 |
| The Hughes Brothers: clockwise from top left: Billy, Francey, Jackie and Sammy |
Born: 9 May 1929, Ballymena
Died: June 2005
Height: 5.05½ ft
Weight: 9.08 st
Position: Outside-Right
Representative Honours: Ireland: 1 Full Cap (1951).
Club Career:
Teams
|
Seasons
|
Signed
|
Fee
|
League
|
FA Cup
|
Other
|
Larne
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
(Intermediate League)
|
|
Bolton
Wanderers
|
48/49-52/53
|
-
|
-
|
47/ 2
|
2/0
|
-
|
Bournemouth.&.B..Ath.
|
53/54
|
-
|
-
|
16/ 1
|
-
|
-
|
Rhyl
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
(Cheshire.County.League)
|
|
Bangor
City
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
(Cheshire County League)
|
|
Mossley
|
60/61-62/63
|
-
|
-
|
137/62
|
(Cheshire County League)
|
|
TOTALS
|
-
|
£-
|
200/65
|
2/0
|
-
|
|
Biography:
Signed by Bolton Wanderers from Larne, where he had played alongside brothers Sammy and Francey/Frankie*, in August 1948, it took some time for Billy Hughes to make an impact at Burnden Park. He made his Trotters’ debut against Birmingham in March 1949, and took his total number of outings in his first season to three followed by six more in his second. Hughes was a regular in the Bolton number seven shirt throughout the 1950/51, making a total of 33 firstteam appearances, and scored his first goal in a 1-0 win over Chelsea in September 1950. In March 1951 he won his first cap for Ireland in a 1-0 Home Nations defeat by Wales, the emergence of the supremely consistent Billy Bingham insured that was Hughes’ only cap.
Similarly at Bolton, the emergence of Doug Holden early in the 1951/52 season saw Hughes fall down the pecking order, and he made a just seven more appearances before leaving Burnden in June 1953. He joined Division Three (South) Bournemouth. The club struggled to finish outside the re-election spots, and Hughes left after just one season. He spent the next decade plying his football in the Cheshire County League earning a reputation as a “very creative goalscorer and provider”.
Ireland Cap Details:
07-03-1951 Wales… H L 1-2 BC
Summary: 1/0. Won 0, Drew 0, Lost 1.
Thanks to Barry and John for their helpful comments (below) and to Billy's great-nephew Darren Brownrigg for the picture and further information.
Another brother, Jackie also played for Larne and won Junior caps, as did Francey and Sammy.
Comments
I attended the Notts County match as a 12 year old Rhyl supporter and knew Billy well as he used to stay overnight sometimes at our house when playing midweek matches at Rhyl, having travelled from his home in Bolton....occasionally bringing his young daughter, Anita, with him. He owned a Newspaper/Tobacconist shop in Bolton at the time.
He was a delightful little fellow and I sincerely hope he is still with us and in good health, although I do not know.
Does anyone have a picture of him?
Unfortunately I can’t lay my hands on a picture. If I do I will let you know.
My name is Anita previously and Billy was my
Father.
Sadly he has passed away I do have pictures if anyone is still interested .
I'd be grateful if you could email any pictures of your father to jcd.nifg@gmail.com.
Jonny
NIFG Editor
I see nobody has posted on here for a while, but I hope this is picked up by someone. Billy is my great uncle. His brother, Francey, who also represented Northern Ireland was my Granddad. I have pictures of Billy and his brothers and will make contact via e-mail. Would be great to hear from you Anita if you get this. Please drop me a line at darrenbrownrigg@hotmail.com.
Darren.
I see nobody has posted on here for a while, but I hope this is picked up by someone. Billy is my great uncle. His brother, Francey, who also represented Northern Ireland was my Granddad. I have pictures of Billy and his brothers and will make contact via e-mail. Would be great to hear from you Anita if you get this. Please drop me a line at darrenbrownrigg@hotmail.com.
Darren.
I see nobody has posted on here for a while, but I hope this is picked up by someone. Billy is my great uncle. His brother, Francey, who also represented Northern Ireland was my Granddad. I have pictures of Billy and his brothers and will make contact via e-mail. Would be great to hear from you Anita if you get this. Please drop me a line at darrenbrownrigg@hotmail.com.
Darren.
I see nobody has posted on here for a while, but I hope this is picked up by someone. Billy is my great uncle. His brother, Francey, who also represented Northern Ireland was my Granddad. I have pictures of Billy and his brothers and will make contact via e-mail. Would be great to hear from you Anita if you get this. Please drop me a line at darrenbrownrigg@hotmail.com.
Darren.