Emlyn HUGHES

Emlyn Hughes was a player whose abilities often divided fans and media alike. Some claim his leadership qualities kept him at the top of the game ahead of any actual skills he possessed, others defended his footballing credentials as a strong-running, positionally sound defensive lynchpin who was also not afraid to open his mouth when he felt it necessary. Hughes lifted almost every trophy going as Liverpool captain, but skippering the dominant club of the 1970s was partially countered by his deep and occasionally controversial involvement in England's most dismal period as an international force. When Bill Shankly signed Hughes for Liverpool (he is pictured above in action for the Reds) in 1967, he labelled his latest acquisition as a future captain of England. Few managers were daring enough to predict so boldly and Emlyn immediately became a player carefully watched by the game's sympathisers, be they fans, journalists or rival coaches. Hughes was a holding midfield player when he first pulled on a Liverpool shirt but his energy, vocal fearlessness and sporadic capacity to charge upfield and score daftly brilliant goals quickly sealed his reputation as a sound young player with great things ahead of him. Alf Ramsey was especially taken with Hughes' versatility after he filled in as a left back for Liverpool, and towards the end of 1969 he decided to try out Liverpool's new star in that very position.

Emlyn's first cap duly came in a 1-0 win over Holland in Amsterdam and Ramsey was highly impressed, despite Liverpool's mediocrity at the time, and Hughes became a semi-regular in the left back position as the accepted deputy for Terry Cooper. England's status as World Cup holders meant Ramsey didn't have the inconvenience of a qualification campaign and therefore tinkered and experimented with his team as much as he saw fit, and Hughes had attained six caps, all as a left back, by the time Ramsey whittled his squad down to the 22 required for the trophy's defence in Mexico. No doubt the familiar Hughes smile was at its broadest when Ramsey included him and, two months short of his 23rd birthday, he was the youngest member of the party. He wasn't expected to start any matches ahead of Cooper but his versatility would also have been in Ramsey's mind when penning his name on the list. Hughes watched every game of England's fruitless defence of the trophy, with Cooper playing every minute in the sapping heat of the group matches in Guadalajara and then the heart-bursting quarter-final defeat to West Germany, in which a shattered Cooper was given an extra-time roasting by German sub Jurgen Grabowski. Observers wondered whether Ramsey's infamously hasty substitutions had backfired on him when a fit and fresh Hughes could have come on to give Grabowski as much as the German winger was dishing out, but by then it was too late and England were flying home. Emlyn, for all he would subsequently achieve in the game, would not come as close to a World Cup stage again. Hughes and Cooper traded the left back role for England over the next 12 months, even though Emlyn rarely played in this role for Liverpool, with Shankly keeping him in midfield while Alec Lindsay played in the number three shirt.

In 1971, Hughes played in the opening brace of qualifiers for the 1972 European Championships - a 1-0 success in Malta and a comfortable 3-0 win over Greece. Ramsey selected Cooper for the Home Internationals but Hughes was not to be outdone; finally he was playing in the same position for his country as he was for his club, as he lined up as the holding midfielder in a goalless affair with Wales at Wembley (behind Hughes were the Liverpool defensive pairing of Tommy Smith and Larry Lloyd). Hughes missed the next two matches, including a European Championships qualifying win in Switzerland, but was back for the return game at Wembley which ended 1-1. Again Hughes was in midfield, although he reverted to the left back for 1971's final England game - a 2-0 European Championship win in Greece. His best hope for a regular place still seemed to be in midfield, with Cooper continuing to display the fine form he enjoyed in Mexico, but then fate stepped in. Cooper suffered a horrific broken leg in April 1972 while playing for Leeds, which kept him out of the game for two years and pretty much ended his career at the highest level. Ramsey needed to rethink for the crucial visit of West Germany to Wembley at the end of the month in the opening fixture of the last brace of European Championship qualifiers. Hughes was unsurprisingly selected at left back but the Germans ran away with the game 3-1 and though Hughes did little wrong individually, the England defence was penetrated with some ease. The 0-0 draw in Berlin a fortnight later also featured Emlyn at left back but was of little consequence as England's hopes for reaching the finals that summer were extinguished. Ramsey immediately began plotting for the 1974 World Cup, ironically to be held in Germany, and Hughes had become a mainstay. (Matthew Rudd)

Emlyn Hughes played in all three of the Home Internationals in 1972 and had the joy of scoring his first England goal in a 3-0 win over Wales in Cardiff. Alf Ramsey needed to look at potential new reserve left backs and West Ham's industrious Frank Lampard got the nod for an October friendly against Yugoslavia. However, the first World Cup qualifier, again against the Welsh in Cardiff, saw Hughes' expected return which helped his clubmates Ray Clemence and Kevin Keegan, both of whom were making their debuts. England scraped a 1-0 win and the campaign was off and running. Emlyn was still not his club's left back but was undoubtedly the best man available for his country in that position and Ramsey's faith was unwavered as Hughes filled the role for ten of the dozen internationals played in 1973, during which time he attained the captaincy of Liverpool and moved from midfield to the centre of defence. This was one of Emlyn's most eventful years in football and emphasised the contrast he felt between the joy of success and decoration with Liverpool and the despair of failure with England. England had drawn against Wales at Wembley in a World Cup qualifier and won all three Home Internationals by the time Ramsey's squad jetted out to Chorzow for the first of two massive qualifiers against Poland.

The 2-0 defeat to the Poles was not down to Hughes but still left him and his England team-mates with the task of winning the return at Wembley in October or face not going to Germany. In what proved to be a night to forget, Hughes played his own minor role - albeit an unwitting one - in England's downfall. England were in complete command but Polish keeper Jan Tomaszewski was on charmed form, keeping out shots and headers from all angles and with all parts of his anatomy. Then early in the second half, Poland broke through after an error by Norman Hunter, and Grzegorz Lato fed the onrushing Jan Domarski who shaped to shoot first time. Hughes, sprinting back from an advanced position, managed to get close to Domarski as he struck his shot but his challenge could not deflect the ball's path, low and on target along the skidding Wembley surface. Peter Shilton should have saved it, as what the ball had in accuracy it lacked in power, but he was slow getting down and later said he may have been distracted by the last-ditch appearance of Hughes in his attempt to block the shot. That said, Hughes was doing what was expected of him and emerged unlucky but entirely blameless, and everyone agreed that Shilton should not have tried to hold the ball but just keep it out of the net - his dive suggested he was trying to make the perfect save, and the ball slipped under his falling body and into the net. Allan Clarke equalised from the penalty spot shortly afterwards but the winning goal was denied time and again to England by Tomaszewski and the World Cup dream evaporated. Bobby Moore's international career ended after England's interest in the 1974 World Cup died, and Hughes was appointed successor as England captain after caretaker coach Joe Mercer took over from the sacked Ramsey in the summer of 1974. By now, Hughes was playing all over the England defence and midfield, including all four summer friendlies in the largely unfamiliar right back position. (Matthew Rudd)