Date / Year of birth: 15th July 1941

Position: Goalkeeper

Season of first appearance: 1961/62

Season of last appearance: 1967/68

Also played for: Arsenal (0), Gillingham (0), Sittingbourne, Chatham Town, Gravesend & Northfleet, Folkestone, Dover, Tonbridge and Canterbury City

Brave Gillingham-born keeper who started his career as a junior at Arsenal. Brian played in two South Eastern Counties League matches for the Gunners' youth team as a 16 year-old but turned down the offer of a further season as an amateur with the club. He opted to sign for his hometown club Gillingham instead as they were able to offer him terms as a semi-professional.

The Gills loaned Brian to Sittingbourne for the 1960/61 season and then in the summer of 1961 he signed for Margate aged just 19.

Brian was thought to be something of an unknown quantity when he moved to Hartsdown Park but after making his debut in a 1-0 home defeat against Wisbech in the Southern League on 19.8.61 he quickly established himself as the club's first-choice, impressing with his handling and positioning.

Brian made 63 appearances during 1961/62 and kept 20 clean sheets. He would have been ever-present but for a thigh injury that forced him to miss three games. On 4.11.61 he was part of the Margate side that pulled off a famous 3-0 win at Bournemouth & Boscombe in the 1st Round of the FA Cup and Brian also featured in the 2nd Round tie against Notts County at Hartsdown Park on 25.11.61 which ended in a 1-1 draw. He then played in the replay at Notts County on 30.11.61 which the home side won 3-1. On 12.5.62 he played as Margate beat visitors Folkestone 4-0 to win the Kent Senior Shield and Brian was praised for his "cat-like agility" by the local press during the season.

Brian was virtually ever-present again during the 1962/63 season, making 64 appearances (keeping 18 clean sheets) and only missing two games as Margate won the Southern League Division One title. He celebrated his 21st birthday early in the season and amongst his presents were no less than seven travel clocks. On 3.11.62 he was in the Margate side that lost 3-1 at Millwall in the FA Cup 1st Round.

A local press report on a 1-0 home win over Dartford in the semi-final of the Kent Senior Cup on 22.4.63 described a full-length diving save that Brian made as "magnificent" and on 7.5.63 he played as Margate won 2-0 at Maidstone in the 1st Leg of the Kent Floodlight Cup Final. Brian also featured in the 2nd Leg at Hartsdown Park on 13.5.63 which Margate won 3-0 to claim the trophy. On 1.6.63 he was in the team that beat visitors Bexleyheath & Welling 1-0 in the Kent Senior Shield Final.

The 1963/64 season saw Brian make a further 47 appearances but the campaign was a mixed one for him. On 16.11.63 he performed heroically in a 2-2 draw at Brentford in the FA Cup 1st Round and then on 20.11.63 Brian featured in the replay at Hartsdown Park that the Bees won 2-0. However later in the season Brian suffered a temporary loss of form and confidence that led to Phil Brooman and later Len Brown taking his place in the first team. Brian was also involved in a bizarre incident on 7.12.63 when he got separated from the other players during a break for lunch on the coach trip to a game at Merthyr. He ended up making his own way to the game by train.

During the early part of the 1964/65 season Brian was in and out of the side, battling Brown once more for his place. On 22.8.64 he was knocked out 55 minutes into the opening game of the campaign, a home match against Bath. Brian played on but despite remembering little about the remaining 35 minutes he kept a clean sheet in a 2-0 win. As the season progressed Brian firmly re-established himself and he ended up making a total of 62 appearances to go past 200 for the club. He kept 17 clean sheets and was in fine form early in 1965, performing brilliantly in a 3-1 win at Worcester on 9.1.65 and saving penalties in two consecutive Southern League matches - 16.1.65 against Tunbridge Wells and 23.1.65 against Weymouth.

When asked about Brian in July 1965 manager Almer Hall said "I have great faith in him" and during the 1965/66 season Brian was virtually ever-present, making 65 appearances as Margate were relegated from the Southern League Premier Division. He continued to display great agility coupled with sound handling and played consistently well during the campaign. On 19.2.66 Brian pulled off what the local press called "scorching saves" in a 4-0 defeat at Wimbledon.

