PLAYER PROFILE

Aaron Hughes

Position: Defence

Height: 6'0

Weight: 11st 2lbs

Date of Birth: 1979-11-08 Magherafelt, Northern Ireland

Aaron Hughes

Aaron Hughes enjoyed a very flambouyant Newcastle United debut, coming on as a second half substitute in the Champions League at the Nou Camp Stadium, home of Barcelona.

His Premiership debut was a little less auspicious at Hillsorough in a 2-1 defeat by Sheffield Wedneday. Nevertheless he has patiently applied himself to winning a regular place in the first team despite massive competition from bought players.

The Northern Ireland international is able to play at both centre-back and full-back on either flank, giving a useful versatility to his game.

By the end of the 2002/2003 season, he was now well established in the Newcastle first team and played over 140 games for the club he'd joined as a trainee in 1996.

He continued to play well for the Magpies during the next two seasons, but in May 2005, he left St James' Park to sign for Aston Villa on a free transfer.

During his first season at Villa Park he remained in the fine form he had shown for Newcastle, making 41 appearances all in all. However, this dropped to 19 in 2006/07 and he left in June 2007 to reunite with former Irish boss Lawrie Sanchez at Fulham.