FINN PARK WILL bid a fond and emotional farewell to Kevin McHugh tonight after 438 games and 186 goals.
Those figures alone mean that McHugh stands alongside Finn Harps legends Brendan Bradley and Con McLaughlin as a genuine icon.
Harps’ Premier Division status was confirmed on Monday night when Wexford Youths lost 5-0 to Cork City. Harps face Bohemians tonight in the final home game of the season (7.45pm) and Ballybofey prepares to give McHugh a fitting send off.
“It probably won’t sink in until I’m not part of it in January and they’re back in pre-season,” sas McHugh, whose retirement was hastened by a freak injury in which he severed a finger, an accident that means he will be unable to play tonight.
[adrotate group=”38″]“This would have been my 20th pre-season at this level, so it’ll be a big void to fill.
“I would say if I didn’t have the accident I’d have had more time to prepare, more time to think and would probably be a wee bit more emotional.”
McHugh made his debut against Fanad United at Triagh-A-Locha in August 1998 and he scored in a 2-0 League Cup win.
[adrotate group=”50″]He was away from the club from 2005 until 2010, during which time he played for Derry City and Linfield, but the Killea man returned to keep his Harps tally ticking.
“ It’s probably like the golfer who has left shots behind: I’m raging I haven’t got over the 200,” he says of his 186 goals.
“I’d have loved to have got more. When I started out, I wouldn’t have envisaged scoring that many. I should have got more.”
[adrotate group=”85″]The Finn Harps Twitter account this morning asked fans to choose their top Kevin McHugh moment.
The man himself doesn’t need much time to think and it was the night when the best quickly became the worst.
“Selfishly the Longford game,” he says of a hat-trick in the 2002 play-off against Longford Town, a game Harps lost on sudden death penalties.
“We were two behind and I brought it was to two-each. I remember then the ball coming in, taking the touch around Stuey Byrne and time seemed to pause before I finished to the net and the whole place just erupted.
“Nothing came close to that feeling, but winning the League in 2004 was exceptional.”
During McHugh’s spell away from the club, following relegaton in the 2005 season, he watched Harps from a distance and arrived back with a more passionate outlook.
[adrotate group=”80″]The sideswipes became more pronounced when he was on the outside looking back in.
“It didn’t sit well with me…If someone was treated badly ten years ago they hold the grudge,” he says.
“The club is a club and different people are involved now. People still hold grudges to the club because of things that happened, 10, 15, 20 years. That doesn’t sit well with me.
“They don’t deserve any of the stick they’re getting from these people. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but they try to do things the right way.”
Watch, listen and – especially those of a vintage perhaps not old enough to remember just how good he really was – learn tonight as a ground and a club pays homage to a genuine legend.
[adrotate group=”83″]If you’re in any doubt, just watch and listen when the stadium announcer, Kevin Duffy, calls him out.
It will be a moment to savour and a chance for the old ground in its entirety to pay a collective tribute.
McHugh says: “From the very first day I piulled on the jersey and I scored…that got me hooked on the crowd. Nothing has changed since. I have a huge amount to thank the fans for. They have been fantastic for me.”
Listen to the full interview below …
https://soundcloud.com/donegalsporthub-club-notes/kevin-mchugh-ahead-of-final-game-as-a-finn-harps-player
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