Lee Hughes

Who is Lee Hughes?

Lee Hughes is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Conference Premier side Forest Green Rovers. A former England semi-pro international, he is a strong striker with excellent finishing abilities. After being released as a youth footballer, Hughes worked as a roofer alongside his father.

He started his career in the Conference with Kidderminster Harriers, before winning a £380,000 move to boyhood club West Bromwich Albion in August 1997. He finished as the club's top-scorer for four seasons running, earning a place on the PFA Team of the Year in 1998–99 after finishing as the highest scorer in the top four divisions of English football. He was sold to Coventry City for £5 million in August 2001, before returning to West Brom for half that figure 12 months later. He failed to impress in the Premier League as Albion suffered relegation, though helped the club to make an immediate return to the top-flight by securing the runners-up spot in the First Division in 2003–04.

In August 2004, he was sentenced to six years imprisonment for causing death by dangerous driving following a fatal crash on 23 November 2003. He returned to the professional game after being released half-way through his sentence in August 2007, and was offered a contract by Oldham Athletic. Playing one level below where he was playing before his prison sentence, he continued his impressive scoring rate for Oldham. He left the club in May 2009, following a brief loan spell at Blackpool. He signed for Notts County in July 2009, and was named on the PFA Team of the Year after scoring 30 league goals as the club won the League Two title in 2009–10. He left Notts County to sign for Port Vale in January 2013, and helped the club to secure promotion out of League Two in 2012–13. On 3 January 2014, he signed for Forest Green Rovers on an 18 month deal.