CARL MCHUGH

Full Name: Carl Gerard McHugh

Born: 05 February 1993

Came from: Bradford City   Went to: Motherwell

First game: 09 August 2014   Last game: 30 May 2016

Appearances: 94 (90/4)   Goals: 7

Primarily a central defender, McHugh was born in Lettermacaward in County Donegal. He started his career on a youth team scholarship with Reading at the age of 16 in 2009. He had also played Gaelic football for Donegal side Na Rossa before switching codes. In 2011 he signed his first professional contract with Reading and within the 2011-12 season was loaned to Southern Premier League Swindon Supermarine, for whom he played 7 times and scored twice before returning home for a loan spell with SSE Airtricity Premier League Dundalk, for whom he played 12 times before being side-lined by a stomach problem. He was then due to be loaned to Barnet but the move was ended when he damaged his knee in training, which also resulted in his release by Reading in the summer of 2012, having failed to break into the first team.

McHugh was then signed by Bradford City in August 2012, following a successful trial after City’s summer tour of Ireland. He made his debut against Watford in a League Cup tie later that month - the significance of which couldn’t have been known at the time. He waited a further two months for his first league appearance for the Bantams, but it was the League Cup that was to characterise his season because he played a pivotal part in the League Two club’s remarkable run to the 2013 League Cup Final, where their luck finally ran out when they were overwhelmed 5-0 by Premier League Swansea City. McHugh started in each of City's famous cup triumphs over top-flight sides Wigan Athletic, Arsenal and Aston Villa, playing a key role in each tie. He made a lasting impression on the Bantams’ faithful, scoring a superb header in the dying minutes of City's first leg semi-final against Villa to give a vital 3-1 advantage going into the second leg. He went on to play the full 90 minutes in the final at Wembley Stadium and was credited as one of the unsung heroes in the run to the final.

Just three months later Bradford completed a memorable season by returning to Wembley Stadium for the League Two Play-off Final against Northampton Town, beating the Cobblers 3-0 to secure promotion to League One, but this time McHugh had to be content with a role as non-playing substitute. Following his league and cup-final double with City, he signed a one-year contract extension to keep him at Valley Parade until the summer of 2014. In all, across his two seasons at Bradford he played 44 times and scored 4 goals (all headers), and will always be remembered as one of the squad that City understandably call their 'history makers'.

Having previously played for the Republic of Ireland at under-17 and 19 levels, he won two under-21 caps in early 2013. As well as his international honours, he was also named Football League Young Player of Month for January 2013.

In June 2014, having already packed a lot into his 21 years, McHugh decided his best chance of a regular first team place was to sign a two-year deal at Home Park as part of John Sheridan’s rebuilding for the 2014-15 season. His time as a Pilgrim began with an uncertain spell at left-back, but he excelled when moved into a three-man central defence. In his second season, new manager Derek Adams preferred a more conventional back line and chose McHugh for a defensive midfield role instead, and again the Irishman had a stand-out season.

In the summer of 2016, after Argyle's unsuccessful play-off final at Wembley, the popular 23-year-old was offered a new contract. On the day after the team's return for the new season, the club announced that McHugh had agreed terms and would sign forms two days later. In the event, he didn't; to everyone's great surprise and disappointment he signed instead for Scottish Premiership side Motherwell.

McHugh's time at Fir Park began badly; he suffered a serious facial injury and subsequent concussion in the season's first league game, which kept him on the sidelines for five months. After regaining his place for the second half of the campaign, he was named club captain in June 2017, succeeding ex-Pilgrim Keith Lasley, although he relinquished the captaincy ahead of the 2018-19 season, saying it was 'best for both him and the club'.

After 104 games and four goals in three years at Motherwell, McHugh elected to pursue his career in India, signing in May 2019 for Kolkata-based Indian Super League (ISL) club ATK, and scoring on his debut. His first season ended early due to injury, although the club secured the ISL title. He then 'joined' ATK Mohun Bagan after ATK merged with Mohun Bagan in 2020. In total he played six times, scoring once for ATK and made a further 60 appearances and scoring three times for ATK Mohun Bagan.

In July 2023, McHugh signed for rival ISL side Goa, after mutually parting ways with ATK Mohun Bagan.