Hugh Curran

Hugh Curran

Personal information
Full name	Hugh Patrick Curran
Date of birth	(1943-09-25) 25 September 1943
Place of birth	Carstairs, South Lanarkshire, Scotland
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1954–1960	Home Farm
1960–1962	Shamrock Rovers
1962	Manchester United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1962–1963	Third Lanark	9	(4)
1963–1964	Corby Town
1964–1966	Millwall	57	(26)
1966–1969	Norwich City	112	(46)
1969–1972	Wolverhampton Wanderers	82	(40)
1972–1974	Oxford United	70	(28)
1974–1977	Bolton Wanderers	47	(13)
1977–1979	Oxford United	35	(11)
Total		412	(168)
International career
1969–1971	Scotland	5	(1)
Managerial career
	Banbury United
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Hugh Patrick Curran (born 25 September 1943 in Carstairs, South Lanarkshire) is a former Scottish international footballer, who spent the majority of his career in the English Football League.

Career

Curran began his career at Home Farm when his family moved to Dublin in 1954. After 6 years playing at all grades he moved to Shamrock Rovers to gain experience. After a period as an apprentice at Manchester United he was released and returned to his native Scotland with Third Lanark as a semi-pro where he struggled to see much first team action, instead joining Corby Town.

He was spotted by Millwall, signing as a professional in March 1964. He finished as their leading goalscorer (with 19) in his first season as they won promotion from the fourth tier. This proved to be his only full season at The Den though, as he moved to Norwich City in January 1966. Here, he spent three years in the second flight, scored 53 goals in total and was voted the club's player of the year in 1968.

He moved into the First Division in January 1969 when he signed for Wolverhampton Wanderers for £60,000. He finished his first full season at Molineux as their leading goalscorer with 23 goals, and added a further 20 in the following campaign.

During his time with the club, he won a call-up to the Scottish national team, making his debut on 5 November 1969 in a 2-0 World Cup qualifying loss in Austria. He won five caps in total over an 18-month period, scoring once, against England in a 3-1 defeat at Wembley in May 1971.

However, the 1971/72 season saw him pushed to the sidelines at Wolves due to the emergence of John Richards, limiting Curran to just eight appearances. His final game for the club was in the second leg of the 1972 UEFA Cup Final where they lost out on the trophy to their countrymen Spurs. In total, he made 98 appearances for them, scoring 47 times.

Out of contention at Wolves, he joined second flight Oxford United in September 1972 for £50,000. He was their leading scorer in both the 1972/73 and 1973/74 campaigns (with 17 and 14 goals). After just one full season though, he left for Bolton Wanderers in a £40,000 deal in September 1974.

Following over 50 appearances for Bolton spread over three seasons, he returned to Oxford United where he remained until retiring due to injury in 1979.

After football, Curran went into business in his native Carstairs Junction, before running a hotel with his brother Ronald in Carnwath, Lanarkshire. He then entered the licensing trade, running four pubs, all of which were called The Red Lion; three in Oxfordshire (Marston, Horton-cum-Studley and Islip) and one in London. After six months of retirement in 2005, Curran was "bored to tears" and decided to get a job as a superviser at Oxford's Thornhill park-and-ride service.

References

• Canary Citizens by Mark Davage, John Eastwood, Kevin Platt, published by Jarrold Publishing, (2001), ISBN 0-7117-2020-7

External links

• Hugh Curran at scottishfa.co.uk
• Neil Brown profile