the Liverpool team which played and lost its first ever League Cup final, to Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest in a replay. The league title went to Forest too, but Liverpool retained the European Cup with a 1–0 win over FC Bruges at Wembley, allowing Hughes to lift the trophy for a second consecutive year. By this time Hughes's place in the side was under threat from talented young Scottish defender Alan Hansen, who had arrived the previous season for £100,000 from Partick Thistle. The following season Hughes made just 16 appearances in the side, enough to earn his final title medal. Liverpool lost to Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-finals, with Hughes caught out of position for the winning goal. He never played for Liverpool again. He was sold to Wolverhampton Wanderers for £90,000 in August 1979. Hughes left Liverpool after 665 appearances, scoring 49 goals, for the club. His 59 appearances for England while at Liverpool made him the club's most capped player until Welsh striker Ian Rush broke the record more than ten years later. Wolverhampton Wanderers: 1979–1981 Hughes made his Wolves debut at the Baseball Ground on 22 August 1979 in a 1–0 win over Derby County. He went on to win the League Cup in his first season with Wolves – the only trophy he did not win with Liverpool – lifting it as captain after a 1–0 win over Nottingham Forest at Wembley. He continued to be selected for England squads even after leaving Liverpool. He featured sporadically in England's successful qualifying campaign for the 1980 European Championships, he captained the team for the final time in the 1–1 1980 Home International game with Northern Ireland draw at Wembley and won his 62nd and final cap against Scotland in the next game as a substitute. Greenwood included him in the squad for the European Championship finals in Italy as an experienced reserve, but Hughes did not play any matches and England were eliminated in the group stages. Hughes was England's only connection with their previous foray into the finals of a tournament – the 1970 World Cup – but his non-participation in either made him England's most capped player never to feature in a major finals. He also became only the fifth player to represent England in three separate decades, joining Jesse Pennington, Stanley Matthews, Bobby Charlton and Peter Shilton. The 57 caps Hughes