Brian spent the first half of the 1966/67 season in the reserves following the arrival of David Pye and didn't appear in the first team until 11.2.67. He then re-established himself and had a testimonial game against Gillingham on 1.5.67. The match was watched by a crowd of 1,444 and Brian was granted the benefit match having made over 300 appearances for the club. During the build up to the game the local press praised Brian for being "as agile as a mountain cat and equally as fearless". He finished the season having made a total of 27 appearances as Margate won promotion from the Southern League Division One by finishing as runners-up.

Brian continued to be Margate's first-choice keeper during the 1967/68 campaign and made 75 appearances to take his overall tally for the club past 400. He was in good form throughout the season and kept a total of 23 clean sheets. On 13.12.67 he was in the side that won 3-1 at Yeovil in the FA Cup 1st Round and the local press said that Brian was "brilliant" in its report on a 3-1 win at Wimbledon on 26.12.67. He also had an excellent game in the return match with Wimbledon at Hartsdown Park on 30.12.67, catching everything that came his way with what the Isle of Thanet Gazette called "a high degree of diligence and no small measure of elation". The paper also described Brian as being "as agile and chirpy as the proverbial cricket".

On 6.1.68 he played as Margate lost 4-0 at home to Peterborough in the 2nd Round of the FA Cup and on 6.4.68 Brian featured in the 1st Leg of the Southern League Cup Final - a 1-1 draw with Ramsgate at Hartsdown Park. He then took part in the 2nd Leg at Southwood on 13.4.68 which finished 0-0. Brian broke his nose in a 5-0 defeat at Wellington on 6.5.68 but on 16.5.68 he was fit enough to take his place in the Margate team that secured the Southern League Cup by beating Ramsgate 3-1 in a replay at Hartsdown Park. He suffered concussion during the game and it turned out to be Brian's final outing for the club as at the end of May 1968 he was surprisingly released.

When Brian left Hartsdown Park he had enough money in his bank account to set himself up in a welding business. That was because in 1961 he'd lost most of his first Margate wage packet playing cards with senior players so club secretary Alan Kay then only paid Brian his expenses and had banked his wages for him for the next seven years.

After leaving Margate Brian spent a few months out of football before joining Kent League club Chatham.

Early in 1969 he moved on to Gravesend & Northfleet and Brian soon became a key player for the Fleet. On 15.5.70 he saved a penalty from Margate's Dai Yorath to help Gravesend to a 2-1 win in the Kent Floodlight Cup Final Replay and during 1970/71 Brian was part of the Fleet side that won promotion to the Southern League Premier Division.

He spent four months working in the Solomon Islands during his time at Gravesend and Brian left the club for a loan spell at Folkestone during the 1971/72 season. He returned to Stonebridge Road in March 1972 and took his total of appearances for Gravesend to 207 (62 clean sheets) before being loaned to Dover a few weeks into the 1974/75 campaign. He'd lost his place in the Fleet side to John Cowen, a former England Youth international.

Brian joined Dover as cover for the injured Mick Gadsby and the Kent Messenger said that he made "an outstanding impression" before Gadsby returned to fitness in December 1974.

During that month the Kent Messenger ran a large feature on Brian and he said of his career "I've really enjoyed playing. To be able to do something you like that much and get paid for it is fantastic as far as I'm concerned. I feel I've been very lucky." Looking back to his time with Margate Brian told the paper "I was very fortunate to play there when I did. I went into a side that clicked immediately and was probably the best I've ever played in. Nobody wanted to play Margate in that first season I was there. We lost very few games and, in the match I remember best of all, we beat Bournemouth 3-0 in the FA Cup."

Recalling the famous Bournemouth tie Brian said "I'll always remember that game. We stayed in London the night before. Bill McGarry was player-manager there and as most problems stemmed from him, Alan Jones was to mark him. They put considerable pressure on us early on, but we survived and in the second half we got an early goal. Then we scored again. They had a penalty and a chance to get back in, but I saved it and that was that. We scored another goal in what was really a tremendous performance and went on to play Notts County. That game was heartbreaking as they equalised in the last minute. In the replay at Trent Bridge, we put up another good performance. We lost 3-1, but never disgraced ourselves. We'd have faced Manchester City in the next round - they were there watching."

