Hugh Curran

Football player infobox
playername = Hugh Curran


fullname = Hugh Patrick Curran
nickname =
height =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1943|9|25
cityofbirth = Carstairs, South Lanarkshire
countryofbirth = Scotland
position = Striker
youthyears =
youthclubs = Manchester United
Shamrock Rovers
years = 1962–1963 1963–1964 1964–1966 1966–1969 1969–1972 1972–1974 1974–1977 1977–1979
clubs = Third Lanark Corby Town Millwall Norwich City Wolverhampton Wanderers Oxford United Bolton Wanderers Oxford United
caps(goals) = 009 00(4)
00- 00 (-)
057 0(26)
112 0(46)
082 0(40)
070 0(28)
047 0(13)
035 0(11)
nationalyears = 1969–1971
nationalteam = Scotland
nationalcaps(goals) = 005 00(1)

Hugh Patrick Curran (born 28 September 1943 in Carstairs, South Lanarkshire) is a former Scottish international footballer, who spent the majority of his career in the English Football League.

Career

Curran began his career as an apprentice at Manchester United, but was released and moved to Shamrock Rovers to gain experience. He returned to his native Scotland with Third Lanark as a semi-pro where he struggled to see much first team action, instead joining Corby Town.

He was spotted by Millwall, signing as a professional in March 1964. He finished as their leading goalscorer (with 19) in his first season as they won promotion from the fourth tier. This proved to be his only full season at The Den though, as he moved to Norwich City in January 1966. Here, he spent three years in the second flight, scored 53 goals in total and was voted the club's player of the year in 1968.

He moved into the First Division in January 1969 when he signed for Wolverhampton Wanderers for £60,000. He finished his first full season at Molineux as their leading goalscorer with 23 goals, and added a further 20 in the following campaign.

During his time with the club, he won a call-up to the Scottish national team, making his debut on 5 November 1969 in a 0-2 World Cup qualifying loss in Austria. He won five caps in total over an 18-month period, scoring once, against England in a 1-3 defeat at Wembley in May 1971.

However, the 1971/72 season saw him pushed to the sidelines at Wolves due to the emergence of John Richards, limiting Curran to just eight appearances. His final game for the club was in the second leg of the 1972 UEFA Cup Final where they lost out on the trophy to their countrymen Spurs. In total, he made 98 appearances for them, scoring 47 times.

Out of contention at Wolves, he joined second flight Oxford United in September 1972 for £50,000. He was their leading scorer in both the 1972/73 and 1973/74 campaigns (with 17 and 14 goals). After just one full season though, he left for Bolton Wanderers in a £40,000 deal in September 1974.

Following over 50 appearances for Bolton spread over three seasons, he returned to Oxford United where he remained until retiring due to injury in 1979.

Following his retirement, he ran his own hairdressing business in his native Carstairs and later spent periods running shops, and a hotel (in Lanarkshire). After moving to Oxfordshire, he ran pubs (in Horton-cum-Studley and Islip) and currently works at a park and ride service in Thornhill, Oxfordshire.

References

* "Canary Citizens" by Mark Davage, John Eastwood, Kevin Platt, published by Jarrold Publishing, (2001), ISBN 0-7117-2020-7

External links

*