Art Hughes

Arthur David Hughes... he was a teenager when his family moved from Camrose to Vancouver in 1945... married to his wife Marlene... he was 88 years old when he passed away in Vancouver on 4 March 2019... Art and Marlene raised children Susan Michele and Stacey Ann, both born to Marlene’s previous husband Eddie Bak (deceased in 1968)... Art served as an assistant chief in the Vancouver Fire Department...

honoured by the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame as a player... posthumously honoured by the Soccer Hall of Fame of British Columbia...

represented Canada in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in 1957, of note the first-ever Canadian team to feature in the competition... represented Canada on the four-week tour to the Soviet Union and United Kingdom in 1960... made four international “A” appearances in 1957 with Canada Soccer's Men’s National Team…

a two-time Canada Soccer Football Championship winner (Carling’s Red Cap Trophy and Challenge Trophy in 1956, then again the Challenge Trophy in 1965)... a seven-time Pacific Coast League winner (1954-55, 1958, 1959, 1961-62, 1963-64, 1964-65, 1965-66)... a Pacific Coast International Championship winner for the J.F. Kennedy Trophy (1962)... an 11-time all-star selection in a 15-year span from 1951 to 1965 (including an All Canada selection in 1957 and 1960)... over the course of his career, he scored 158 goals in the Pacific Coast Soccer League (he was the fifth player to reach the 100-goal milestone on 8 September 1958; he was the second player to reach the 150-goal milestone on 15 May 1965)... he retired as the Pacific Coast League’s all-time scoring leader (158 goals from 1950 to 1967, a record later surpassed by Bobby Smith)... he led the Pacific Coast League in scoring four times, was the league’s top scorer in the 1950s with 114 goals scored (an incredible 48 more goals than the decade’s second-best scorer), and seventh-best scorer in the 1960s with 44 goals... he was Firefighters FC’s second-best goalscorer across their Pacific Coast League history (84 goals scored across two stints from 1951-52 to 1955-56 and 1961-62 to 1963-64, second best behind Jim Blundell’s 92 goals)...

as noted in a 1951 all-star program, “strong, rugged player, very good with his head; accepted as one of the best prospects we have”... wrote Austin Delany in 1951, Hughes was “a promising youngster, with ball control, opportunism, and fire in his pack”... as noted in a 1956 all-star program, was said to be “one of the league’s top opportunists when it comes to scoring goals”... wrote Austin Delany in 1957, Hughes was a “big, resolute centre forward”... wrote Roy Jukich in 1957, “Art Hughes may not be classed as the most polished centre forward in the Pacific Coast League, but when it comes to scoring goals, he has few peers”... as noted in a 1958 all-star program, was “noted for his ability to throw defence off balance with his cat-like thrusts”... wrote Dick Beddoes in 1959, Art was “a tall burst of aggressiveness, topped by a black crew-cropped hair”... wrote Roy Jukich in 1961, “his unorthodox style has made him one of the most feared centre forwards in Canada. What he lacks in finesse, Art more than makes up with his never-say-die attitude... Hughes is noted for his ability to rise to the occasion in important matches”...

wrote Roy Jukich in May 1962, Hughes “is still the most exciting clutch player in the Pacific Coast Soccer League”... as noted in a 1963 all-star program, “one of the most exciting players in local soccer”... wrote Roy Jukich in 1963, “Hughes’ ruggedness usually makes him the target of the opposing defence but he has found time to score a lot of telling goals”... wrote Jeff Cross in May 1964, Hughes was ”surely the most exciting player to colour our game in many years”... as noted in a 1964 all-star program, “truly the most exciting player in local soccer”... as noted in 1964 Vancouver newspaper, “one of the most exciting players in local soccer”... as noted in 1965 all-star program, “his ability to score goals makes him a definite threat at all times”... as noted in 1965 in the Vancouver Sun, he “earned the name Cowboy for the way he gallops around a soccer field shooting up opposing goalkeepers”... wrote Jeff Cross in 1999, Hughes was “a typical British-style target man, where his six-feet, 190 lbs physique lent itself to bustling, hard-nosed style”... also wrote Jeff Cross in 1999, Hughes “was a robust, no-nonsense type of striker who was also very good in the air”...

said Glen Johnson in 2018, “Art Hughes was just a big house. He wore his sleeves rolled up over his shoulders so that he could show his pipes to everyone”... said Jim Blundell in 2019, “Art Hughes was kind of a perfectionist.... He knew where the net was and he could hit a good header. If you got the ball in the middle where Arty was, he would do something with it for sure... he was effective at scoring. Just get the ball in around him somewhere and he would fumble his way through somehow because he was pretty strong on the ball”...

said Gene Vazzoler in 2018, “Art Hughes was a big fellow, he was good with head. We had our battles”... said Giorgio Zambrano in 2018, “the cowboy was Art Hughes, he was another player that was tough and he was good in the air. He was ‘The Guy’”... said Neil Ellett in 2018, “Art Hughes was big, gangly, hustle, come in and bang around a little bit, and then slot it away. He wasn’t going to pound a 25- or 30-yard shot, he was moreso inside the box and in those tight corners”... said Sam Lenarduzzi in 2018, “Art Hughes was a goalscorer. He could stick his head into places and he could get himself into positions that would sometimes he would get himself hurt, but he would do it and he scored a lot of goals that way. He became a very tough person to mark because of those abilities. You knew he was coming”... said Jim Goodheart in 2019, “Art Hughes was a real, big scrapping guy and he was aggressive”...