Bury Town departure comes at the right time for Olly Hughes
You only have to sift through the reaction online to news of Olly Hughes’ departure from Bury Town to see the esteem in which he is held.
It is that affection from supporters and team-mates that made the 35-year-old’s decision to walk away from his hometown club all the more tough.
But having reached a stage in life – both professionally and with football – where he felt at a crossroads, Hughes is confident the time is right to cut ties, at least for the time being.
The popular forward, a five-time winner of Bury Supporters’ Player of the Year award, will head on his travels in July, taking in the likes of Thailand and Vietnam as well as visiting family in Australia.
It’s a far cry from being a defender’s nightmare or his day job in teaching, but Hughes believes the break is just what he needs.
“I’ve been juggling football and work for the last 15 years or so and it’s been pretty relentless,” said Hughes.
“There’s been a few challenges in my professional life over the past year or so and I just felt like I need to take a step back from education.
“I made the appeal to my school to take a year-long sabbatical and that was accepted a few weeks ago. I had to decide what that would mean for my football and it feels like the right time for a change at Bury as well.
“There is probably going to be a bit of upheaval and a shuffling of the pack at the club. I personally feel like I can still contribute at that level but seven years at one club is a long time.”
And Hughes is not ruling out a return to local football once he returns from his travels, be that at Bury or elsewhere.
He continued: “When I played at Walsham-le-Willows I used to have to strap both ankles just to play. At 27 I spent a year working in Gran Canaria, had a complete break from football and have never had to strap them since then – my body felt great.
“I haven’t had a bad run of it with injuries at Bury, just a few times where I’ve picked up injuries but that’s part and parcel of football.
“The recovery time has got a bit longer though and it’s been tough to balance with work.
“I had a hamstring injury earlier in the season and while professional players can focus completely on their body, I was refereeing school matches and taking five sessions a day – it takes it toll.
“I’m open to playing again when I come back because I believe you have to play as long as you can – you’re a long time retired.
“It could be at Bury or it might be I drop down a bit into Step 5.”
But for now, Hughes is left to reflect on his spell in a blue shirt.
He has been humbled by messages that have been received since announcing his exit last weekend and while there are tinges of regret, he leaves with plenty of positive memories and friendships.
“It’s (the response) one of the reasons I didn’t want to make a big deal out of leaving,” said Hughes.
“I’ve made some great friends and I’ve had so many nice comments – that’s the been the toughest part of moving on.
“I’ve loved it at Bury and my biggest regret is not joining sooner. I had a couple of chances, one when they had some great forwards like Sam Reed, James Scowcroft and Kieran Leabon and it didn’t happen.
“And then a couple of years later I was scoring a lot of goals and Bury put in a seven-dayer (approach), but again it never went through.
“I still remember my debut, scoring twice against Aveley in a 5-1 win. And now if you look at Aveley, they’ve just been promoted as champions and we’re still pretty much in the same place as when I joined.
“That’s a little bit disappointing that we haven’t managed to get out of the league during my time.
“It felt like we were getting close before the pandemic but maybe we’ve lacked a little bit of strength in depth and Ben (Chenery) has to be the unluckiest manager at Step 4 when it comes to injuries.
“We probably peaked as a squad and came up short, but hopefully they can freshen things up and kick on.”
Meanwhile, a club statement released yesterday revealed that Hughes is to be among a number of squad departures this summer.
