Hughie Ferguson

Early career

Ferguson started his career with local youth sides in his hometown of Motherwell and represented the Dalziel School's team as a half back. He moved on to the Motherwell branch of the Boys' Brigade and later Motherwell Hearts as an outside forward, helping the club reach the Scottish Juvenile Cup final. He joined Glasgow-based Parkhead in 1914, when he switched to playing as a centre forward. He appeared for the side in their victorious 1914–15 Scottish Junior Cup final over Port Glasgow Athletic Juniors. Ferguson opened the scoring after 20 minutes by hitting a first-time shot past the opposition goalkeeper, which The Sunday Post described as "a capital goal". Parkhead went on to win the match 2–0. At the end of his first season with Parkhead, he was chosen in a Glasgow Junior League XI against a Rest of Scotland XI and scored three of his side's goals in a 5–1 victory. The Midlothian Journal remarked that Ferguson was "in a class by himself". He entered into contract talks with Manchester City and was on the verge of signing for the club when the First World War escalated. With the suspension of football in England, the move was cancelled. Ahead of the 1915–16 season, with Scottish football continuing during the First World War, Ferguson held talks with his hometown side Motherwell and missed the start of Parkhead's opening game of the campaign after extensive discussions with Motherwell manager John Hunter ran late. He remained with Parkhead and by…

Ferguson's main attribute was his finishing ability; the Sporting Chronicle noted after his senior debut for Motherwell in 1916 that he "possessed all the physical qualities required in a centre-forward, and is unquestionably a fine marksman". At the end of his first senior season, the Daily Record wrote "Hugh can draw out the opposition, he can get a fair amount of work on the ball and he never forgets where the goal lies". The paper also referred to his physicality, noting that while it was not a major aspect of his game "he is no pigmy. He can take a knock, he can return one." Upon his signing for Cardiff in 1925, the Western Mail described him as "not a particularly big man but he is very wiry and nippy". He was also renowned for his modesty and sense of fair play. John Hunter, who managed Ferguson at Motherwell, described him as "irreproachable in conduct, a fine upright fellow, he was above all else a gentleman." One such example of this came in a league match against Hibernian while playing for Motherwell. Opposition goalkeeper Bill Harper had sustained an injury and the opportunity came to Ferguson to take advantage of this when he struggled to gather the ball from a cross. Rather than capitalise on Harper's misfortune, Ferguson allowed the keeper to recover and stop a certain goal.

Scoring records

Despite his performances for Motherwell, Ferguson was never selected for the Scotland national side. At the time of his departure from the club in 1925, Ferguson…

Ferguson was born in Motherwell on 2 March 1895 and had six brothers and one sister. His father was killed in a colliery accident when Ferguson was 16. He married Jessie Andrews on 21 March 1924 in his hometown. His uncle, also named Hugh Ferguson, was a politician and served as a Member of Parliament for Motherwell and he sometimes assisted his uncle at political gatherings. Ferguson's son Jack later went on to represent Britain in water polo at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics. His daughter Sadie later married Dunfermline player James Hogg, brother of Scottish international Bobby Hogg. Ferguson was regarded as a clean-living player: He was teetotal, never smoked and attended church. He was also interested in and kept birds, displaying them in competitions organised by the Motherwell and District Cage Bird Association. He won his category while finishing runner-up in another in 1923 with a goldfinch mule and won several awards the following year.

Cardiff City

FA Cup: 1926–27 FA Charity Shield: 1927 Welsh Cup: 1927–28; runner-up: 1928–29 Individual

Scottish Division One top goalscorer: 1917–18, 1919–20, 1920–21