Laurie Hughes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lawrence (Laurie) Hughes, (born 2nd March, 1924), was a football player for Tranmere and Liverpool.
[edit] Life and playing career
Born in Waterloo, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, Hughes was a strong, uncompromising Centre Half, who could also play wing half, he had the knack of being able to read the game stopping moves before they caused to many problems.
Hughes signed for Liverpool during the war years in 1943 from Tranmere where he was a trainee, however, it wasn't till the 5th January 1946 that he made his debut in a 2-0 FA Cup 3rd round 1st leg victory at Sealand Road, Chester, his one and only goal didn't come until the 8th December 1951 in a league game at Anfield against Preston, Hughes' 88th minute strike saving a point in the 2-2 draw.
During the first post-war season of 1946/47 Hughes made 30 appearances from the 42 games helping the Reds win the First Division Championship, Liverpool's first title in 24 years.
1950 proved to be a rollercoaster of a season for Hughes, on a high due to reaching the F.A Cup final at Wembley only to lose to Arsenal 2-0. He then was selected to represent England at the World Cup in Brazil getting all of his 3 caps in the process and becoming Liverpool's first representative at the worlds premier football tournament, unfortunately, one of the appearances was the embarrassing 1-0 defeat to the USA. His debut came on the 25th June 1950 in Rio De Janeiro, Chile were the opponents who were beaten 2-0 with the goals coming from Stan Mortensen and Wilf Mannion.
Hughes and Liverpool's fortunes changed during the fifties when the Reds fell from the top tier, they managed to fend off relegation during the 1952/53 season but couldn't prevent the drop a season later.
Hughes stayed on at Liverpool and had a descent season in the 1956/57 missing just a one match. Hughes played his last game against Charlton on the 28th September 1957 aged 33, however, Hughes remained loyal to the club he loved and didn't retire for another 3 years, finally doing so in the May of 1960.
[edit] Career details
- Liverpool F.C (1942 - 1960)† - 326 appearances, 1 goal - Football league championship (level 1) winners medal (1947), F.A Cup runners up medal (1950)
- England (1950) - 3 caps - All at the World Cup of 1950
† The beginning of Laurie's Liverpool career was delayed due to World War ll
