Chris Hughton

Chris Hughton

Hughton with Brighton & Hove Albion in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Christopher William Gerard Hughton
Date of birth	(1958-12-11) 11 December 1958 (age 58)
Place of birth	Forest Gate, England
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position	Full back
Club information
Current team	Brighton & Hove Albion (manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1977–1990	Tottenham Hotspur	297	(12)
1990–1992	West Ham United	32	(0)
1992–1993	Brentford	32	(0)
Total		361	(12)
National team
1979–1991	Republic of Ireland	53	(1)
Teams managed
1997	Tottenham Hotspur (caretaker)
2008	Newcastle United (caretaker)
2009–2010	Newcastle United
2011–2012	Birmingham City
2012–2014	Norwich City
2014–	Brighton & Hove Albion
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Christopher William Gerard "Chris" Hughton (born 11 December 1958) is a retired Irish professional footballer and current manager of Brighton & Hove Albion. In 1979, he became the first mixed race player to represent the Republic of Ireland.

After making his professional début aged 20, Hughton spent most of his playing career with Tottenham Hotspur as a left back, leaving in 1990 after 13 years. After relatively brief spells with West Ham United and Brentford, Hughton retired from playing in 1993 aged 34. He earned 53 caps representing the Republic of Ireland national football team, scoring one goal and starting in all three of Ireland's games at UEFA Euro 1988 in West Germany.

From 1993 to 2007, Hughton served as coach and then assistant manager for Tottenham. He joined Newcastle United as first team coach in 2008, and, following their relegation, became caretaker manager. He led Newcastle back to the Premier League in his first season in charge, along the way breaking a number of records and securing the permanent managerial position. He was sacked as manager by Mike Ashley the following December, with his side 12th in the table. Hughton managed Birmingham City for a single season, leading them to fourth place in the league, before joining Norwich in June 2012. Norwich sacked Hughton in April 2014.

Following his departure from Norwich City, Hughton became manager of Brighton & Hove Albion midway through the 2014-15 Championship season, securing the club's safety within the division. In the following 2015-16 season, Hughton guided Brighton to an impressive third-placed finish, narrowly missing out on promotion to the Premier League through an inferior goal difference of two goals.