- Kevin McHugh
:"This article is about the football player, Kevin McHugh. For the pianist and composer, see
Kevin McHugh (musician) ."Football player infobox
playername = Kevin McHugh
fullname = Kevin McHugh
height = 5 ft 7 in (1.75 m)
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1980|1|19| cityofbirth =Letterkenny
countryofbirth =Ireland
currentclub = Derry City
clubnumber = 10
position = Centre forward
years = 1998–2006
2000–2001
2006–present
clubs =Finn Harps
→Omagh Town (loan)
Derry City
caps(goals) = 184 (110)
9 (6)
? (6)
pcupdate = (UTC)Kevin McHugh (born
January 19 , 1980 inLetterkenny ,Ireland ) is an Irish football (soccer) player currently with the League of Ireland clubDerry City F.C. Career
Finn Harps
Born in
Letterkenny and raised in the border-town ofKillea inCo. Donegal ,Republic of Ireland . McHugh scored and made his debut forBallybofey -side,Finn Harps , againstFanad United in the League Cup as just a novice 17 year old. He went on to make 184 appearances for the side, building up a reputation as one of the deadliest forwards in the Irish game by scoring 110 league goals. In 2005, the striker became one of just five then-current players to join the 38-strong group of players to have scored 100 or more league goals in the modern era.Despite the relegation of
Finn Harps from the Premier Division, McHugh finished third highest scorer in the 2005 season with 13 goals. He attracted the attention of many top Irish clubs, including Shelbourne and Bohemians, before the beginning of the 2006 season. However he achieved a life-long ambition when Derry City stepped in to sign him. He didn't hesitate to move to Derry City, as he knew he could win some silverware. He also wanted to play at European level, and common sense told him that that would never happen with Finn Harps, as they only ever won one senior trophy in their long history, over 30 years ago.Because he achieved all of those objectives he's is now a hate figure for a small section of the Harps supporters who liken his treachery to that of Luis Figo leaving Barcelona to go to fierce rivals Real Madrid and he had a sheeps head thrown at him in his return to Finn Park.
Having said that, the majority of Finn Harps supporters would welcome him back to the fold, and that could happen, but probably not until his twilight years.
He was top scorer in the First Division three times with Harps [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesi/iertops.html] . And has scored a total of 116 league goals.
Derry City
McHugh had a mixed first season at the
Brandywell , and by his own high standards was probably disappointed by his performances. He struggled to break up the Beckett-Farren partnership up front and often found himself deployed on the right wing by Stephen Kenny. His hard work and tireless running there meant he quickly won over the City faithful, despite his long history with local rivals, Harps. McHugh managed to get on target 6 times in the 2006 season and performed particularly impressively in Derry's 2006UEFA Cup ties.In August 2008, McHugh has been linked with a move to Irish League champions Linfield and is currently in talks with the club on a potential move.
ee also
*
Northwest Derby External links
* [http://derrycityfc.net/players/current/kmchugh.php Player Profile - Official Derry City website]
* [http://finnharps.openhosts.com/News/05Oct24McQ_100goals.htm "Kevin McHugh scores one hundred league goals" - FinnHarps.com]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/4583644.stm BBC Sport Online - "Derry City capture stiker McHugh" (2006-01-05)]
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