Brian also shared more memories of his time at Hartsdown Park saying "We used to attack. We scored a lot of goals, but we also gave away a lot. It was a disappointing season for many reasons when we were relegated. But we gained promotion twice while I was there and, including the Gravesend team who went up, I've played in three promotion sides. We also won the Kent Floodlight Cup and in my last season at Margate, we beat Ramsgate to win the Southern League Cup." Looking back on his departure from Margate having been transfer-listed Brian said "I wouldn't have left the club but for that. I had a lot of respect for Margate - I still have - and would have liked to carry on."

Turning to his spell with Gravesend Brian told the newspaper "There has always been a good bunch of lads at Gravesend and though we've never had real success, we did win the Floodlight Cup. And that gave me enormous satisfaction. The Floodlight Cup didn't mean much at Margate, but at Gravesend, where it had been hard to get success for the club, it ended many years of disappointment. The spirit there has been tremendous, but it's been difficult to achieve good results. Still, there's no shortage of potential and the club can boast a solid core of supporters. The promotion season at Gravesend - 1970/71 - was my most consistent season. Consistency is the hallmark of any keeper and it all went right for me that year."

Brian also touched on the early part of his career and said "They asked me to sign again at Arsenal, when I was 17 and I knew Gillingham wanted to sign me. Gillingham were the local side, I'd watched them as a kid and I wanted to join them." Brian told the paper it was the decision he regretted most in his football career.

Concluding the Kent Messenger piece, Brian said of his future plans "If I decide to carry on playing, I reckon I've another four or five years in front of me. The enthusiasm is certainly still there."

In March 1975 Brian finally left Gravesend, over six years after he'd first arrived at Stonebridge Road, and signed for Tonbridge. He went on to become a very popular player there and during the 1976/77 season he scored in a home game against Poole when his goal-kick bounced over future Chelsea keeper Bob Iles. Brian stayed with the Angels until returning to Sittingbourne in the summer of 1977 and he was player-coach there.

Brian later played for Canterbury, making four Southern League appearances for City during the 1980/81 season, and he also appeared in the Medway Sunday Football League, winning the 'League Personality Award' for 1982.

During the 1982/83 campaign Brian had a second stint at Canterbury, making seven Southern League appearances for them.

He then ended his career with another spell at Sittingbourne and Brian's last season there was 1983/84. By the end of that campaign he was approaching his 43rd birthday.

Brian later played some more local amateur football and his club reached the semi-finals of the national FA Sunday Cup. He then went on to enjoy success playing five-a-side football.

On 8.11.97 Brian made a rare visit to Hartsdown Park to see Margate beat Waterlooville 3-2 in a Southern League game and at that time he was working as a fitness instructor in Gillingham. He told the Thanet Times "This is the first time I have been in the ground for years."

In December 1997 an article about Brian appeared in Tonbridge's matchday programme and the author wrote "Tonbridge can never have had a braver keeper than Brian Hughes. Nor a more popular one for Brian was a friendly man who always had time for a word with supporters....Brian was particularly outstanding in a one-on-one situation because for him there were no lost causes."

He played the piano as a hobby and also played basketball for Kent as a youngster.

Brian's son Scott (born 1973) was a talented ice hockey player and played over 300 games in total for Gillingham-based teams Medway Bears, Invicta Dynamos and Invicta Mustangs between 1989 and 2003.

In 2014 Brian was living in Walderslade near Chatham in Kent and had retired a few years earlier having spent 15 years as a fitness instructor. Shortly after his retirement Brian had suffered a heart attack but he recovered well and in 2014 he was playing golf three times a week as well as keeping very fit by cycling, running and using his home gym equipment. He was still a keen, and talented, pianist and Brian had very fond memories of his time with Margate. He never knew why he was released by Margate - he was told by Almer Hall shortly after the final whistle of his last game for the club against Ramsgate in the Southern League Cup Final - and Brian said he believed he would have been "a one club man" if Margate hadn't opted to let him go.

On 12.4.14 he was one of the many former Margate players who attended the club's 'Legends Day' at Hartsdown Park.

Brian completed a questionnaire for this site which you can see here.