Career
A defender, he began his career with Tottenham Hotspur and played in the Football League for Lincoln City. He played international football for the Republic of Ireland under-21 team Tottenham Hotspur
He joined Tottenham Hotspur"s academy in 2005, and went on to make 15 youth team appearances that season.
Established, he played a further 27 games the following season, scoring once and stepping into the reserve set-up, where he appeared on a total of 21 occasions over two seasons.
Lincoln City
On 27 July 2009 Hughton signed a six-month contract with Football League Two club Lincoln City. He made his first-team debut in the 1–0 victory over Barnet on 8 August.
He was given a new 18-month contract following the conclusion of his initial deal, but found first team opportunities hard to come by after Chris Sutton left the club and Steve Tilson took over. In May 2011 he was not offered a new contract after a mass clear out of players following the club"s relegation from the Football League.
Birmingham City
In June 2011 he joined Vancouver Whitecaps of the Master of Library Science for a ten-day trial but failed to earn a contract.
Having spent several months training with Birmingham City, where his father became manager in June 2011, on 29 February 2012 Hughton signed for the club until the end of the season. He was an unused substitute for the visit to Brighton & Hove Albion, but made no first-team appearances, and was released when his contract expired. Hughton has had numerous calls into the Republic of Ireland under-18 and under-19 squads.
He made his under-21 debut as a substitute against Georgia under-21 at Tallaght Stadium on 9 October 2009, and made his first start four days later against Switzerland under-21 at the Waterford Regional Sports Centre.