It's war: Glenn Hysen braces himself as Hughes' thigh ripples into action. Steve McMahon looks on in fear. (Pics/Empics)

Those rippling thighs and tight curls have bestrode almost two decades of top-flight football, from the era of Michael Robinson and Mike Duxbury to that of Michael Owen and Mikael Silvestre. And when one thinks of Mark Hughes, it's sometimes difficult to place his defining moment.

Was it that strike for Manchester United in the 1991 European Cup Winners Cup Final, where the Welshman raced past the Barcelona defence, seemingly took the ball far too wide and then drilled in an unstoppable shot from the tightest of angles, bisecting two flailing Spanish defenders (a personal favourite)?

Was it the sublime curved ball with the outside of his boot in the 1985 FA Cup Final that set Norman Whiteside on his way to scoring a famous winner against Treble-chasing Everton? Or was it the last minute heart-stopping volley in the 1994 Cup semi-final against Oldham, turning United's season from ruin to revelry?

For Chelsea fans there's the memory of a typical thunderbolt volley thrashed into Vicenza's goal in the 1998 Cup Winners Cup semi-final to send the Blues into their first European final in 27 years.

Or perhaps how, in the very twilight of his career, Hughes played in midfield for Blackburn in the Worthington Cup Final and dervish-like, bruised and baulked his way through Spurs' gifted midfield to create a bedrock for Rovers' eventual victory.

Welsh fans may choose to remember his 1985 World Cup qualifier scissors volley against Spain. Or scoring the winner on his international debut against the English in 1984.

In the Manchester United dressing-room Hughes was know as 'Ledge' - short for 'the legend'. But in many ways (and excuse the excruciating metaphor) he was a ledge for his team-mates' attacks to grip on to. There can be little doubt that Hughes is one of the very best exponents ever in holding the ball up in attack. He was a foothold for any attack, especially in his United days.

When under pressure, defenders and midfielders knew that if they gave him the ball then he would provide vital respite. Liverpool fans, never well disposed to 'Sparky', labelled him 'The Arse' in deference to his propensity to hold off massed defenders with his rump, ballasted by a pair of thighs that only Stuart Pearce could rival in the tree-trunk stakes.

Right from the very start of his career Hughes was a powerhouse. He came from the same United youth team as Norman Whiteside, whom it is strange to think of as being younger, and played as a losing finallist in the Youth Cup final of 1982. He announced his arrival with a headed League Cup goal on his debut against Oxford United in the 1983-4 season - and never looked back.

The following season saw Hughes become a player of genuine class, winning the PFA Young Player of the Year award and helping United win the FA Cup. The 1985-6 season saw him and United start at a canter as they won their first ten games.

But clouds started to gather as rumours that United, skint after some excessive Ron Atkinson transfer market dealing, would cash in their prize asset. After some cloak-and-dagger dealings in Switzerland, Hughes joined Barcelona after a season that had badly tailed off for him and United.

	1998: Hughes takes the plaudits from Gianfranco Zola after his match-winning goal against Vicenza (Pic/Empics)

Catalunya would not be a happy place for him, despite the presence of Gary Lineker as strike partner. Tales of bachelor Hughes eating from a corned beef tin have become legend and he was loaned to Bayern Munich.

New United manager Alex Ferguson saw the previous regime's mistake and brought Hughes back as soon as possible. The prodigal returned and was back to his best, picking up the Player of the Year award in 1989 and 1991, becoming the first man to win it twice.

Despite personal glory, his partnership with the previously prolific Brian McClair never got fully off the ground. Ferguson's job was only saved by a FA Cup win in 1990, with a Hughes double saving United and winning them a final replay against Crystal Palace.

In Rotterdam the following year, Barcelona were on the end of some Sparky vengeance as he set up the opener for Steve Bruce and then scored that unbelievable winner. But United were to again fall at the last in the 1992 season as the championship eluded them once more.

A fallow start to the season for the Hughes-McClair partnership led to the arrival of Eric Cantona and you know the rest as Hughes, perhaps relieved by not having to be the focus of the team's attacks, reached his peak in partnership with the Frenchman.

But after two seasons of unprecedented glory, Ferguson, never one for sentimentality, sought to split up the partnership. Hughes was all set to go to Everton in January 1995 until he was injured scoring against Newcastle. During his convalesence Cantona exploded infamously at Selhurst Park and Hughes signed a new contract on the pitch at Old Trafford.

But it seems that someone else in the United hierachy didn't sign it and, shockingly, Hughes was offloaded to Chelsea for £1.5million that very summer. Though United hardly missed him, winning the Double in 1995-6, fans must have occasionally looked longingly south as Hughes often outshone the likes of Gullit, Vialli and Zola.

Hughes' best display in a Chelsea shirt came in January 1997 at Anfield, still one of his favourite 'stamping' grounds, as a half-time substitute. He terrorised Liverpool for 45 minutes as Chelsea overturned a 2-0 deficit to win a FA Cup 3rd Round tie 4-2.

	The present day: Hughes takes training, Ryan Giggs listens to his boyhood hero. (Pic/Empics)

As age advanced he again became surplus to requirements and moved on for brief spells at Southampton and Everton before joining Blackburn in 2000. Rarely used during the 2001-2 season, he was given his tour de force in the Worthington Cup Final in February.

For the last three years he has been managing his country on a part-time basis and has achieved a reasonable level of success with a young squad in difficult circumstances. He even managed to get Ryan Giggs to play the odd friendly and has compared more than favourably to the hapless regime of predecessor Bobby Gould.

Hughes is now seeking to become full-time boss, and surely the Welsh FA will grant the people's favourite his wish.

However you remember Hughes - target man supreme, volleyer supreme or dirty b*stard supreme, you are unlikely to forget him.

Is it because of the goals? Though never prolific he notched plenty of important and spectacular strikes. The fouls? He raced to a record number of bookings in the 1998-9 season and his kick up the rear end of Sheffield United's Charlie Hartfield in a 1994 cup game remains a particular favourite of yours truly.

Or just the sight of him holding the ball up with defenders climbing all over him in a vain attempt to get the ball before a team-mate is found by a measured pass?

Sparky, the quiet man who fought like a wounded tiger on the pitch, will be missed. Good luck in your new job, Hughesie.