There have been times this season as Tottenham lurched between managerial appointments and slipped deeper into relegation trouble when Chris Hughton appeared to some fans like the perfect solution.
Hughton has Spurs in his blood. Born in London, he was a player for 13 years at White Hart Lane, winning the FA Cup twice and the UEFA Cup before returning for an even longer spell in various coaching roles which culminated in three years as assistant to Martin Jol.
From there, he went on to forge a reputation as a skillful manager in his own right, calm and composed as he guided both Newcastle and Brighton into the Premier League.
He understood the club, was experienced in the competition and still active in football. But his priorities have changed in the two years since he was sacked as Ghana boss.
In April last year, Hughton was told he had prostate cancer, a diagnosis that came soon after his wife Cheryl had been diagnosed with breast cancer. It has been a turbulent time.
He is not normally the type to make a fuss over personal matters, but the 67-year-old sat down with Daily Mail Sport keen to share his experiences with prostate cancer. It is the most diagnosed cancer in the UK – more than 64,000 men are diagnosed each year, enough to fill the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
In April last year, Chris Hughton was told he had prostate cancer, a diagnosis that came soon after his wife Cheryl had been diagnosed with breast cancer
He is not normally the type to make a fuss over personal matters, but the 67-year-old sat down with Daily Mail Sport keen to share his experiences with prostate cancer
Hughton with Tony Galvin (centre) and Garth Crooks (right) after the 1981 FA Cup final replay victory over Manchester City
‘Two reactions,’ says Hughton, who is a longtime supporter of the Prostate Cancer UK charity and is revealing details of his own diagnosis for the first time. ‘Was it a shock? Yes, because it was bad news and anything like that comes as a shock. Was it a surprise? No, because I knew my PSA (prostate specific antigens) levels had been rising. The news didn’t scare me. I didn’t think, “This is going to kill me”. And I don’t want to shy away from it.’
Hughton had been alerted to his PSA levels during an annual health check made available for members of the League Managers Association (LMA) when he was manager of Brighton.
He had a series of further tests at the time and was advised to keep a close eye on it because he fell squarely into the highest risk category: black, over 50 and with a family history of the disease. One in four black men in the UK will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and this included Hughton’s father, who died in 2023. Hughton made sure he had a PSA blood test every six months.
‘The numbers were creeping up a little bit,’ he says. Up above seven when he left Ghana in 2024. He had another scan and was warned to stay vigilant. His next test was spiking above nine and a follow-up scan detected cancer. With his usual pragmatism, Hughton weighed up the options presented to him. He decided he would have his prostate removed.
The operation was assisted by robotic technology via a few small incisions in his abdomen. He was home the next day under orders to do no heavy lifting and was soon back on his feet.
‘For me, it’s a good story,’ he says. ‘I was able to monitor it. It wasn’t a huge surprise. We caught it in time and it’s been very successful.’
In three tests since his operation, Hughton’s PSA levels were zero. His eyes have a sparkle, and he looks trim and fit enough to dart up and down the wing as he did in his prime as a left back, making 398 appearances for Spurs and a further 53 for the Republic of Ireland.
Most mornings he is in the gym by 8am. ‘A lot of stretching,’ he adds quickly. It satisfies his liking for routine and clears the day for various work commitments with the Premier League and the LMA, where he serves on the committee.
‘Was it a shock? Yes, because it was bad news and anything like that comes as a shock. Was it a surprise? No, because I knew my PSA (prostate specific antigens) levels had been rising’
Daily Mail Sport met Hughton at St Albans City FC, as he reveals his diagnosis for the first time
‘For me, it’s a good story,’ he says. ‘I was able to monitor it. It wasn’t a huge surprise. We caught it in time and it’s been very successful’
‘I’m one year post-operation and I feel good,’ he says. ‘It’s all gone very well. I’ve got a lot of energy. Keeping active and busy is part of how I am anyway, but it’s also about rehabilitation and keeping your mind active as well.
‘I’m very comfortable with my prognosis and my post-operation feelings. I’m in a really good place.’
He is regularly at games. Spotted at Woking this month to support Jermain Defoe as the former England star and fellow Spurs hero made his managerial debut in the National League.
Defoe went to the same school as Hughton in east London. They worked together as coach and emerging talent at Spurs. Hughton remains a close friend, a mentor and a champion of opportunities for young black managers in the English game.
On Sunday, he was at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the clash between two of his old clubs and shared the heartbreak of all Spurs fans when Brighton snatched a point in stoppage time.
The patience and inner calm that always served Hughton well on the touchline remains clear, although the lure of a return to full-time management has yet to rear its head.
‘My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer the year before me,’ says Hughton. ‘She’s doing well but a combination of more her circumstances but also mine have changed my priorities. They’ve probably taken over my day-to-day thinking. It’s nothing physical, just time demands and recovery.
