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Michael Hughes
Personal information
Date of birth	August 2, 1971 (1971-08-02) (age 36)
Place of birth	Larne, Northern Ireland
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Coventry City
Youth clubs
	Manchester City
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1988-1992 1992-1996 1994-1995 1995-1996 1996-1997 1997-2003 2002 2003-2007 2007-	Manchester City RC Strasbourg → West Ham United (loan) → West Ham United (loan) West Ham United Wimbledon → Birmingham City (loan) Crystal Palace Coventry City	024 0(1) 083 0(9) 019 0(2) 035 0(1) 038 0(3) 130 (17) 003 0(0) 126 0(5) 000 0(0)
National team2
	Northern Ireland	071 0(5)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of July 6, 2007. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of April 2, 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Michael Hughes (born August 2, 1971 in Larne, County Antrim) is a Northern Irish footballer who plays for Coventry City. He is a midfielder.

Hughes' career began with Manchester City as a trainee. In August 1992, he moved to RC Strasbourg for a fee of £450,000. During his four years at Strasbourg, Hughes spent two successful years on loan to West Ham United.

In July 1996, Hughes made the move to West Ham permanent. In the process, he became the first player to change clubs for free on a Bosman ruling. The following season Joe Kinnear took Hughes to Wimbledon in a £1.6million deal.

Hughes became embroiled in a contract dispute between Birmingham City and Wimbledon in 2002. In March 2002, Hughes played three matches for Birmingham on loan, but was injured before the club won promotion to the Premier League and a permanent switch fell through. Wimbledon then refused to take him back. The ensuing dispute over who held his registration continued for over a year and Hughes' career had to be put on hold. In October 2003 Hughes signed for Palace (who shared Selhurst Park with Wimbledon at the time) and was compensated by Birmingham.

At Palace, he quickly became a fans' favourite, and, for the 2004-05 season, Hughes was appointed team captain.

Following relegation, he was replaced in the role by defender Fitz Hall (a decision, by the Palace management, which proved unpopular). However, after a run of good form, Hughes was re-appointed team captain, in January 2006. He later lost the captaincy again, this time to Carl Fletcher. He was released by Palace in May 2007.

Peter Taylor commented on Hughes' Palace future claiming that: "Michael Hughes has basically been released, but his is slightly different because I'm really saying that something could also develop later on."^[1]

On July 6, 2007, Hughes joined his former manager Iain Dowie at Coventry City, signing a one-year contract.^[2]

Hughes has won 71 international caps with the Northern Ireland national team, scoring five times.HIIIIII!!!!!!!

• Michael Hughes career stats at Soccerbase