For Will Hughes - who celebrates his 28th birthday today (17th April, 2023) - football is still what it always was: a battle, an unending competition for success.
Here, he explains why social media platitudes have never been his style, why the ‘old-school’ still has a role to play today, and how fatherhood has made him appreciate the most important things in life.
This interview originally appeared in the Crystal Palace v Liverpool matchday programme. You can shop for programmes by clicking HERE.
When Sam Allardyce resigned as England manager and Gareth Southgate prepared to take on perhaps one of the most scrutinised job in football, it was no surprise that the former Palace captain had a considered take on proceedings. As one of the most eloquent thinkers in the game, he embraced the opportunity while failing to revel in his predecessor’s downfall.
“I have to say I'm involved in a sport that I love and an industry that at times I don't like,” he remarked as the scandal unfolded. ‘Well,’ you might remark, ‘those are words from another time. The game has changed.’ In the era of social media managers, imaginative endorsement deals and thrice-weekly haircuts, you may well be right.
But those are just the facets we see – those that are illuminated by the celebrity-driven age we live in. There is still a significant strand of the ‘old-school’ who love the game for what it offers them on the pitch: competition, hard work and, ultimately, a battle to be won.
Will Hughes is one of those players. At just 28-years-old he is very much a member of the new generation of footballers, but he refuses to be sucked in to every aspect of the modern game. It is an attitude that started from his upbringing at Derby County.
“There is a certain element, a mindset and a mentality, that plays a big part of being a footballer – no matter what level you are at,” he says. “Less than a percent make it as a professional footballer. You have to have a certain mindset for it.
“The team that I broke through in at Derby was a big factor in that. I refer to ‘old-school’, and they were, under Nigel Clough. If you were messing about you would be told, and that is just how it was. It is quite different nowadays, because you have to be careful with what you say to some players.” For full journalistic transparency, the phrase ‘messing about’ has been subbed in for… well, you can work it out.
“You have to work as hard as you can, that is the bottom line,” Hughes continues. “I know it might sound stupid and we think it is the basics, but you know as well as I do in football that, nowadays, not every player works as hard as they can. So that has always got to be the basics, and I am very competitive.”
That competitive streak started as a youngster – and although it has become easier to manage, it still burns just as brightly. “I have got two older sisters, so I never used to let them beat me at anything sport-wise. It was just in me. I was the little one and I had to look after myself. I have got better when I am older. When I was a child and I would lose a board game at home, I would be fuming. I just wouldn’t allow it – I would cheat to win!”
Personally it is not my cup of tea, especially when a lot of what is said on social media by players now is not too authentic.
—Will Hughes
At Crystal Palace, Hughes has found that same desire to maintain the principles of the ‘old-school’ in conjunction with a modern, progressive style of football. Walking out in SE25, he is reminded of what he loves about the game – which can often be hard to focus on in the maelstrom of vested interests and football stories reaching the front page.
“I think football nowadays is becoming… it is everyone with cameras taking videos and not living in the moment,” he says. “The atmosphere at Selhurst is unique – it’s a big factor in what we are trying to create. It’s proper – that’s what I mean by 'proper'.
“I like the tight tunnel, it’s an old-school stadium. It creates an atmosphere. A lot of the new stadiums now are for business purposes, so it’s not as good.” That word ‘proper’ comes up after we remind Hughes of a tweet in which he refers to Palace as a ‘proper’ club. It is one of his very rare forays into social media.
“I have a public Twitter but I don’t tweet. I just go there to get updated with news and watch the occasional funny video,” Hughes says. “I have got a private Instagram. Having a brand is part of being a footballer now, so each to their own, but personally it is not my cup of tea, especially when a lot of what is said on social media by players now is not too authentic.
“As much as some players and managers now don’t like it, that is part of the game. It’s about branding, the business side of it. Ultimately it’s what makes money. It is losing that old-school factor of what it used to be, but we just have to roll with it.”
Fame comes with competing at the highest level, and Hughes is not averse to it in all its forms. “I engage with it to a point,” he says. “I will always sign autographs after the game for whoever wants them. That’s a big part of it: they are the ones supporting you, they are the ones travelling up and down the country to watch you play, so I will always engage with that part of it.
“Social media-wise, it’s just not my cup of tea. There’s a focus nowadays where players have to be engaged on social media otherwise it seems like they don’t care, but that’s absolute nonsense.” Again, nonsense has replaced a more colourful word here. Use your imagination.
“Fans aren’t stupid – if you care, you will show it on the pitch. It doesn’t need to be said on Twitter after games, but that is just my opinion on it.”
Where Hughes might tire of the external voices surrounding football, there is nothing he loves more than the sport itself. “It is the best job in the world and I wouldn’t change it for a thing,” he says. Having become a father just over a year ago, a whole new perspective has been introduced to his career.
“When you speak to players who have had kids before, they will always say that your life changes. Now I have got a little baby at home, that keeps me occupied more than I ever could have imagined. You can never prepare for it. Everyone gives you tips and books on what to do, but nothing can prepare you for how life-changing it is – in a good way.
“It’s tough obviously, but the good parts massively outweigh the hard parts. You are so focused on them being okay that other things don’t seem as important.” That perspective can be healthy in a league as intense as the Premier League – especially after a defeat. “As I’ve got older I try to switch off from football,” Hughes says. “I don’t watch much at home unless it’s a big game.
“The first thing I would do is critique my performance. I always look at the negative side in terms of what I could have done better. As long as I know that I have worked my hardest...
"But when you have a little 'un at home and dogs that distract you, it’s easier to switch off from a loss. It’s never easy because it’s always on your mind, but compared to when I was younger, I am dealing with it a lot better now.”
Even at 28-years-old, Hughes is still striving to improve. His indifference for off-the-pitch noise means his focus is laser-like on his performances each weekend, and his advice for young players is much the same.
“It’s a tricky one, because you don’t want to tell them how to do things – you’ve got to learn on your own at some point,” he explains. “Just enjoy it. It sounds so simple. If you keep working hard and realise this is just the start, that is the big thing. A lot of players play some games and think they have made it, but there is a long way to go.
“There is always room to improve, but I don’t think that side of it is looked upon enough in today’s game: the mental side. Some people have it and some people don’t, but if you listen to the right people and are willing to take advice, there is always room to learn as well.”
No lesson could better sum up Hughes’ approach to the sport that has dominated his life since breaking through at Derby County at just 16-years-old. Work hard, adapt, improve. Fatherhood has only reaffirmed his belief in focusing on the important things.
Plying your trade in the biggest and most successful league in the world can bring with it constant distractions, but Hughes possesses the key to balancing it all in perfect harmony: perspective.
That, arguably, is the greatest mindset of them all.