GhanaWeb Feature

Experience manager Chris Hughton has had his name being widely mentioned in relation to the vacant Black Stars coaching role.

The 63-year-old is said to lead the race for the job as government deem him as the right choice to steer the country back to its glory days.

Here is all you need to know about Chris Hughton

Early life

Chris Hughton was born in England, Forest Gate, a suburban town in East London to a Ghanaian father Willie Hughton, and an Irish mum Christine.

His father is said to be a native of Accra and still has a number of family members at Jamestown, Accra.

Football has been a part of Hughton’s life as he joined the Tottenham Hotspur youth team at the age of 13. He schooled at St Bonaventure’s Catholic School in Forest Gate.

He combined education and football at an early age and thus played part-time in 1997 during his four years apprenticeship in lift engineering.

He completed his apprenticeship in 1979 and thus signed as a full-time footballer at age 23, making his debut for the first team against Manchester United in the League Cup in the 1979/80 season.

Club Career

Hughton was a full-back who could play on either side but was played on the left more often although he was right-footed.

He has his name in Spurs’ good books as one of the best left full-backs to have ever donned the white jersey.

Throughout his senior career, he played for only three clubs namely Tottenham (1977 – 1990), West Ham United (1990-1992), and Brentford (1992-1993).

Hughton won four titles with Tottenham, FA (2), UEFA Cup, and League Cup before helping West Ham to win the English Division Two in 1991.

After spending one season at Brentford, he drew the curtains a fairly exciting career at age 34. Unfortunately, he signed off with a knee injury in 1993.

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International Career

Chris Hughton is the first mixed-race player to represent Ireland. In his 12-year spell with the National Team, he made 53 appearances, scoring one goal.

He made his debut in a friendly against the United States in 1979.

His only goal for his country came in the 1982 World Cup qualifiers against Cyprus where Ireland win 6-0.

Managerial Career

After hanging up his boots, Hughton began another football-related career path, coaching.

He has managed six different teams including a role as an assistant manager for the Republic of Ireland. A role he held for two years(2003-2005).

It all started in the late 90s when he was appointed as the caretaker of Tottenham in 1997 and 1998. He also managed the under-21s in 2007.

After serving under 11 managers at Spurs, he took a caretaker role at Newcastle in 2008 where he was subsequently named as the manager on a permanent basis.

Since assuming his first head coaching role in 2009, he has gone on to manage Birmingham City, Norwich City, Brighton and Hove Albion, and Nottingham Forest.

His honors within the period include winning the Football League title with Newcastle in the 2009/2010 season and runners-up finish with Brighton in the 2016/2017 season.

Private life

Hughton is married to Cheryl and has four children, two girls and a boy- Carleen and Aisha and Cian who was a footballer. Cian played for the Tottenham Hotspur youth team before moving to Lincoln City. He featured for the Republic of Ireland at the U-21 level.

Author: Emmanuel Enin