Born in Motherwell, he played for Parkhead at junior level as an amateur and was one of the most sought-after young players in Scotland before signing for his hometown club to begin his professional career.

Despite his prolific scoring record, finishing his career with a goal average of 0.855 per game, he was never selected to play for Scotland, but did represent a Scottish League XI on three occasions.

Ferguson started his career with local youth sides in his hometown of Motherwell and represented the Dalziel School's team as a half back.

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".

[7] He remained with Parkhead and by the mid-point of the campaign, Ferguson was one of the most coveted young players in the country,[8] having scored more than 30 goals in the first four months of the season,[9] and gaining the notice of several clubs.

[10][11] He was chosen to represent the Glasgow Junior League XI against a team from the Rest of Scotland for the second time in February 1916,[12] and scored one of his side's goals in a 5–2 victory.

[20] Ferguson came close to signing for Celtic,[6] but eventually joined his hometown side Motherwell for the start of the 1916–17 Scottish Football League season.

[21] The first half of his season was limited owing to minor injuries, but he went on to finish his first campaign with 25 league goals,[2][23] including a second hat-trick against Dumbarton in February 1917.

[46] Ferguson followed this up with a brace against Raith Rovers in Motherwell's next game, placing him as the Scottish League's top goalscorer, having netted eleven times in his first six appearances, three ahead of his nearest rival.

[57][58] His goalscoring form attracted attention from clubs in England's Football League and both Everton and Huddersfield Town made enquiries to Motherwell over a transfer but were turned down.

[72] He also held talks with Football League Third Division South side Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic over a role as player-manager,[73] which was reported by some newspapers as being completed.

[74] Ultimately no move came to fruition; Ferguson considered it unfair that he should receive no part of a potential transfer fee and he sat out the early weeks of the 1922–23 season.

[75] Having scored six times by mid-October, Ferguson was called up to the Scottish League XI for a match against Ireland when George French withdrew due to injury.

[85] Ferguson finished the season as the second-highest scorer in Scotland with 29 league goals, despite missing 9 games throughout the campaign,[37] falling one short of Hearts' Jock White.

[90] During the following season, he was again among the top scorers early in the year and, by the end of October, had scored 12 goals leaving him trailing only Tom Jennings of Raith Rovers.

[100] Despite his listing, Ferguson remained with Motherwell for the start of the 1925–26 season and began the campaign by scoring a brace in a victory over Clydebank on the opening day.

[107] A large crowd also gathered at the train station as he departed and a salute of 21 fog signals was issued from the David Colville & Sons works as he passed.

[108] Ferguson was one of three Scots signed by Cardiff in short succession, Joe Cassidy and George McLachlan both arriving for a similar £5,000 fee combined.

[109] Ferguson made a goalscoring debut for the club in the Football League First Division[nb 1] on 7 November 1925 in a 5–2 win over Leicester City,[110] a match in which Cassidy scored a hat-trick.

He netted seven times in his next five games, including the winning goals in matches against Bolton Wanderers, Notts County and West Bromwich Albion.

[119] The following season, Ferguson netted seven times in his first ten league matches and also scored in a 2–1 victory over amateur side Corinthians in the 1927 FA Charity Shield on 12 October.

Cardiff finished the season in sixth place but Ferguson's later months were hampered by injuries; he never played more than three consecutive league matches after the Christmas period.

In the team's second match, he set a club record for goals in a league game after scoring five times against Burnley on 1 September 1928 as Cardiff ran out 7–0 winners.

[123] He then began to suffer from persistent injury problems and, after playing in a 1–0 defeat to Aston Villa at the end of September, he made only three further appearances before Christmas.

[121] With Cardiff struggling to avoid relegation and suffering financial problems, Ferguson was named as one of 12 players for whom the club was looking to obtain offers.

[129] He made his debut for Dundee on the opening day of the season against Falkirk,[130] and began the campaign at centre-forward but struggled to live up to his goalscoring reputation.

[134] Ferguson sank into depression and it was remarked that he displayed a "melancholy demeanour and evident physical suffering" in early January 1930 by his former colleagues at Motherwell.

[146][147] 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".

[148] 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".

[107] For many years Ferguson held the Motherwell club record for scoring goals in consecutive games, until it was broken by Kevin van Veen in 2023.