Hughes leaves Aston Villa for new Southampton role
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Hughes made seven appearances for Villa before returning as U18s coach
Written by Simon Austin — July 10, 2019
ASTON VILLA Under-18 coach David Hughes is leaving the club to become Southampton’s first Head of Academy Player Development.
Hughes came through the youth ranks at Villa in the 1990s and went on to make seven appearances for their first team. In November 2016, he returned to become U18s coach.
As TGG reported last week, Southampton have undertaken a major overhaul of roles in their Academy. The new Head of Player Development is seen as being key and Hughes will - as his job title suggests - focus on individuals, identifying what they need in order to improve.
After injury forced him to retire at the age of just 26, Hughes moved into coaching and became Head of Youth at Shrewsbury (2009 to 2011) and was a coach at Watford's Academy (2011 to 2014).
This is where he worked with Ross Wilson, who was Business Director for the Hornets and is now Director of Football Operations for Southampton. Hughes was Wales FA intermediate teams assistants from 2014 to 2016 before returning to Villa in 2016.
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