Aaron Hughes will not take any accolades as the greatest Villa player of all time; or the most memorable. However, despite slipping under the radar during his two seasons at Villa Park the Northern Irishman be remembered as a useful and competent defender who was forced out too soon.
Before Villa
Hughes first came into the Premier League with Newcastle United; a remarkable achievement considering this was a Newcastle side that still had dreams of winning the league. Even more remarkable was how well he conducted himself during his baptism of fire against Barcelona at the Nou Camp.
Despite the 1-0 defeat, the 18-year old showed tremendous promise taking on the likes of Figo, Ronaldo and Stoichkov. It was clear after this performance that Hughes was a prospect for the years to come; as the Toon went about building what they hoped was a title-winning side. The then teenager also looked to have a bright international future having won 10 caps before the turn of the millennium.
As the noughties came Hughes was the centrepiece of Newcastle’s defence. The North East outfit had licked their wounds after the destructive reign of Ruud Gullit; and with a squad featuring Hughes, a young Sylvain Distin and Craig Bellamy; not to mention Gary Speed in his prime, and Alan Shearer who was now putting all his efforts in for his club, fans were expecting that Bobby Robson was the man to land The Toon its first trophy in over 30 years.
Yet after reaching 200 league appearances, a lack of quality centre back partners and the frustration of not coming close to picking of a Premier League winners medal Hughes seemed destined for pastures new, when signed for the Villans.
His Time At Villa
The 2005-06 season looked to be promising on paper, after the disappointing 10th in 2005 then manager David O’Leary looked to have brought in some high-quality players to get us deep into the top half. Recent Champions League winner Milan Baroš signed up; as did Kevin Phillips. When Hughes also joined the side to shore up a defence that was overly reliant on Olof Melberg, and we looked set to challenge the top 6 or even possibly make the Champions League places like Everton did the season before.
However, fantasy and reality were two completely different beasts. The 2005-06 season was a disaster. The expectation that Kevin Phillips would rekindle his Sunderland form turned out to be ambitious at best; Baroš despite a number of important goals and assists was never consistent enough to lead the attack on his own; and as for Aaron Hughes, despite filling his role admirably as a centre back, never felt integral to our defence as he found himself chopped and changed with Melberg, and fellow signing Wilfried Bouma.
After the disappointment of 2005-06 for Hughes, spirits were high that newly appointed manager Martin O’Neill was the man to elevate his career back to his days at Newcastle, however the all Irish relationship proved to be unsuccessful. To be fair to Hughes it wasn’t his fault, the miraculous return of former injury struck defender Martin Laursen; the improved form of Bouma and a reluctance to not use the experience of Melberg meant that Hughes had turned from first choice defender to expendable squad player in a season.
After only making 19 league appearances in the 2006-07 season, Hughes was shown the Villa Park door and moved on to Fulham in a deal that would later see Zat Knight go the other way.
Moving On
Originally signed by Lawrie Sanchez, Hughes would go on to have his finest season in a football shirt under Roy Hodgson. The Northern Irishman was a crucial part in Fulham’s incredible Uefa cup run that saw them beat FC Basel, Shakhtar Donetsk and the complete demolition of Juventus in what goes down in history as one of the most memorable European night for an English club.
Fulham would then take a Atletico Madrid side featuring David De Gea, Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan to extra time before the former Manchester United striker would end dreams of the trophy coming to South West London. Despite the defeat, Hughes and Fulham shocked England and Europe in getting to the final, and was the former Villa defender’s finest hour; playing the football of his career against some of the biggest teams in Europe.
Despite the defeat, Hughes and Fulham shocked England and Europe in getting to the final, and was the former Villa defender’s finest hour; playing the football of his career against some of the biggest teams in Europe.
Yet once again Hughes found himself at a club that couldn’t capitalise on his potential. After his remarkable UEFA cup fun at Fulham, Roy Hodgson would go on to have a less remarkable spell as Liverpool manager and was replaced by Mark Hughes; whose tenure was fraught with dressing room problems and falling out with owner Mohamed Al-Fayed.
Martin Jol’s time at The Cottagers would also be frustrating for Aaron as he slipped down the defensive pecking order, and with Fulham locked in a relegation dogfight during his last few games at the club; Hughes was transferred across London to Queens Park Rangers on deadline day.
It’s at QPR where Hughes won his only medal of note after helping The R’s to a play-off final win against Derby County, although not the medal he would have wanted at the start of his career; the honour at least represents an acknowledgement of his hard work throughout his career.
After QPR
After a short and not very memorable spell at Brighton & Hove Albion, Hughes now 35 at the time opted to make the change to the A-League by signing for Melbourne City.
Hughes will always be remembered in his home nation as one of the best defenders to put on a Northern Ireland jersey. Making over 100 appearances for his country, and still a firm fixture in Michael O’Neill’s plans; Hughes featured for Northern Ireland in his countries Euro 2016 campaign.
Hughes can count himself as a player who’s had an incredibly unlucky career. If fortune shined brighter upon him he could have had a much better defensive partner than Titus Bramble, and been a part of a Newcastle side that should have come a lot closer to lifting the Premier League trophy.
He can also count himself unlucky that Martin O’Neill gave Martin Laursen one last chance to prove his value to fans that seemed keen of him moving on rendering Hughes a bit part player; before being sold on just before Villa started making progress up the table.
He can count himself unlucky that Fulham lost a UEFA cup final that had Diego Forlan been a millisecond less responsive to Sergio Aguero’s low cross in extra time Fulham could have won. And Finally, he can count himself unlucky that Martin Jol or any other manager didn’t see in him what Roy Hodgson did, the unlikely hero that eked out all the talent the Northern Irishmen had.
If history favoured upon Hughes he might have been a Premier League winner and a UEFA Cup winner; he might have been talked about as second only to George Best to put on a Northern Ireland kit.
However, football remains a cruel game and Hughes will look back at his career with a sense of underachievement. Although despite his misfortune throughout his career Hughes has earned one title; he remains one of the most indispensable expendable players in Northern Irish football history.
