This is an accepted version of this page Christopher William Gerard Hughton (born 11 December 1958) is a professional football manager and former player.

He led Newcastle back to the Premier League in his first season in charge, along the way breaking a number of records and securing the permanent managerial position.

In February 2023, he was promoted to the position of head coach of Ghana following the resignation of Otto Addo after the failure of the Black Stars team at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

He signed to become a full-time professional footballer in July 1979,[3] and made his first team debut that year in the second round of the 1979–80 League Cup against Manchester United.

[10] Hughton qualified to play for the Republic of Ireland as the son of an Irish mother and a Ghanaian father,[11] becoming the first mixed-race player to represent the country.

In his time at Spurs, he served under 11 different managers: Keith Burkinshaw, Ray Clemence, Doug Livermore, Osvaldo Ardiles, Gerry Francis, Christian Gross, George Graham, Glenn Hoddle, David Pleat, Jacques Santini and Martin Jol.

[16] On 8 September 2008, Hughton was named caretaker manager of Newcastle following the departures of Keegan, Terry McDermott and Adam Sadler.

[17] After a defeat to newly promoted, but in-form, Hull City[18] and a League Cup exit to Tottenham Hotspur[19] though, Hughton stood down as caretaker and was replaced on a temporary basis by Joe Kinnear.

However, defeats to Bolton Wanderers,[23] Manchester United[24] and Arsenal,[25] and draws against Everton[26] and Hull City[27] resulted in Newcastle appointing Alan Shearer as interim manager until the end of the season.

This was followed by a statement from Llambias: "Mike Ashley feels it would be unwise to appoint a team manager when the club is for sale," leaving Hughton in charge for the start of the 2009–10 season.

In January, Newcastle signed Mike Williamson, Wayne Routledge and Leon Best in permanent transfers and Fitz Hall and Patrick van Aanholt on loan.

They then went on to win the game 2–1 with a Peter Løvenkrands penalty and a bicycle kick-goal from Kevin Nolan to earn them a place back in the Premier League after just one season away.

During pre-season for the 2010–11 season, Hughton signed Sol Campbell and Dan Gosling for free whilst getting James Perch for an undisclosed fee.

[33] Hughton received praise for his calm management style to stabilise the club, shrewd signings and guiding Newcastle back to the Premier League.

Prior to Newcastle's 1–1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers and away win at Everton, he completed the signings of Cheick Tioté and Hatem Ben Arfa.

Despite leading his newly promoted side to healthy ninth place by the end of October, unrest came when star player Andy Carroll was arrested for assault.

[42] Before the match against Liverpool on 11 December, campaigners from United For Newcastle organised a protest outside St James' Park as an opportunity for supporters to thank Hughton and to show their anger towards Ashley's decision.

[47] In the club's first European campaign for 50 years, he led them into the group stages of the UEFA Europa League courtesy of a 3–0 aggregate win against Portuguese side Nacional.

[52] At the end of the 2011–12 season, Birmingham gave Norwich City permission to talk to Hughton about their vacant managerial post, and he signed for the Canaries on 7 June 2012.

[65] By April 2017 with three games left to go, Hughton had guided Brighton to the top of the 2016–17 EFL Championship earning the club automatic promotion to the Premier League after a 2–1 win at home to Wigan.

The final game of that campaign saw Brighton draw away at Aston Villa 1–1 which allowed Newcastle United to jump above them by one point and missing out on crowning the club champions of the Championship.

[70] On 6 October 2020, Hughton was appointed manager of EFL Championship club Nottingham Forest, following Sabri Lamouchi's dismissal earlier in the day.

[76] In February 2022, Hughton accepted a role as technical advisor to the Ghana national team's coaching staff for the period of their World Cup qualifiers in March.

[83] He was educated locally, at St Bonaventure's Catholic School,[84] and completed a four-year apprenticeship as a lift engineer before turning professional with Tottenham Hotspur.