Lee Hughes name receives mixed reactions while speaking of football. His illustrious career continues to be followed closely by sky sports news who have been following his career from his days being a semi professional in England C National Football team to his latest position as a striker of Notts County. Lee Hughes began realizing his dream when he became an integral part of the West Bromwich Albion for a record fee of 200,000, the highest ever paid to a non-league player. His career continued its upward stream until the car accident which he was involved in and held responsible in the 2003-2004 season.
It can be said that it had been this crash that changed Hughes life. A passenger, Douglas Graham, inside the Renault that his Mercedes hit, died in the crash and 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 arrested for causing death by drunken driving, he was released on bail which allowed him to finish Albions First Division campaign and subsequently become 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 responsible for the death of Douglas Graham caused by drunken driving as well as fleeing from the crime scene and was sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment and was banned from driving for ten years.
It seemed like the beginning of his downslide when his contract with West Bromwich Albion was terminated and the appeal for 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 a part of the prison football team, Featherstone F.C.
Days before his release news surfaced of Hughes signing a contract 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 the highest goal scorer for the club, scoring 8 goals.
It’s been on the upswing for Hughes since that time. He joined the Championship Club Blackpool on loan and made his first goal against Charlton Athletic. He ended up being signed a 2 year agreement for League Two team for Notts County and scored a hat-trick in the victory over Bradford City with 5-0.
Though Hughes finds himself climbing to an advaced status of success, he is still haunted by the demons in the past. He still seeks to redeem himself by doing community and charity work with 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