‘My last role was two years ago and whether I’ll get back into management or not will be about circumstances. You know, right time, right place. Certainly, the game has changed and changed dramatically, even in a short period of time.’
It’s two years since Hughton’s last managerial role, when he took Ghana to the Africa Cup of Nations
Hughton (left, pictured with Daniel Levy and David Pleat) served under 11 different managers as a first-team coach at Tottenham from 1993 to 2007
He made 398 appearances for Spurs, having joined their academy as a 13-year-old in 1971
There was no approach from Spurs as they explored short-term options after sacking Thomas Frank and Igor Tudor, and he chooses his words carefully on the subject out of respect for Roberto De Zerbi, appointed in March on a five-year contract.
‘I am very honoured to have my name linked to that role,’ Hughton says. ‘It is unfair to say whether it’s a job I would or I wouldn’t have taken, because somebody is in the post.
‘He’s a very highly regarded head coach with experience in the Premier League and at this moment, I think they’re in a better place than they were a couple of months ago. And everybody of a Tottenham persuasion is desperate for him to do well.’
Spurs are two points adrift of safety with five games remaining and at relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday hoping not to follow their opponents into the second tier for the first time in 49 years.
‘I find it hard seeing where Tottenham are,’ says Hughton, who joined the club aged 13 and went on to make his senior debut six years later. ‘I’m the same as anybody trying to evaluate how they can be in this position. But they are. And this is football.
‘Any club that doesn’t get things right or makes bad decisions over a period of time can find themselves in that position and this is the strength of the Premier League.’
As for the pursuit of stylish football and the ‘Spurs way’, Hughton says: ‘We are in an era now where everybody wants to see what they perceive as attractive football.
‘But what is attractive football? Is it about the possession a team has or about goalscoring opportunities or the number of crosses they get into the box?
He was back at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last weekend to watch two of his former clubs, Spurs and Brighton
With Gerry Francis on his first day as Tottenham manager in 1994
Sending Braga goalkeeper Helder the wrong way before scoring in a 6-0 UEFA Cup win at White Hart Lane in 1984
‘The reality is people want a winning team. Ultimately it is about winning things and trying to get supporters up off their seats. Maybe entertaining is a better word than attractive. And how you do it is about the players you’ve got.
‘Not every team can play like Manchester City but look at Brentford, they play a different way but they’re getting their supporters off their seats as much as City are.’
Spurs’ struggles this season have drawn comparison to Newcastle’s relegation of 2008-09, a season when Hughton started as assistant to Kevin Keegan in his second spell on Tyneside, before twice taking caretaker charge amid managerial upheaval.
With players such as Nicky Butt, Damien Duff and Michael Owen in the squad, Newcastle were billed as ‘too good to go down’ but could not escape the drop as Joe Kinnear replaced Keegan but had to step down after a heart scare. The season ended with Alan Shearer in charge.
‘When you’re on that downward spiral it’s hard to get out,’ recalls Hughton. ‘Every week you thought, “This will be the week the turnaround comes, when we start winning games”, and of course the further it goes the harder it gets.
‘That’s the similarity I see to Spurs at this point of the season with five games to go, but you can’t look at Spurs without referencing the injuries. They’ve lost so many influential players for such a chunk of the season. I couldn’t have seen them in this position with all the players available.’
Hughton took over from Shearer after relegation, initially as caretaker for a third time, and started well in the Championship, before being named permanent manager for the first time in October 2009.
He took Newcastle straight back up as champions. At Brighton, promotion was achieved in different circumstances, picking a new-age club from the bottom three of the Championship, leading them into the top flight for the first time in the Premier League era and keeping them up.
Hughton represented the Republic of Ireland 53 times from 1979 to 1991, and went to both Euro 1988 and the 1990 World Cup
Hughton (furthest left) and Tottenham team-mates Steve Perryman (third left), Steve Archibald (second right) and Mike Varney (furthest right) with two club psychologists in 1982
If he does not grace our touchlines again, Hughton has lots to treasure
These rank among his cherished memories in football. Together with the pride of his father when he led Ghana to the Africa Cup of Nations and highlights of a fine playing career which, once he starts, keep tumbling out.
There’s the FA Cup wins, especially the first with Ricky Villa’s goal against Manchester City. The emotion of the UEFA Cup win in 1984 when Spurs beat Anderlecht on penalties at White Hart Lane. And representing his mother’s nation, the Republic of Ireland, at Euro ’88, helping Jack Charlton’s team beat England.
If he does not grace our touchlines again, Hughton has lots to treasure.
The earlier you find prostate cancer the easier it is to treat but early prostate cancer often doesn’t have symptoms. That’s why it’s important for men to know their risk and what they can do about it. You can check your risk online in just 30 seconds with Prostate Cancer UK’s Risk Checker at prostatecanceruk.org/risk
