John Hughes: 'Drugs hit Leith and I lost a brother. He just took the wrong path. He was only 30 when he died'

Published on Friday 18 September 2009 22:11

ONE brother became a Hibernian Football Club hero, while the other died from an overdose and was buried in the graveyard overshadowed by the stands packed with fans.

Now the Hibs manager, John Hughes, has spoken for the first time of how drugs killed his elder brother when Leith was flooded with heroin.

Peter Hughes, like many others, became addicted during the 1980s at a time when heroin became easily accessible in the area. He died of an overdose at 30 in August 1992 after years of drug abuse, during which time their mother refused to give up hope of a recovery.

Yesterday, John Hughes said he took comfort in the fact that his brother – along with his mother and father – are all buried in the Eastern Cemetery behind the Famous Five stand at Easter Road.

Mr Hughes said that it was the plight of his brother, and of so many of his friends who succumbed to drugs, that inspires him to be a role model to today's young people.

He said: "I want to be a role model, although I don't think I am high-profile enough for that. I am a humble guy. I go for a drink and have a couple of beers.

"What I want to do is get in there, and put something back in. Drugs hit Leith when I was about 18. It started then, and I lost a lot of friends. Football kept me on the straight and narrow. And my parents. It was football, football, football."

Read the full interview

The youngest of six children, John Hughes was raised in Leith, where his father worked in the docks. His mother worked as a cleaner and at the whisky bond. He watched as his older brother, a keen footballer, became involved in drugs.

He said: "I lost a brother to drugs. He died with drugs when drugs hit Leith. Peter was just above me in age. He was a real talented footballer. But he just took the wrong path.

"When drugs hit Leith, a lot of people, a lot of close friends, got tangled up in it. And I could identify with them.

"Peter was only 30 when he died. It had a real effect. I saw what it did to my mother, and the effect it had on her. She never turned him away. But that makes me the guy I am as well."

John Hughes began his career at Berwick Rangers and played for Swansea City and Falkirk before joining Celtic and then Hibs, where he was based between 1996 and 2000.

Today he takes comfort that his brother and parents are buried, with other members of the family, so close to the team he now manages.

He said: "Peter will be with my ma and da up Easter Road for that, behind the goals. When you say 'Behind the goals', it means 'Catch you later'. All my aunties and uncles are there, too. If it wasn't for football, and the good people all around me… who knows?

"Everyone has had their part to play. Even when I was 14, I met some right good people in the boys' clubs."

Hughes said that having been raised in Leith, where he would spend his summers swimming at the shore, had a major influence on his life.

"It's that Leith thing that is ingrained in you – it's the Leith motto: Persevere.

"You don't show weakness. You don't show your emotions. You are a man. You are not meant to tell people how you feel. It's ingrained in you. But that makes you the guy you are."