Hughes, Emlyn
Birth Date
28th August 1947
Birthplace
Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire
Occupation
Defender
Biographical Text
Former Liverpool and England defender Emlyn Hughes, one of best-known players of the 1970s before later becoming a television personality, was a playing target for Exeter City shortly after losing his job as manager of Rotherham United.
Son of a Welsh rugby league international, Emlyn Hughes made his debut for Blackpool in 1964 as a seventeen-year-old playing alongside future World Cup winner and Exeter City manager Alan Ball. Transferred to Liverpool in 1967 having made fewer than thirty league appearances for the Tangerines, he was spend twelve seasons at Liverpool and captained the side to three league titles, an FA Cup, two European Cups and two UEFA Cups. He also won 62 England caps alongside being elected Footballer of the Year in 1977.
Eventually leaving Merseyside in 1979, he spent two years with Wolverhampton Wanderers - where he won the League Cup - ahead of his appointment as player-manager of Rotherham United in 1981.
However, after a successful first season at Millmoor, Rotherham's fortunes took a turn for the worse during the 1982/83 season and he left his position towards the end of March 1983. Not yet thirty-six, and with over fifty league appearances under his belt with his latest club, a number of clubs were interested in recruiting Emlyn as a player.
According to local press reports Exeter City were in that number and, with manager Brian Godfrey in the Sheffield area on club business, there was the possibility of talks taking place. But, before the Grecians could make their move, Emlyn Hughes signed for Hull City where he played out the remainder of the season.
Never returning to management, he finished his professional career by playing a further seven league games for Swansea City in the 1983/84 season ahead of becoming a television personality and pundit with both the BBC and ITV. In the meantime he managed to visit Exeter in April 1985 when he spoke at an event at the Rougemont Hotel that launched the Build a Better City weekly draw that was intended to raise funds for the club.
Emlyn Hughes died from the effects of a brain tumour at the age of fifty-nine in November 2004.
Son of a Welsh rugby league international, Emlyn Hughes made his debut for Blackpool in 1964 as a seventeen-year-old playing alongside future World Cup winner and Exeter City manager Alan Ball. Transferred to Liverpool in 1967 having made fewer than thirty league appearances for the Tangerines, he was spend twelve seasons at Liverpool and captained the side to three league titles, an FA Cup, two European Cups and two UEFA Cups. He also won 62 England caps alongside being elected Footballer of the Year in 1977.
Eventually leaving Merseyside in 1979, he spent two years with Wolverhampton Wanderers - where he won the League Cup - ahead of his appointment as player-manager of Rotherham United in 1981.
However, after a successful first season at Millmoor, Rotherham's fortunes took a turn for the worse during the 1982/83 season and he left his position towards the end of March 1983. Not yet thirty-six, and with over fifty league appearances under his belt with his latest club, a number of clubs were interested in recruiting Emlyn as a player.
According to local press reports Exeter City were in that number and, with manager Brian Godfrey in the Sheffield area on club business, there was the possibility of talks taking place. But, before the Grecians could make their move, Emlyn Hughes signed for Hull City where he played out the remainder of the season.
Never returning to management, he finished his professional career by playing a further seven league games for Swansea City in the 1983/84 season ahead of becoming a television personality and pundit with both the BBC and ITV. In the meantime he managed to visit Exeter in April 1985 when he spoke at an event at the Rougemont Hotel that launched the Build a Better City weekly draw that was intended to raise funds for the club.
Emlyn Hughes died from the effects of a brain tumour at the age of fifty-nine in November 2004.
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