James "Jimmy" Hughes was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 footballer

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

.

Career

Hughes was a regular in the Army and served in the Second Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers

Royal Northumberland Fusiliers

The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army. Originally raised in 1674, the regiment was amalgamated with three other fusilier regiments in 1968 to form the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.-Origins:...

. When stationed at Catterick

Catterick, North Yorkshire

Catterick , sometimes Catterick Village, to distinguish it from the nearby Catterick Garrison, is a village and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England...

, he played several games for York City

York City F.C.

York City Football Club is an English football club based in York, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Conference National, the fifth tier of English football. Founded in 1922, they joined the Football League in 1929, and have spent most of their history in the lower divisions...

 reserves as an amateur in the 1933–34

1933-34 in English football

The 1933–34 season was the 59th season of competitive football in England.-Honours:Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour...

 season.

After leaving the forces, he signed professionally for York in August 1934. He joined Hartlepools United

Hartlepool United F.C.

Hartlepool United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Hartlepool that currently play in League One. The team won promotion to League One in the 2006–07 season...

 in 1935 after making 17 appearances and scoring 5 goals for York. He returned to York in the same year after making eight appearances and scoring three goals in the league for Hartlepool. He established himself in the side and played in all of the FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 ties of the 1936–37

1936-37 in English football

The 1936–37 season was the 62nd season of competitive football in England.-Honours:Notes = Number in parentheses is the times that club has won that honour...

 and 1937–38

1937-38 in English football

The 1937–38 season was the 63rd season of competitive football in England.-Overview:This season is notable as the reigning champions Manchester City became the only team to have won the League title one season then been relegated the next.-Honours:...

 seasons. He rejoined Hartlepools in 1939 after making 109 appearances and scoring 28 goals in his second spell for York.

During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, he was a prisoner of war

Prisoner of war

A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...

 in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

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