hughes would ultimately never play in a World Cup.

In the 1970–71 season, Liverpool reached the FA Cup final, losing 2–1 after extra-time to Arsenal, who completed the then-rare double of League title and FA Cup. Hughes was distraught as he collected his loser's medal, and BBC commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme remarked: "Emlyn Hughes there, really absolutely sick." By this time, Hughes had established a reputation for charging upfield from his defensive midfield position on long runs, and for constantly berating referees.

In 2008, Tommy Smith claimed in his autobiography that on 8 May 1972, Hughes told him that he had been speaking to a number of Arsenal players who were "willing to throw a match for £50 a man." Liverpool subsequently failed to win the vital match at Highbury, which meant that Derby County won the league title. Smith wrote that he was "disgusted" with what Hughes said and never spoke to him off the field again. Smith maintained that the only witness was Ian Callaghan. Smith also stated that he thinks Hughes was trying to "set him up" and was not really trying to bribe Arsenal players.[6] Smith said he never told Shankly because it would have "broken his heart".[7]

Hughes appeared again for England in the quarter-final of the 1972 European Championships, again under Ramsey, again facing West Germany, again with the same result; victory for West Germany.

In 1973, Hughes won his first League title with Liverpool and his first European honour with the UEFA Cup, against Borussia Mönchengladbach. After scoring goals in a memorable win over Merseyside rivals Everton at Goodison Park, Hughes was made Liverpool captain after Tommy Smith had a publicised falling-out with Shankly, who nonetheless kept him in the team. Smith and Hughes' off-field relationship, already strained due to the bribery incident 18 months earlier, fractured beyond all repair after this, although it never visibly affected their football.

In October 1973, Ramsey selected Hughes to be left back as England hosted Poland at Wembley. Only an England victory would secure a place at the 1974 World Cup, with any other result seeing Poland qualify. England dominated the match but were denied constantly by Polish goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski. Then Poland had a breakaway after a misplaced tackle by Norman Hunter in the second half, and only Hughes and goalkeeper Peter Shilton were back to defend. The ball was passed to Jan Domarski who shot from the edge of the area. Hughes lunged into a last-ditch tackle but Domarski's shot evaded his block and slipped under Shilton's body and into the net. England equalised through an Allan Clarke penalty but the match ended 1–1 and England failed to qualify.

At the end of the 1973–74 season, Liverpool reached the FA Cup final and beat Newcastle United 3–0, with Hughes receiving the trophy from The Princess Anne. Later that month Hughes was also appointed England captain, replacing Bobby Moore, by caretaker boss Joe Mercer. Hughes led out England for the first time on 11 May 1974 against Wales in Cardiff, which England won 2–0.

Hughes captained England for all of Mercer's seven games in charge, and initially maintained the role when Don Revie was appointed as Ramsey's permanent successor. However, after the first two qualifiers for the 1976 European Championships, Revie dropped Hughes from the team, giving the captaincy to Hughes' former Blackpool teammate Alan Ball.

With Liverpool under the guidance of Bob Paisley following Shankly's retirement in 1974, Hughes focused on club football. Liverpool won no honours in Paisley's first season in charge but achieved another League championship and UEFA Cup double in 1976.

The 1976–77 season began with a shock recall to England by Don Revie, who played Hughes in the second qualifier for the 1978 World Cup, under national captain and clubmate Kevin Keegan. Hughes was now predominantly a central defender and played in a tactically disastrous team against Italy in Rome, which marked the lowest point of Revie's tenure as England manager. England lost 2–0.

Revie selected Hughes for further games through the early part of 1977, during which time Liverpool sought an unprecedented treble of League Championship, FA Cup and European Cup. They won the title but lost the FA Cup final to bitter rivals Manchester United. Four days later, Hughes captained Liverpool to a 3–1 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach in Rome to win the 1977 European Cup Final, the first time the team won Europe's most prestigious club title. He was voted the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year.

Revie gave Hughes the England captaincy back for a Home International match against Scotland when Keegan was unavailable, before selecting him for the squad which would tour South America in the summer. On returning to England, Ron Greenwood took over as England manager, returning the captaincy to Hughes. England could not qualify for the World Cup after a defeat by Italy, but Hughes nonetheless celebrated a 50th cap when England beat the Italians 2–0 in the final qualifier at Wembley at the end of 1977.

In 1978, Hughes was in the Liverpool team which played and lost its first ever League Cup final, to Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest in a replay. The league title went to Forest too, but Liverpool retained the European Cup with a 1–0 win over FC Bruges at Wembley, allowing Hughes to lift the trophy for a second consecutive year. By this time Hughes's place in the side was under threat from talented young Scottish defender Alan Hansen, who had arrived the previous season for £100,000 from Partick Thistle.

The following season Hughes made just 16 appearances in the side, enough to earn his final title medal. Liverpool lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-finals, with Hughes caught out of position for the winning goal. He never played for Liverpool again. He was sold to Wolverhampton Wanderers for £90,000 in August 1979. Hughes left Liverpool after 665 appearances, scoring 49 goals, for the club. His 59 appearances for England while at Liverpool made him the club's most capped player until Welsh striker Ian Rush broke the record more than ten years later.

Hughes made his Wolves debut at the Baseball Ground on 22 August 1979 in a 1–0 win over Derby County. He went on to win the League Cup in his first season with Wolves – the only trophy he did not win with Liverpool – lifting it as captain after a 1–0 win over Nottingham Forest at Wembley.

He continued to be selected for England squads even after leaving Liverpool. He featured sporadically in England's successful qualifying campaign for the 1980 European Championships, he captained the team for the final time in the 1–1 1980 Home International game with Northern Ireland draw at Wembley and won his 62nd and final cap against Scotland in the next game as a substitute.

Greenwood included him in the squad for the European Championship finals in Italy as an experienced reserve, but Hughes did not play any matches and England were eliminated in the group stages. Hughes was England's only connection with their previous foray into the finals of a tournament – the 1970 World Cup – but his non-participation in either made him England's most capped player never to feature in a major finals. He also became only the fifth player to represent England in three separate decades, joining Jesse Pennington, Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton and Peter Shilton. The 57 caps Hughes earned in the 1970s made him the most capped England player of the decade.

Hughes left Wolves in 1981, joining Rotherham United as player-manager. Inheriting a side that had won the Third Division championship under Ian Porterfield, including such players as John Breckin, Tony Towner and Ronnie Moore, Rotherham made a patchy start to the season and were in the relegation zone in January. However, a run of nine wins in a row followed and Rotherham climbed from third last to third place in the league. Promotion was missed by four points, but the finish of 7th place was the Millers' highest since the 1960s.

The following season Rotherham appeared to be holding their ground in the Second Division and were 9th at the start of 1983. However, the side plummeted down the table. On the morning of 20 March Hughes was asked to resign as manager. He refused and was sacked, to be replaced by George Kerr the following day. Rotherham were relegated after winning only one more game during the season.

Hughes also played for Hull City, later becoming a director. He joined Mansfield Town briefly in 1983 but did not make any appearances for the club. Later that year he also turned out for Swansea City, with whom he brought his playing career to a close.