Lee Hughes name receives mixed reactions while talking about football. His illustrious career has been followed closely by sky sports news who were following his career from his days being a semi professional in England C National Football team to his latest position being a striker of Notts County. Lee Hughes began realizing his dream when he became a part of the West Bromwich Albion for a record fee of 200,000, the biggest ever paid to a non-league player. His career continued its upward stream prior to the car accident which he was involved in and held responsible in the 2003-2004 season.
It may be said that it was this crash that changed Hughes life. A passenger, Douglas Graham, inside the Renault that his Mercedes hit, died from the crash plus the driver of the Renault was seriously injured. Since Hughes was drinking that night, he fled from the accident scene to prevent the breath analyzer test. Though he turned himself to the police the following day and was charged with causing death by drunken driving, he was released on bail which allowed him to complete Albions First Division campaign and subsequently be a part of the Premier League. He proceeded to becoming the clubs leading goal scorer with 13 goals.
The verdict of the crash was delivered in August 2004 where Hughes was found guilty of the death of Douglas Graham caused by drunken driving as well as fleeing from the crime scene and was sentenced to six years of imprisonment and was banned from driving for 10 years.
It seemed like the start of his downslide when his contract with West Bromwich Albion was terminated and the appeal to get a reduced sentence refused. While in prison he found salvation in Islam, the faith that he converted to. Alongside, he also played for the Staffordshire County Senior League as part of the prison football team, Featherstone F.C.
Days before his release news surfaced of Hughes signing an agreement with Oldham Athletic. He did sign a 2 year contract upon his release in August 2007 along with them at 1,800 per week, the amount being one tenth of what he earned throughout his stint with Wes Bromwich Albion. However, by the point the season ended, Hughes has reclaimed his position as being the highest goal scorer for the club, scoring 8 goals.
It’s been for the upswing for Hughes since that time. He joined the Championship Club Blackpool on loan making his first goal against Charlton Athletic. He ended up being signed a two year contract for League Two team for Notts County and scored a hat-trick in a victory over Bradford City with 5-0.
Though Hughes finds himself climbing to an advaced status of success, he’s still haunted by way of the demons from the past. He still seeks to redeem himself by doing community and charity work in the hope that his work in some way can help prevent another tragedy from happening.
Sky Sports news has the detailed and updated records of all of Lee Hughes games, scores and transfer history