Born in
Coatbridge, Hughes signed for
Celtic from
Shotts Bon Accord in 1959, and scored 197 goals in 435 appearances during his eleven seasons with the club. He was part of the Celtic squad who won the
European Cup in
1967 and became known as the '
Lisbon Lions'. Although Hughes was not in the side that won the final, he was awarded a winner's medal because he had played in the requisite number of matches to qualify for a medal, as had
Joe McBride and
Charlie Gallagher. Celtic reached the European Cup final for the second time in
1970, after they defeated English champions
Leeds United in both legs of the semi-final. In the first leg, Celtic beat Leeds 1–0 at
Elland Road with a goal from
George Connelly. The second leg, which was played at
Hampden Park in front of almost 140,000 people, was won 2–1 by Celtic. Hughes scored Celtic's first goal in that match, after
Billy Bremner had given Leeds an early lead and levelled the aggregate score. Celtic lost the final 2–1
after extra time to Dutch side
Feyenoord, with Hughes playing the whole game. Despite playing primarily on the wing, Hughes remains one of Celtic's all-time highest goal scorers (8th in all competitions). Hughes moved to
Crystal Palace in 1971, in a £30,000 joint deal with
Willie Wallace. He scored the
1971–72 runner-up in the 'Goal of the Season' award, in a 5–1 win over
Sheffield United. He joined
Sunderland for £35,000 in January 1973, but injury against
Millwall F.C. on 27 January 1973 brought a premature end to his career having played only 15 minutes of football for Sunderland. ==International career==