72 Facts About Hughie Ferguson

Hugh Ferguson was a Scottish professional footballer.

Hughie Ferguson established himself as a consistent scorer playing as a centre forward, finishing as the top goalscorer in the Scottish Football League on three occasions between 1918 and 1921.

Hughie Ferguson returned to Scotland with Dundee in 1929, but struggled to reproduce his goalscoring form.

Hughie Ferguson committed suicide on 8 January 1930 at the age of 34.

Hughie Ferguson is one out of only seven men in the history of the English and Scottish Football Leagues to have scored 350 league goals.

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

Hughie Ferguson moved on to the Motherwell branch of the Boys' Brigade and later Motherwell Hearts as an outside forward, helping the club reach the Scottish Juvenile Cup final.

Hughie Ferguson joined Glasgow-based Parkhead in 1914, when he switched to playing as a centre forward.

Hughie 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".

The Midlothian Journal remarked that Hughie Ferguson was "in a class by himself".

Hughie Ferguson entered into contract talks with Manchester City and was on the verge of signing for the club when the First World War escalated.

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

Hughie Ferguson turned down a second offer to join Motherwell the same month and was due to turn out for Rangers in a benefit match a month later, but withdrew after sustaining an injury while playing for Parkhead in the Scottish Junior Cup, a tie in which he scored five times.

Syd Puddefoot recalled Hughie Ferguson playing against Shettleston in a Scottish Junior Cup match that had been delayed and risked the forward missing an appointment; Hughie Ferguson proceeded to score eight times for Parkhead before feigning injury to leave the game early with the result no longer in doubt.

Hughie Ferguson, who had scored more than 70 goals in his last year with the side, retained his amateur status longer than his teammates as he hoped for an offer from a Lancashire-based side in the Football League.

Hughie Ferguson's tally was the fourth highest in the league and accounted for nearly half his side's goals during the campaign.

Hughie Ferguson was stretchered off the pitch and did not play for another three weeks.

Hughie Ferguson finished the season as the Scottish League's top goalscorer with 34, three ahead of Third Lanark's David McLean.

Hughie Ferguson's goals helped Motherwell record a fifth-placed finish and become the highest-scoring team in the league, Ferguson again scoring around half of his side's goals.

Hughie Ferguson's season was affected by illness after he contracted a throat infection which forced him to miss most of the final two months of 1918.

Motherwell recovered to repeat their fifth place finish the following year, but scored considerably fewer goals, Hughie Ferguson himself recording his lowest tally for the club in a full season after scoring 19 times in the league from 26 appearances, though he remained the team's top scorer.

Hughie Ferguson scored a second hat-trick against Hamilton Academical three weeks later, for which he received a gold watch from local businessman T B Hill.

Hughie 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.

Hughie Ferguson's performance was criticised in The Sunday Post after he missed several chances to score.

Hughie Ferguson finished the season as the Scottish League's top goalscorer with 33.

Hughie Ferguson's goals helped Motherwell claim third position in the league, their highest finish in the top tier at the time.

Hughie Ferguson ended the campaign with 42 goals to finish as the league's top goalscorer for the third time in four seasons.

Hughie Ferguson was frequently linked with moves to English clubs, but the Sunday Post reported in January 1922 that he had no desire to move out of Scotland and did not enjoy the English style of football.

Hughie Ferguson fell ten short of Walker in the latter's record breaking season, finishing as the second-highest scorer in the league with 35.

Hughie Ferguson netted hat-tricks in victories over Falkirk and Bo'ness in the Scottish Cup.

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

Hughie Ferguson scored eight goals in as many matches against opponents including Independiente, Penarol and a Uruguay XI.

Ahead of the tour, the Athletic News wrote that Hughie Ferguson had been "the most effective centre-forward in Great Britain" during the early 1920s.

Hughie Ferguson later received a reprimand from the Scottish Football Association but avoided any further punishment.

Hughie Ferguson finished third in the scorers' ranking, behind Dundee forward Dave Halliday and Jennings, registering 27 goals in 33 league appearances.

In January 1925, Hughie Ferguson was approached to play in the United States, but refused the offer.

Hughie Ferguson however was the joint fourth-highest scorer in the league, but remained on the transfer list as the club looked to raise funds.

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

The improvement in the team's attacking prowess following their new signings was credited for the improved form during the latter half of the season, Hughie Ferguson's goals being a cited as a major factor.

Hughie Ferguson scored twice in their first four fixtures before netting the winning goal in a fourth round replay against Chelsea by converting a penalty kick.

Ahead of their fourth-round tie with reigning Cup holders Bolton Wanderers, Hughie Ferguson adopted a "lucky" black cat named Trixie that he had noticed wandering at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, where the Cardiff team were staying.

Hughie Ferguson tracked down the animal's owners and persuaded them to give the cat away in exchange for tickets to the final if Cardiff advanced.

Hughie Ferguson's scoring saw him surpass Steve Bloomer as the highest-scoring player in Scottish and English football on 352 goals, doing so in less time.

Hughie Ferguson's position was further weakened by the signing of another centre-forward, Jimmy Munro.

Hughie Ferguson had openly expressed his preference to return to Motherwell, an option that the club considered, but the move never came to fruition.

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

Hughie Ferguson was later moved to outside right before being dropped from the side entirely.

Hughie 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.

Hughie Ferguson had been suffering from insomnia for several months at the end of 1929 and had become worried about his health.

Hughie Ferguson's body was discovered the next morning by painters working at the ground.

Hughie Ferguson was next to a gas ring which had been turned on, and his head was covered by an overcoat.

Hughie Ferguson was rushed to Dundee Royal Infirmary but was pronounced dead.

Hughie Ferguson's death has often been cited as being influenced by the barracking of the crowd as he failed to produce the form expected of him on his return to Scotland.

Aged 34, Hughie Ferguson left behind his wife Jessie and two children.

Hughie Ferguson's family have attributed his death to "an imbalance of his inner-ear" that had affected his balance and had led to his poor form.

Hughie Ferguson's body was moved from Dundee to Motherwell; four of his Dundee teammates carried his coffin to a waiting hearse while the remainder of the squad watched on.

Hughie Ferguson was born in Motherwell on 2 March 1895 and had six brothers and one sister.

Hughie Ferguson's father was killed in a colliery accident when Ferguson was 16.

Hughie Ferguson married Jessie Andrews on 21 March 1924 in his hometown.

Hughie Ferguson's uncle, named Hugh Ferguson, was a politician and served as a Member of Parliament for Motherwell and he sometimes assisted his uncle at political gatherings.

Hughie Ferguson was regarded as a clean-living player: He was teetotal, never smoked and attended church.

Hughie Ferguson was interested in and kept birds, displaying them in competitions organised by the Motherwell and District Cage Bird Association.

Hughie Ferguson won his category while finishing runner-up in another in 1923 with a goldfinch mule and won several awards the following year.

Hughie 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".

Hughie Ferguson can take a knock, he can return one.

Hughie Ferguson was renowned for his modesty and sense of fair play.

Opposition goalkeeper Bill Harper had sustained an injury and the opportunity came to Hughie Ferguson to take advantage of this when he struggled to gather the ball from a cross.

Rather than capitalise on Harper's misfortune, Hughie Ferguson allowed the keeper to recover and stop a certain goal.

At the time of his departure from the club in 1925, Hughie Ferguson was the highest scoring player in the history of the Scottish League.

Hughie Ferguson was later surpassed by Jimmy McGrory and Bob McPhail.

Hughie Ferguson is one of only seven players to have scored more than 350 league goals in the history of Scottish and English football, finishing his career with a goal ratio per game of 0.855.

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