Notts strike it rich with in-form Hughes
The Magpies have been blessed with some super strikers in the past.
There was Tommy Lawton, of course. The England centre-forward joined Notts from Chelsea for a British record transfer fee of £20,000 on November 13, 1947, and went onto become a legend at Meadow Lane, scoring 103 goals for the club in less than five seasons.
Lawton formed a famously formidable partnership with Jackie Sewell, who became the first-ever Magpies player to top 100 goals in 1951.
Two other strikers scored more than a century of goals for Notts, Tony Hateley, with 114, and the club's all-time leading scorer Les Bradd, who scored 137 goals.
Later, there was Tommy Johnson, who is now the first-team coach at Meadow Lane. In 149 appearances, he scored 57 goals.
Hughes' staggering strike-rate so far this season, of 22 goals in 29 games, compares favourably alongside any of those greats.
And, with 21 league games left, he is on track to become the Magpies' highest scorer in a single season, a record currently held by Tom Keetley, who scored 39 goals in 34 games in the old Division Three South in 1930/31.
Like Keetley, and few others, Hughes scored a hat-trick on his league debut for Notts, in the memorable 5-0 demolition of Bradford City at Meadow Lane on the opening day of the League Two season. It set the tone for his campaign so far.
He hit two more hat-tricks before the end of last year, in further emphatic wins against Northampton (5-2) and Burton Albion (4-1). He won the game at the Pirelli Stadium almost single-handedly, in fact.
Crucially now, he is scoring consistently. He went six games without a goal earlier in the season, a run which coincided with Notts dropping crucial points, but he has hit 13 in his last 13 games.
And his winning goal at Grimsby was as important, perhaps more so, than any of his goals this season. It was a significant milestone in his career too, being his 150th league goal.
It was his only clear-cut opportunity at Blundell Park, too. How he took it, racing into the penalty area and driving low past the Mariners keeper Nick Colgan on 69 minutes.
In a tight game, he was the difference and clinched a precious three points for Notts in the promotion race in League Two, moving them up to fourth place in the table.
He is easily the best striker in the basement division, and there are very few better than him in the entire Football League.
In fact, only Southampton striker Rickie Lambert has scored more league goals than Hughes, with 20.
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has hit 21 goals in the Premier League, so Hughes is the third-highest league scorer in English football.
Having plied his trade at the highest levels of English football, Hughes was always guaranteed to score plenty of goals in League Two. And if the Magpies win promotion, he will surely be equally prolific in League One next season.
He has got everything. He is the focal point of the Notts team. He is strong and athletic – and he is a lethal finisher.
Against Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup fourth round, he proved he can still torture top-flight defenders too, so he will be relishing the big stage in the fifth round at Fulham on Sunday.
His signing on a two-year deal is proving an incredible coup. It seems unthinkable now that Notts nearly did not get him, after he rejected their original contract offer in the summer.
Hughes put pen to paper at Meadow Lane on the same day Sven-Goran Eriksson was unveiled as the club's director of football, July 22, so his arrival was very low-key, amazingly.
He has been centre-stage ever since. And he will surely be so for the rest of the season.
Lee Hughes
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