Richard Hughes

Richard Daniel Hughes (born 25 June 1979) is a Scottish former professional footballer and technical director of Premier League side AFC Bournemouth. Hughes played as a defensive midfielder, and started his professional career as a junior in Italy for Atalanta, before moving to Arsenal and AFC Bournemouth. He most prominently featured for Portsmouth from 2002 until 2011 and had a brief loan spell with Grimsby Town in 2003. After a year out of the game, Hughes signed again for Bournemouth. He finally retired from playing in May 2014, aged 34. He was capped five times by Scotland. Club career Early career Born in Scotland, Hughes grew up in Italy and began his career as a youth player at Serie A side Atalanta. After moving back to the UK, Hughes spent five years with Arsenal as a youth player. He did not make the transition to the first team and so left the club to join AFC Bournemouth in the summer of 1998.